MLB: Three Teams to Love in the Pennant Race (Part II)

Yet hope sprung eternal when Rudy Seanez came on to pitch the 10th for the Padres. Seanez started by ominously walking Kenny Lofton to bring up Nomar Garciaparra, (aka The Unhappiest Man In America After Boston Broke The Curse) a former star shortstop who had toiled in injury and mediocrity since being traded from the Red Sox in 2004. He became a star again here with one swing, drilling a trademark line drive homerun to left, winning an impossible game 11-10 and putting the Dodgers in first place in the West. Even the patrons of Los Angeles would tell you, no amount of illegal drugs could equal the high of that game’s conclusion.

Why else would any one game in a 162-game pennant race be described in such detail? Simply because it may be the game of the year, and the defining game of the 2006 Dodgers, and national league pennant race. It vaulted the Dodgers ahead of the Padres in the standings where they remained only briefly, but had they lost, they certainly would not still be alive in the race at all.

If Dodger fans hadn’t had enough, Nomar reprised his role of local hero once again the following Sunday. With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the 9th against the Diamondbacks, Garciaparra came up with the bases loaded and this time torched one to centerfield for a walk-off grand slam to win yet another game. Some officially began to wonder if Nomar had switched bodies with former teammate David “Big Papi” Ortiz for the week, nailing two unfathomable walk off homeruns in a week in the thick of a pennant race.

Yet the Dodgers are now in danger, as they trail in both the wildcard and NL West races, and face the last six games of the season on the road. They will certainly need help from outside forces in order to survive for another month. Yet no matter what the final result of this Dodgers season is, or who wins these playoff spots, no team will challenge LA’s heart.

Published 2006-09-27 in Sports-Central.org and English.OhMyNews.com

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