(Editor’s note: The following is a guest piece submitted by Dodgers fan Gail Johnson, who resides in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada – exactly 3,473 miles from Dodger Stadium).

It is my first baseball memory – I am being carried by my father into the living room in my childhood home. It’s October 21, 1980 – Game-6 of the 1980 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Kansas City Royals – and my father has just woke me up to watch the ninth inning. Since I was eight years old at the time I only remember two things about that night: 1) feeling very happy in those special moments I was spending with Dad; and 2) Tug McGraw throwing his glove in the air after striking out the final batter.

Although I don’t recall how often I watched games or exactly how it all started, I had apparently shown some interest in baseball that summer and because of that, Dad wanted me to see the final pitch of the season. Looking back, I’m grateful he did, as it started my lifelong affair with the sport of baseball and, unknowingly, it started preparing me at an early age for the lack of sleep and late night adventures that would one day become part of my life as a Dodgers fan living in a time zone far, far away – and about as far as one can get from Dodger Stadium and still keep their feet dry.

Dodger Stadium – Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
(Click on map to enlarge)

It took me a very long time to get to this point as I was very much a die-hard, dedicated and devoted Montreal Expos fan throughout the 80’s, following them loyally until their demise in 2004 when they moved to Washington DC and became the Nationals. I soon lost interest in the game and baseball and I went our separate ways.

I would always make a point of watching baseball during the playoffs and inevitably find a story/player/team that interested me (I was still a fan, deep down), but life had other things planned for me over the years, and none of these involved pursuing my love of the sport that had been a lifeline of sorts for me during the 80’s.

When the internet age came upon us and information became easier and easier to find, I was able to continue my interest in following the career of the athlete/coach I have admired for the past 34 years – current Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach. But despite the connection I thought I would always have to the sport, baseball and I didn’t find each other again until the spring of 2014, when I re-discovered my childhood love of the game.

At the time, late March 2014, I was a lost soul and going through a very difficult time in my life. I had struggled with depression for most of my adult life but up until this point it had never affected my ability to function at my job – but now it was. Although I was finally getting help, the illness took me away from my job for two months and it would get worse before it got better. I craved the ability to focus, needed routine, comfort and something to look forward to as I slowly moved forward with the end goal of finally getting my depression under control. That something was baseball – more specifically the Dodgers. They became that routine, comfort and hope I needed – and just at the right time.

I still remember turning the TV on that Saturday morning in late March and discovering that the Dodgers were beginning their season in Australia. Needing something to focus on and enjoy, I decided quickly that with the time off work that I had never had before, and needing to keep my mind busy, I would throw myself into the baseball season right from the beginning. I had enjoyed watching the team during the 2013 playoffs – mainly because I wanted to see Tim Wallach finally get to the World Series – but I had no idea at the time how quickly enamored with this team I would become.

I may never have fallen for this team if it hadn’t been for Clayton Kershaw and his magnificence that season. Throughout April 2014 I followed closely through MLB Network coverage and would luck out here and there with Dodgers games on regular television. As I started to feel that childhood baseball excitement return, just after Josh Beckett threw his no-hitter in Philadelphia on May 25 on a bright and sunny day, I felt hopeful and on the mend, and I signed up for a full MLB.TV subscription. Now all games were available to me and I was hooked. I also started following other Dodgers fans/writers/bloggers on Twitter and discovered there were a lot of funny, passionate people out there who loved baseball even more than I did.

I returned to work on June 2 and from that point on Kershaw went 19-2. I was also feeling much more like myself at home and at work. I like to think that Kershaw and I both made big comebacks that year. His June 18, 2014 no-hitter was the beginning of my devotion to late-night watching, as there was no way I was missing even one pitch of the game that would become one of the greatest pitching performances in baseball history. I turned the TV off at 3:30 am (my time) knowing I wouldn’t take a chance of missing any of his remaining starts. All of a sudden I felt that same personal connection to the game that I had experienced as a youngster and teenager.

Previously, and living in an all-Blue Jays market (not to mention being 3,500 miles away from Dodger Stadium), I may have gone an entire season and only been able to catch two or three Dodgers games on television, so I had really only heard and read about this Clayton Kershaw guy and his mastery. I had seen him pitch in the 2013 playoffs and knew he was good, but now that I was seeing the Dodgers up close on a regular basis, I had a closer look at the way his presence and leadership was affecting the team and I finally understood what all of the fuss was about.

Like Wallach when I was growing up, I quickly came to admire Kershaw’s leadership style, professionalism and drive to play well; and most importantly, how great of a teammate he seemed to be. The 2014 season with Kershaw’s mastery was a true joy to watch, even though it ended in heartbreaking fashion in St Louis.

Throughout the winter I looked forward to spring training and a new beginning for the Dodgers. During that off-season I received an invitation from Ron Cervenka to join the ThinkBlueLA forum, where I met some very friendly people who were as passionate about the game as I was. I took care of some health issues over the winter and with a new perspective on life, I couldn’t wait for the new season to begin.

I saw a quote recently that spoke to me: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”. For me, at this point in my life at least, this team, this year, did exactly that. Because of the way the 2014 season had abruptly ended, I felt like this team with its two future Hall of Fame pitchers just deserved to win. By the end of spring training I was heavily invested and ready to go with my full MLB.TV subscription up and running. We had a record snowfall last winter in this part of Canada, so in more ways than one, spring couldn’t come soon enough.

Now that the 2015 season is over and with close to 200 games under my belt, I question myself on why exactly I watched every … single … game the Dodgers played this year. Although I’m no longer concerned about what other people think about what I choose to do, I’m sure some may speculate as to why I would knowingly deprive myself of sleep (and often my sanity) to watch all of these games. The answers are simple: because I wanted to and because I could.

