Philip George, Spring 2009 Assistant Sports Editor
Travel back in time 50 years to a time where the westernmost Major League Baseball team resided in St. Louis, to a time in which the only baseball team Southern California had ever known was the Hollywood Stars, and to a time where visionary Brooklyn Dodgers’ owner Walter O’Malley would change that forever.
The 2008 season marks the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers historic move to Los Angeles, and what a 50 years it has been.
The Dodgers have become to the city of Los Angeles what the Statue of Liberty has become to New York, the Gateway Arches to St. Louis and the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco – a cornerstone.
To Dodger Nation, merely speaking the words “Los Angeles” evokes vivid images of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game against the Cubs in 1965, of the cohesion of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey in the 1970s, of Kirk Gibson’s legendary trot – or limp – around the bases in the 1988 World Series and of course of Vin Scully.
The legendary broadcaster began his career with the Dodgers in 1950 and has narrated every single shining moment of their history since. For 58 years, Dodger fans young and old have been able to hear his signature opening, “It’s time for Dodger baseball,” prior to nearly every game. In Los Angeles, Scully is Dodger baseball.
But while the Dodgers’ history in Los Angeles has been a rich one indeed, what catches the eye more than the 50-year anniversary is the 20-year one – 20 years without a world championship.
The last time the Dodgers achieved October glory was in 1988 as underdogs over the mighty Oakland Athletics, but they have been quiet ever since.
Even though the 1990s introduced us to Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo and Todd Hollandsworth, the Dodgers’ five consecutive Rookie of the Year award winners, Los Angeles only reached the playoffs twice in that span and failed to win a single game. This decade so far has been no different.
Through all the disappointment, however, through the drought, the losing, and the longing for the glory days past, the Dodger faithful refuse to bury their heads. There is hope for change.
In fact, the Dodgers enter 2008 with a sort of throwback to those glory days. The young core of Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, and Chad Billingsley may remind fans of the homegrown 1981 team that achieved immortality in October with tri-MVPs Pedro Guerrero, Ron Cey and Steve Yeager, or even all the way back to the Brooklyn era which saw the likes of Duke Snider, Gil Hodges and Jackie Robinson defeat the Yankees in 1955.
The stars are aligned in the Los Angeles sky this season, and every fan who dons the Dodger insignia and heads out to the stadium knows that this could be it-that next year could finally be here.
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