Baseball is a team sport. It is a sport that is best enjoyed with as many fellow die-hard fans as can be packed into a stadium, especially when joined by family and friends. It is a sport where a home run or other exciting play can turn total strangers into high-fiving fist bumping best of friends in an instant, even if only for a brief moment in time. It is a sport where 50,000 fans unite as one, whether to bask together in the glory of a win or commiserate together in the pain of a loss. It is the greatest sport in the world, it’s as simple as that.

But baseball is also an individual sport, not the game itself but specific moments that occur during a game, a series or a season that we individually deem as great moments. For some it’s a crucial home run or even a simple key base hit, for others it’s a game-saving catch or a clutch strikeout of an opponent to end an inning or game with the bases loaded. And even though the 2014 season painfully ended in near-identical fashion as it did in 2013 for the Dodgers, there were many great moments that will stay with us for our remaining days; moments that we will fondly recall time and again with fellow Dodger fans for years to come.

As I reflect back on the highs and lows of the 2014 season I can think of a number of great Dodger moments, but when pressed to come up with my individual top three greatest moments they actually come very easy to me. Although it is difficult to exclude the home opener as one of the top three greatest moments of any baseball season, I have to do just that – if for no other reason than I have been blessed to have experienced 60 of them in my lifetime, albeit I have no recollection whatsoever of the first four or five.

Here are my top three greatest Dodger moments of 2014:

Number Three – Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Dodgers clinch their second consecutive National League West title by pounding the Giants 9-1 at Dodger Stadium. Clayton Kershaw got the win – his MLB-best 21st of the season.

Number Two – Saturday, October 4, 2014

Matt Kemp’s dramatic eighth-inning solo home run in Game-2 of the NLDS to break a 2-2 tie to give the Dodgers the eventual 3-2 win. “I felt like I was floating around the bases,” said Kemp after the game.

Number One – Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Clayton Kershaw tosses his first career no-hitter while striking out a career-high 15 and walking none. It was ranked the most dominant pitching performance during a no-hitter by Game Score. Were it not for a Hanley Ramirez throwing error in the seventh inning it would have been the 24th perfect game in baseball history.

I was blessed to be able to share my first-ever live and in-person no-hitter with my son and daughter. My daughter had flown in earlier that day from New York for a visit. As you might have guessed, both are die-hard Dodger fans (go figure).

Honorable Mention – Sunday, May 25, 2014

Dodgers catcher Drew Butera and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez congratulate Josh Beckett on his no-hitter on May 25, 2014. “Just get me 10 runs, play great defense and I’ll take care of the rest,” the good-natured Beckett would tell his teammates before every game. Although his teammates gave him six runs, he only needed one on this historic day.
(Photo credit – Eric Hartline)

Josh Beckett receives honorable mention for his first (and only) career no-hitter on May 25, 2014 against the Phillies at Citizen Bank Park. Beckett’s no-no probably would have made it into my top three had it occurred at Dodger Stadium. The 34-year old Spring, Texas native recently announced his retirement after an outstanding 14-year MLB career, during which he won two World Championships and was a three time All-Star. Ironically, I was sitting in JFK Airport in New York following the game on MLB At-Bat on my smartphone. I had just finished spending a week vising my daughter. (Do you see a pattern here?).

What about you? What were your greatest Dodger moments of 2014?