For most Dodger fans, it wasn’t a matter of if their beloved team was going to win their eighth consecutive National League West Divisional title, but a matter of when. After all, they led the division for all but a couple of days during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, while maintaining the highest winning percentage (currently .709 with five games remaining) and slugging the most home runs (104) of any team in the MLB.

But even with the expectation that they would win the West, it wasn’t a given, and it most certainly didn’t come without a few anxious moments.

“It’s been awesome, they all count, you can’t take it for granted, you can’t assume this every year, and we’ve been on a pretty special run,” Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager told reporters after the Dodgers 7-2 win over the American League West champion Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium to clinch their eighth consecutive NL West title. “It’s been really fun to be a part of.

“You just never know, you have injuries, you have this and that, it’s not guaranteed, you have to play well for a really long time,” Seager added. “In this one, you had to turn it on right away; you have one bad week and it sets you back. It’s still baseball and you never know what’s going to happen, and to do it eight in a row is pretty cool.”

With MLB’s recently imposed rule that teams clinching a division, league, or even World Series are not allowed to celebrate with alcohol, Tuesday night’s clubhouse celebration was significantly muted.

“To not be able to do it kinda sucks,” said Seager. “There’s some young guys in there that haven’t really been able to have that experience, and if they have, it’s been only once, and you feel for those guys.”

But champagne and beer aside, literally, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reflected on a season that, at one point, he didn’t think was even going to happen.

“It’s been really bizarre. I recall a time a few months ago where I didn’t know if we were going to even have a season this year,” Roberts said. “So, to now, fast-forward and be crowned NL champs again, it’s a credit to everybody in that clubhouse and the organization, and really proud of these guys.

“It’s something that a lot of people expect, but it should never be taken for granted because, as you can see, every year there’s a different champion in the divisions, and the consistency that we kind of put forth every year is a credit to the entire organization; proud of these guys,” Roberts added.

Winner of the non-alcohol division-clinching celebration levity award goes to Dodgers outfielder AJ Pollock, who, with a straight face, shared this with the media during his postgame Zoom interview:

“It’s really strange, you know. We’re on the field, the crowd’s going nuts, and then you’re kind of looking at each other, and you’re like, ‘Wait a second, we’re the only ones here.’ It was bizarre.”

Immediately after the game, Dodgers newcomer and NL MVP candidate Mookie Betts was asked what it’s like being on a team that has now won eight consecutive division titles. As we’ve come to expect from the ever-gracious and ever-humble future Hall of Famer, he, too, gave credit where due.

“They won seven times before me,” said Betts. “I just come in here and do my role. This is step one.”

Although clinching the division with five games remaining in the short 60-game 2020 regular season is a very good thing, it is, as Betts noted, only “step one” of what figures to be an extremely competitive postseason.

Play Ball!

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