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Unlikely cast lifts Dodgers to 4th straight crown
- Updated: September 26, 2016
LOS ANGELES — Not since the last Dodgers World Series squad of 1988 has Vin Scully called a more improbable first-place team than the 2016 edition, which clinched a fourth consecutive division title Sunday.
The Dodgers accomplished their mission with an unprecedented 32 placements on the disabled list, including almost the entire starting rotation. Clayton Kershaw was down for 2 1/2 months, and for most of the season Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brett Anderson, Brandon McCarthy and Alex Wood were out.
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When Kershaw went down in late June, they trailed the Giants by eight games.
“Obviously it looked bleak for a second, eight games out, but the way the team responded to all the injuries, and the consistency from the position players, that gets overlooked,” Kershaw said.
Despite all of the injuries, the Dodgers have been remarkably consistent this year. They had only one losing month (12-13 in April) and finished strong (16-6 so far in September). They trailed by 5 1/2 games coming out of the All-Star break on July 15 and were in first place to stay by Aug. 21. They were 11 games above .500 in the first half and are 12 games above .500 in the second half.
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No small contributing factors: the Dodgers went 42-28 within a rather weak division and were a dominant 53-28 at home. And, the Giants collapsed. They were 49-28 on June 26, 33-46 since.
As a result, the Dodgers are the first team in NL West history to win the division in four consecutive seasons, with at least 90 wins each year. The last MLB team to win four straight division titles was the Detroit Tigers (2011-14, AL Central) and the last NL club to do so was the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the NL East in five consecutive seasons from 2007-11.
Dave Roberts joined Tommy Lasorda (1977) as the only rookie managers to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a division title, while president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and …