I didn’t start out this year planning on watching every game. Work is as busy as ever and with my depression under control, I keep busy with my job, my new house, playing on a co-ed softball team and spending time with friends. To lead a productive life I figured I was going to need to sleep at night on a regular basis – I’m certainly not getting any younger – so initially I was only going to stay up late for weekend games… and Kershaw’s starts, of course. And then I figured I couldn’t miss any Greinke starts either; and then maybe I would just watch this one home game, even though it’s getting kind of late because it’s REALLY important that they win this one. It then quickly became obvious that this year’s team was capable of mounting late-inning comebacks, so I didn’t want to miss it any of those either. And there was no reason to miss any road games because they usually don’t end as late as the home games did. The next thing I knew, we were almost at the All-Star Break and I had seen every game – so why stop now? There would be plenty of time to catch up on my sleep in the off-season – after the Dodgers won the World Series.

Like every real Dodgers fan, you won’t find Gail Johnson without her Dodgers hat  – even on a golf course in New Brunswick, Canada. (Photo courtesy of @GJOH29)

I’m grateful that I am at a point in my life where circumstances allow me to even do something like this. Everything that I have experienced, and all of the people in my life, have led me to where I am today. I no longer dwell on what I don’t have like my younger self did and instead focus on what I do have. Marriage and children is not in the cards for everyone but I possess a very long list of people and things that I am grateful for, knowing full well that there are many people in the world who can’t say the same.

I just got to spend the last seven months doing something I love – living and breathing Dodgers baseball – and for that I consider myself very fortunate. While my life is decidedly different in a lot of ways than those of most of my friends, the real ones understand my passion and accept it as part of who I am. For me, in a lot of ways, following the team also helped me to cure the loneliness I may have otherwise felt on the nights and weekends where friends were busy with their own families and doing things that they themselves were passionate about. Baseball and the Dodgers have simply become a very important part of this point in my life.

I like to think that regardless of what life has managed to throw at me over the years, I have remained a loyal person, which has served me well as a Dodgers fan. I’ve always believed that any real “fan” has to be, but that it’s still possible to be both loyal and slightly pessimist/cynical at times. We’re only human after all and these are the Dodgers, and it is a long season.

There certainly were some ups and downs this year, but I didn’t feel panicked – only slightly concerned at times. In fact, this season helped me stay level-headed as I realized that some weeks, whether the team had won or not was really my biggest concern in life. Anyone who can say that and mean it is truly living the dream, as they say.

I have always enjoyed the “human” side of the game as much as the action on the field and to me it was obvious right away that the Dodgers had a much more balanced clubhouse with their stable veteran leadership. I admire the poise of Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick, the absolute class and professionalism of Clayton Kershaw, along with the personality and intelligence of A.J. Ellis, and hope someday I can learn to carry myself that way in my day to day life.

I have a lot of respect for Don Mattingly and what he has done with this clubhouse over the last three seasons knowing first-hand that managing people is no easy feat even when the going is good and especially when it is not. The Twitterverse is full of armchair managers and coaches and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but the fact remains that none of us fans has guided the team to the playoffs three years in a row like Mattingly did.

As in life, each baseball season holds many storylines, ups, and downs.  Here are my personal highlights and lowlights from the just concluded 2015 season:

Highs:

• Greinke and Kershaw. I appreciated and savoured every moment of each of their starts this year, knowing full well that I was witnessing history with one of the, if not the, greatest 1-2 performances I will see in my lifetime.  (Or more like 1 and 1A?)
• The season of Andre Ethier. I had a dream during spring training, during all of the trade talks, that he would come up big for the team this year, and that there was a reason he wasn’t traded. I’m glad I was right.
• Kenley Jansen returning from the DL in fine form.
• The Rally Banana. I admit it – I was swept up into Kiké-mania from the start.
• Chris Hatcher’s mid-season comeback.
• Trading for Chase Utley (I stand behind this statement).
• Corey Seager’s September allowing us a very pleasant glimpse into the future.
• The fun of riding the Dodgers roller coaster with the “Dodger Fam” on Twitter – at times both hilarious and comforting. Any game I watched on “tape delay” wasn’t nearly as entertaining.   Thanks @andylanechapman!
• The pennant-clinching game against the Giants on September 29. Complete strangers, fellow Dodger fans, sent links through Twitter to the postgame celebrations to allow this far away fan to enjoy the moment even more.

Lows:

• The second half of both Joc Pederson and Yasmani Grandal. Truly hard to watch.
• McCarthy and Ryu’s season-ending injuries. It’s hard not to think about what might have been with this rotation.
• All things Puig.
• The Juan Uribe trade.
• Mat Latos.
• Hamstrings.

As the years continue on I will remain a Dodgers fan for life, even while coaches and players I admire move on – which they inevitably will. I also realize that the stars may not always be aligned the way they were this year, allowing me to watch so many games. Priorities, even for someone like me with no children of my own, will continue to change, life circumstances may change, or I may just want to catch up on my sleep. But for the last seven months – with life the way it is right now – I’m grateful that I was able to do what I did.

I am already contemplating that for next season, I will just stay up late for weekend games; and Kershaw’s starts; and Greinke’s starts (if he returns); and road games, of course, since the games aren’t as late. Oh, and every home game too – because I don’t want to miss even one minute of Vin Scully’s last year in the broadcast booth.

After all, there will be plenty of time to catch up on my sleep in the off-season – after the Dodgers win the World Series.