What else can baseball fans do in January but dream of October? In You May Say I'm a Dreamer, the Outside Corner staff will imagine the route to a World Series in 2013 title for all 30 teams.
The Dodgers came into 2013 with an enormous payroll, and their tremendous expenditures resulted in the desired outcome: a World Series title. Los Angeles' return to glory was long-awaited by their fanbase, and the Dodgers' ascension to being the west coast version of the Yankees was completed with the championship.
As has been the norm in Los Angeles for years, the Dodgers were led by their starting rotation. Zack Greinke shrugged off his elbow inflammation from the spring, throwing 203 innings with a 2.70 ERA and 200 strikeouts. Clayton Kershaw was an effective complement to Greinke, throwing 218 innings, striking out 225, and posting a 2.52 ERA. Josh Beckett put together a 185 inning season, highlighted by a 3.45 ERA and 168 strikeouts. How can teams even compete with a trio like that at the top of the rotation?
The Dodgers' bullpen also had a pretty solid year. Kenley Jansen pitched so well that he stole the closer's job from the highly-paid Brandon League, striking out 87 in 62 innings and pitching to a dynamite 1.89 ERA. Ronald Belisario struck out 71 in 72 innings with a 2.25 ERA. Newly-signed JP Howell was an extremely effective situational reliever, striking out 40 in 52 innings with a 2.60 ERA.
Offensively, the Dodgers also held their own. Matt Kemp joined the 40/40 club after hitting 41 homers and stealing 42 bases while OPSing 1.022 and winning the NL MVP award. Adrian Gonzalez returned to his old form in 2013, homering 31 times with a .974 OPS. Hanley Ramirez's thumb injury only caused him to miss the first week of the season, and he hit 22 homers and stole 24 bases in his first full season with the Dodgers. Right fielder Andre Ethier continued to uphold his reputation as a "run producer", tallying 121 RBI despite just 18 homers and a .798 OPS.
The Los Angeles juggernaut won 99 games and the NL West crown, lapping their hated rivals in San Francisco in the process. In the NLDS, the Dodgers faced off with the wild card winning Cardinals, and swept them out of the playoffs in three games. In the NLCS, the Dodgers faced off with the Nationals, and beat up the NL East champions in a five game series victory. Finally in the World Series, the Dodgers faced their southern California rival, the Angels, and beat them in five games to win their first championship since 1988.
Dodgers on TOC
End of Season Postmortem
2013 Season Preview
You May Say I'm a Dreamer
2013 Burning Question (1:30 PM)
This Is My Nightmare (3:00 PM)
2013 X-Factor (4:30 PM)
