It’s almost impossible to explain. How can the L.A. Dodgers be so good year and year, and yet fall so short come playoff time?
On Wednesday night, the Dodgers blew a 3-0 lead and lost to the Washington Nationals in the 10th inning of Game 5 of a best-of-five National League Divisional Series. Los Angeles has won seven straight division titles, yet has not won a World Series since 1988.
The star of the rotation, Clayton Kershaw, came on in relief in the deciding game and gave up back-to-back home runs to allow the Nationals to erase a 3-1 deficit. Then, in the top of the 10th, a stunned L.A. crowd watched the Nationals’ Howie Kendrick hit a grand slam.
Fans were running over Kershaw jerseys with their cars, and taking aim at the team on social media when the game was over. It was over the top, sure, but I can sympathize with ticket-buyers who invest time and money to see their team fail time and time again.