LOS ANGELES – After giving up drinking alcohol, a friend of Dodgers President Jamie McCourt handed her a bottle of champagne yesterday.
“You won't believe it,” McCourt said later. “It's from 1988.”
The Dodgers, wasters of wealth in many years, had driven some of their fans to drinking by not winning a postseason series since they won the 1988 World Series. In the past 10 years alone, every other club in the National League West, even the Padres, went to at least one World Series.
The Dodgers ended their dry run last night, defeating the Cubs 3-1 to sweep the division playoff series three games to none.
Associated Press
Dodgers manager Joe Torre hugs closing pitcher Jonathan Broxton after the clinching win.
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“These players responded, and this is about as exciting as it gets,” said manager Joe Torre.
Hiroki Kuroda, who never experienced a postseason in his 11 years with Japan's Hiroshima Carp, threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his first taste of playoff baseball. His catcher, Russell Martin, scored one run and drove in another before a towel-waiving crowd of 56,000 at Dodger Stadium.
Asked if she'll open her champagne, McCourt smiled and shook her head. “I'll wait until we win the World Series,” she said.
Generations of Cubs fans would go without the bubbly if they had said that in November 1908, for the Cubs now will go out without a World Series championship for the 100th consecutive year. They haven't even been to a World Series since 1945, and they have lost eight consecutive playoff games since they led the National League Championship Series over the Marlins, three games to one, in 2003.
“Let me tell you this,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said, “you can play postseasons between now and another 100 years and if you score six runs in the three-game series, it's going to be another 100 years before you win here.
When Dodgers reliever Jonathan Broxton struck out Alfonso Soriano – one of several Cubs hitters who never got untracked in this series – the Cubs'annual hibernation began earlier than many expected.
The Cubs were favored win this series because they led the National League with 97 victories this season. Chicago instead suffered its second division series sweep in two years, and Piniella noted that his club scored only sixth runs in each playoff series, the first one against the Diamondbacks.
“We were expecting more; we were expecting more,” said Piniella, whose teams won five of seven games against the Dodgers during the season. “We played well during the season, won our division convincingly and we thought we would go further in this postseason. We scored three, two and one. Six runs in three games.”
Torre said the Cubs were “under a great deal of pressure” owing to “all of the history” surrounding the franchise's chronic failures. He liked that the series began in Chicago, where they would outscore the Cubs 17-5.
“All the history, (for the Cubs) to open at home, I think that was an advantage for us,” Torre said.
Piniella, whose offense averaged an NL-best 5.31 runs per game during the season, credited Dodgers pitchers but also suggested a crisis of confidence among the hitters. Soriano, who was 1-for-14 in the series, might be among them.
“You've got to have confidence in yourself,” Piniella said. “That's the most important thing. And you've got to have confidence in your teammates. And you can't try to overdo.”
The Cubs went 0-for-9 with men in scoring position against Kuroda and rookie Cory Wade before pinch-hitter Darryl Ward's RBI single cut the score to 3-1 with two outs in the eighth.
Broxton entered and struck out Mark DeRosa, then set down all three Cubs hitters in the ninth. Broxton had three scoreless outings in the series and twice got the final out.
Tom Krasovic: (619) 293-2207; tom.krasovic@uniontrib.com
