Dodgers Fans and the Dreaded World Series Hangover
It can be deeply unpleasant and often brings out the worst in its victims, who swear they are never going to put themselves through this kind of pain ever again. Certain death feels imminent. Life as you know it is over. What I’ve described here, friends, is not the Dodgers on a bad losing stretch, but rather, the effects of the dreaded hangover.
This is what the proverbial World Series Hangover looks like to us fans, and like it or not, we are living it. Thankfully, the best part of a hangover is that eventually its effects pass, and you come out feeling like a new person with a renewed lease on life.
When Game 7 of the 2017 World Series ended with a whimper, fans has spent the previous 9 innings dying a slow death. I didn’t even watch the last putout, and it remains the only Dodgers game from last season that I vow to never lay eyes on again. At the time I didn’t even want to watch the whole game, but also, couldn’t not watch.
Due to a prior family commitment, I had to drive out of province on 3 hours sleep the next morning and while trying to put up a brave front, felt like dying on the inside, but yet, time marched on. Regardless of how we processed that last devastating loss, Dodgers baseball was over and for each of us, and eventually we found other life pursuits to take up the space in our minds and hearts that the Dodgers had occupied for seven unforgettable months in 2017.
But as fans, did we really heal? As the 2018 campaign began, there was surely still some pent up anger and resentment over the way the season ended, and how heartbreakingly close we had come to witnessing something that most of us have only dreamed of seeing in our lifetimes.
Now that the Dodgers have gotten off to a less than inspiring start, it’s become quite apparent that it was almost inevitable that most of us fans would have high expectations for our team, and that anything less than perfection would be a major disappointment.
Analysis
Many among us, in our adult lives, have experienced a hangover or two. Some of us, including yours truly, were once experts in the field, so I am here today to tell you that this too shall pass, as hangovers inevitably do. April will turn into May, the Dodgers will start putting it all together again, and the next thing we know it will be the Dog Days of Summer…and life will be good again.
Until then, hydrate, medicate, and get plenty of rest. We’re going to need you in tip top shape for the post-season party.
Brilliant, well-written essay (too good for a blog) by Gail Johnson. I agree with all of it, except her optimistic conclusion. As a life-long Dodger fan and pessimist, I am afraid the Dodgers missed their best opportunity last year in over 30 years. Their last team as good as the 2017 team was the 1981 championship team, when that historic infield and other players of character finally beat the evil empire to win the series in six games, at Yankee Stadium, even better than at home because the Yankee “fans” left early, as they do when they don’t win.
I agree with the Jim Izzo comments. Brilliant and well written. I was extremely disappointed in the outcome of entire World Series and still DISAPPOINTED. Poor play and BAD management decisions all around. Kerchaw should have pitched the last game of the World Series. That would have been our best chance. You put the best out there when it is all on the line, not a pitcher who has already been beatn twice. It seemed like the Dodgers were their worst enemy, as I feel the series shouldn’t have even gone to a seventh game. The Dodgers had opportunity after opportunity to avoid putting their fans through the agony of a game 7. I think last year was their best opportunity to WIN IT ALL and I was terribly disappointed the season ended the way it did because I am CERTAIN we will not see a repeat of the miracle season of 2017. When I use the word miracle, I mean the way the team played as a unit. A true miracle season would have ended with a World Series Title. I am certain as well that Houston fans will not see a repeat of their miracle season. It just doesn’t happen in baseball anymore. To many trades and stupid moves in the off season. To many players getting hurt, etc. Last year they let me down so much I am still finding it hard to even follow the team on a daily basis as I have in previous years. There is a lot of competition in the division this year, even more so than in previous years. It’s going to be tough on the team living in the disappointing shadow of last year’s FAILED season. That’s how most people see it. It doesn’t matter what your final record is, if you don’t win it all, you fall short of the expectation you set for yourself at the start of spring training. Even the great Tommy Lasorda told Roberts after game 6 last year that it doesn’t mean a thing until you win the next one. Game six was awesome but if they would have played like that throughout the whole series we wouldn’t even be contemplating a game 7. That is basically what Lasorda was saying. People remember failures more than they do winners, especially after you had so many opportunities to avoid a game 7 implosion. That is what people will remember about the 2017 Dodgers….THE EMBARRASSING IMPLOSION of a team that was predicted to WIN IT ALL. Still very bitter and very disappointed. This years team isn’t the same team that was on the field last year. Just as it is hard for a fan to get past last years FAILURE, imagine how hard it is mentally for a player to FORGET. I am sure it affects the way each player plays. Confidence has been shattered and they are ALL wondering how they can live up to the dream season of last year, when even the dream season didn’t produce a WORLD SERIES TITLE. Obviously, the effects are showing early in the season. I am not sure they can rise above the disappointment any more than this fan can. I wish them the best but when I see the team play, I only see a team consistently falling short of the BIG PRIZE, a team AFRAID that they may never be CHAMPIONS after letting the chance of a lifetime SLIP through their fingers. So close means nothing and is worth nothing to this disillusioned fan.