In 365 days, 103 victories

By Jon Weisman

It began, like today begins, in San Diego.

The Dodgers were 30-42, last in the National League West, 9 1/2 games out of first place, 5 1/2 games out of fourth place.

You might be aware of this year’s inability to win four consecutive games. A year ago at this time, the Dodgers hadn’t won three straight games since early April. I was telling people that it was too much merely to be asking for waffles. I was writing about “The Pit of Despair.”

Here’s one for you: Forget about the playoffs for a moment. Forget about .500. The Dodgers need to play .450 ball over their remaining 90 games to reach 70 wins. Will they do it? …

… I don’t know when the losing is going to end for this current brand of Big Blue Wrecked Crew. I do know that in Los Angeles, things tend to reverse course in a hurry, good to bad, bad to good. We’ve really seen it all in the past 25 years – all except for a World Series.

Perhaps it will come in a year when we least expect it.

When they took the field against San Diego on June 22, 2013, the Padres were in second place, 38-36, 2 1/2 games behind Arizona. San Diego had dumped the Dodgers by three runs on each of the previous two nights. Reaching the fifth inning in a scoreless tie with the Padres – against Edinson Volquez, even – no doubt felt to some like an achievement, to others like par for a miserable course.

In the top of the fifth, Volquez retired Mark Ellis, and then, improbably even for the future past Dodger, walked Juan Uribe, A.J. Ellis and Zack Greinke in succession to load the bases. Skip Schumaker hit into a force play at second base but stayed out of an inning-ending double play, with Uribe scoring for a 1-0 lead.

In a sense, from those humble beginnings, the Dodgers did not look back until October.

Six straight wins, 10-1 in 11 games, 16-3 in 19 games, 23-5 in 28 games, 32-7 in 39 games. They lost to St. Louis to put them at .800 ball over a 40-game stretch … then ripped off 10 more wins in a row. The magic figure: 42-8. And even after the flame was turned down from high, the heat continued all the way to the NLCS.

This year has not been without its frustrations, but on June 22, 2014, the Dodgers find themselves with the third-best record in the National League, four games behind San Francisco and five behind Milwaukee. Over the past 365 days, the Dodgers have gone 103-63, the best record in the Majors and 12 more wins than any other NL team.

To say the least, there has been plenty to celebrate since June 22, 2013 … and something even bigger to yearn for. Hopefully, the bonus candle on the cake will come this fall.