Dodger Thoughts

Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 6 p.m.

From: Jon Weisman
To: Dodger Fans of Later Tonight

If you’re reading this, then the Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched the 2014 National League West title, automatically activating the Opposite-of-Doomsday Dodger Insider Publications Scenario.

I can only imagine the wonders of the world you are living in, thousands upon thousands of seconds in the future. No doubt you travel to and from Dodger Stadium by jetpack, and the bioscience industry has invented cures for all the world’s ills.

For you, the NL West race is a thing of the past, a tale of yore, and no doubt details have grown fuzzy and obfuscated over the passing minutes. But while still deep in that ancient time, I wanted to preserve some details and remembrances — a primary source if you will.

So whisk the dust off the long-ago, and recall with me these memories of the Dodgers’ 2014 regular season.

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Hanley Ramirez is safe at home with the Dodgers’ final run in their 4-3 victory July 27 over the Giants. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

It’s September showdown time for the Dodgers and Giants. Two or three games apart in the National League West standings, pending the Giants’ game against Arizona today, Los Angeles and San Francisco play six times in the two weeks, beginning with three at AT&T Park this weekend.

But even after September and the regular season end, the Dodgers and Giants might square off for a series of super-heavyweight bouts.

First, there’s the possibility of an NL West tiebreaker game on September 29, should the two teams finish even in the standings. Home-field advantage for that game will be determined by head-to-head records. San Francisco currently holds that advantage, 7-6, with the six games remaining.

Also, if both teams advance to the playoffs — a good possibility, given San Francisco’s 1 1/2-game lead in the wild-card standings — the Giants and Dodgers could meet in the postseason for the first time since … well, technically, ever, although the two teams had their epic NL tiebreaker series in 1951 and 1962.

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Since the wild-card era began in 1994, the Dodgers and Giants have never been in the playoffs in the same year. The 2014 MLB postseason schedule can be found here.

A Giants-Dodgers playoff battle could come as soon as the National League Division Series. Since 2012, there has been no prohibition against teams from the same division playing in the first round of the postseason. As of this writing, the Dodgers are .001 behind Washington for the best record in the NL, with St. Louis 3 1/2 games back and San Francisco in between — whoever emerges on top will play the winner of the wild-card game.

And if the Giants and Dodgers are in separate NLDS contests, they could reunite for the National League Championship Series, a concept that is forcing me to do all I can not to make earthquake comparisons.

I need to catch my breath just thinking about that.

Getting ahead of myself? Sure. The Dodgers themselves are focused on Friday’s game; I can picture Don Mattingly’s eye-roll if you asked him about next month.

But if your heart starts beating as fast as ever in October, don’t say you weren’t warned.

As for Dodgers-Angels in the World Series? Even I won’t start speculating about that yet.

By Jon Weisman

Below is a list of every team the Dodgers have played in the regular season and again in the postseason or in a tiebreaker situation. This is to answer the question, “Do regular-season matchups predict postseason results?”

In 23 playoff matchups involving the Dodgers, the team that won the regular-season series also won the playoff series all of eight times.

I refer you to 1988 and 1983 for the most powerful examples. If you’re fretting about what the Brewers’ 5-1 record against the Dodgers means, if the two teams play in the postseason, guess what? Fret no more …