Steve Webb
Perfection. That’s what it was. Sheer perfection. Yes, the Dodgers swept the Nationals, but that was just the beginning of how awesome the opening weekend at Dodger Stadium was. For the first time since that rotten loss against these same Nationals in the playoffs in 2019, paying customers were moving through the turnstiles all weekend. MLB network featured the Friday game and the one on Sunday on their national broadcast. There were celebrations and commemorations before every game. And all of it came off without a hitch. Sheer perfection.
Since I wasn’t lucky enough to be in that Home Opener crowd on Friday, I can only imagine the emotion that must have been swirling around the stadium as the Dodgers faithful watched our boys get their championship rings in the pregame ceremony. Everything about the ceremony was choreographed for maximum fan pleasure. The groovy player introductions, the boxes with the cool video screen, the blingiest ring ever.
And then to top it off, Walker Buehler et al pitch a gem and the Dodgers wipe the bad memory of Wednesday’s loss in Oakland right out of their minds. Plus, we get to welcome back our almost-lost sheep Justin Turner in style as he rounded the bases with the game’s only run. It was perfect.
The only thing missing from Friday’s ceremony was honored the very next night. The saddest thing about the ring festivities is that our beloved Tommy Lasorda wasn’t there to bask in the glow of the Dodgers first championship since the fabled 1988 season. But with the honors bestowed upon him in the pregame ceremony the next day, it felt as if the spirit of the man who bled Dodger blue was definitely looking down from the Dodgertown in the sky. Again, perfect.
Now when I was a student, I had a teacher who admonished me for saying the words “more perfect”. He argued if a thing was already perfect, it couldn’t be more so. But I beg to differ. Sunday’s game, with the Fernando Valenzuela tribute beforehand and the classic pitchers’ duel between Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.
And the cherry on the top of the day was the lockdown close from Kenley Jansen that made me almost think that the last three seasons hadn’t even happened.
And I don’t care what Mr. Adams says. It made the weekend “more perfect”.
