For what it’s worth, talking about the Dodgers clinching the West might be a day late and a dollar short, with all eyes on what’s going on with the Phils, Brewers and Mets.  But this drawing took me a while to get where I wanted it to be.  I feel this image perfectly captures the feeling of the Dodgers in 2008.  Seeing our younger players get onto the October stage, of course with help from Manny.  The oddity of clinching the division while driving to the ballpark.  And the milk, well, I’m not sure what that’s about, but it evokes the Indy 500 winner’s circle in a strange way.   

But getting there is only the beginning, we’ll see what happens once things get rolling.  One thing I can say, though, is I think these guys aren’t carrying the 20-year old monkey-on-the-back that has haunted the franchise.  And with legitimate offensive threats in our lineup, as well as an awesome pitching staff and great bullpen, the Dodgers have the chance to do some long-term damage, not the limping-into-the-playoffs performance we had in ’06.

Now it’s just the Giants, then waiting to see who we face.  With all the rain back east, I heard on the radio that the Dodgers might fall into a scenario where they take to the air not knowing what city their flight will end up.  If deciding games go into extra innings, that means the Dodgers will have a layover at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago until the game’s been decided.  Strange for sure. 

But (and here comes the Great Cliche) October 1st, it’s a new season, and all eight teams are equal.   I’m ready, but I think the fans in San Francisco want two more chances to get the last digs at their “hated Dodgers” before it’s all done.  Me, I’ll be working during the first half of the game, so I guess I might be missing out on the fun.  Those Dodgers-Giants games are almost always worth the price of admission.