Dodgers Star Puts a Little Damper on 107-Win Celebration
After the Dodgers set a new franchise record with their 107th win — a win earned by Freddie Freeman's RBI single in the top of the 10th and secured by him squeezing the third out in the bottom of the 10th — Freeman talked with the media about how it feels to set a record like this on a franchise as storied as the Dodgers.
“That’s a lot of wins if you really think about it. A lot of good things have to happen from a lot of guys. Not just 26 guys. It has to be 40 to 45 guys that have to contribute to be able to do that."
Of course, Freddie is always pragmatic and detail oriented — seriously, watch the first minute or so of the video below to hear him talking about exactly where he wanted to hit the ball in that last at-bat — so he had to be a little bit of a wet blanket talking about the accomplishment.
“Once October 11 hits, nobody is going to care how many wins you had in the regular season. But we’re here, we’re in the regular season – we might as well get as many wins as we possibly can.”
October 11, of course, is the first game of the National League Division Series, where the Dodgers will likely take on either the Mets, the Braves, or the Padres. And Freeman's absolutely right that once the postseason starts, every team starts from the same place.
Except not quite, because the Dodgers will be starting with a roster that just won at least 107 games, and starting a postseason series with better players than everyone else is always preferable to the alternative.
We're glad Freeman has his eyes on the prize, though, and it seems pretty common throughout the Dodgers clubhouse. Might as well win as many as they can now, and then win 11 more in October/November.