July 23rd, 2013 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Yep, I’m one of them. I’m one of the many Dodger fans who threw my towel in back in May. It was the earliest I have ever given up on the only team I have ever supported. And though I continued to support them and root for them while attending every Dodger home game (and several away games), I was already secretly counting down the days until pitchers and catchers report for spring training 2014.
For the last two weeks of May through the first three weeks of June, I watched and suffered as the Dodgers fell deep into last place in the NL West. So deep, in fact, that when I left JFK Airport on June 22 after spending 10 days in the Big Apple to watch the Dodgers play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the 1981 World Series (and to spend week and a half visiting with my daughter who lives there), the Dodgers were 9.5 games behind the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks.
But then something unusual happened – the Dodgers began winning… and winning… and winning some more. In fact, from June 22 to July 22, the Dodgers won 21 games and lost only 5 – that’s .807 baseball, folks! As a lifelong Dodger fan, I can’t remember such a turnaround. The Dodgers weren’t just squeaking wins either, they were flat out pounding their opponents.
What turned it around for the Dodgers? There’s no disputing that Yasiel Puig’s emergence had a great deal to do with it, but it is impossible to deny that Hanley Ramirez’s torrid hot streak since returning from the disabled list on June 4 (the day after Puig arrived) had as much or more to do with the Dodgers run from worst to first as did the suddenly ice cold Yasiel Puig. It is also hard to ignore the suddenly hot hitting by Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier as well.
During a pre-game interview with Adrian Gonzalez back in early June, AGon said: “We should get most of our guys back (from the DL) by the end of the month. Let’s see how we play then.” If the 4-time All-star and 3-time Gold Glove winning first baseman isn’t a prophet, he should be because he was spot on. When Ramirez, Crawford and Kemp (for 10 days) returned from the DL, the team stabilized and began it’s incredible run to the top of the division – and it was a team effort. Each game it would be a different two or three guys carrying the torch… well, except for that Ramirez guy who seems to have a torch in his hand every game. The starting rotation and the bullpen have also be spectacular as well.
After spending most of the 2013 season on the DL, Hanley Ramirez returned to the Dodger line-up on June 4 and is hitting .393 with a .447 OBP and an incredible 1.164 OPS.
(Photo credit – David Zalubowski)
As I said, I had given up on the 2013 Dodgers back in May and I owe them an apology for doing so and for doubting them. To quote a line from the 2005 baseball movie ‘Fever Pitch’ – “You love the Red Sox, but have they ever loved you back?” Well, I love the Dodgers and they are loving me back.
Thank you, Dodgers. Thank you.
Posted in 
@Think_BlueLA I think a lot of people owe the #Dodgers an apology. Especially for Mattingly
I said from the beginning the Dodgers would be very good or very bad in 2013, not average. I couldn’t have guessed they would be both very bad and very good.
There is still a long ways to go and anything can happen, especially if injuries hit the lineup again. I do expect other teams have now taken notice of the Dodgers and the snickering has ceased.
I don’t feel a need to apologize for the doubts I had in 2013 after having gone to the last out before elimination every year for the past 24 years, always with hope.
This has really been an exciting run, very unbelievable. At the moment the race is very close between the Dodgers and the D-backs and the Dodgers are really very hot. Now the big thing will be to expand the 1/2 game lead as much as possible as we head towards October.
I think the rest of the regular season should be very exciting.
Yes, the Dodgers also got a break that the NL West is sort of a wreck right now, although I still think the Giants could get their act together at anytime. For me, the surprise came when the team decided to dump so much of the bullpen as quickly as they did. I never liked League to begin(as I’ve often stated, if two losing franchises decided he was more a problem than a solution, how good could he be) but I didn’t expect a full house cleaning. One minute the team looked bad for dumping Kevin Gregg and the next minute Withrow, Dominguez, and Rodriguez have turned into a lot of fun to watch.
I too haven’t counted the giants out. They do effective things at the deadline it seems.
I was not a League fan either having watched him pitch for a few years with the Blue Jays.
I think Onelki Garcia or Yimi Garcia might be the next young Dodger to make it to the bullpen. That all depends on how Marmol comes along.
I think Lilly gets the first shot at the bullpen. I fear that Little Pedro may go on the DL with his quad injury from yesterday to make room. After that, who knows??
I’m still good with a Brandon League mystery injury & DL.
I always felt there would be a little run at some point but maybe too late to make it interesting. I don’t think anyone counted on a total NL West collapse which can’t be counted on for the rest of the season. SF is going to turn it around at some point and make it interesting. Would be good for those series to count for both teams at the end of the season.