Dodgers Dugout: Everyone can breathe now, because the great crisis of 2017 is over

Assistant Sports Editor

Sept. 18, 2017 7 AM PT

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and it’s amazing how a couple of series victories can brighten your outlook.

Upcoming goals

So it appears the great crisis of 2017 is over, as the Dodgers have won two consecutive series after their flirtation with an epic collapse. Beating the Giants two out of three may not be overly impressive, but beating Washington two out of three is. Yes, I know the bullpen let them down in Sunday’s loss and I know the two wins came against Washington’s worst two starter, but a series win is a series win, and after the last couple of weeks, I’ll gladly take it.

Of course, all this means exactly what the great start and the horrible slide meant when it comes to the postseason: Not much.

But we’ll talk more about the postseason when we get closer. (Next newsletter, we’ll examine the bullpen more closely, looking at who should and shouldn’t make the postseason roster.) Until then, let’s focus on the big tasks for the Dodgers right now: Winning the division and finishing with the best record in baseball.

Winning the division

Here’s how the NL West looks after Sunday’s games.

Dodgers, 96-53

Arizona, 87-63, 9 ½ games back

Colorado, 82-68, 14½ games back

San Diego, 66-83, 30 back

San Francisco, 58-93, 39 back

Now you may wonder why I list all the teams when only Arizona has a chance to catch the Dodgers. It’s simple: It’s fun to type in “39 back” for the Giants.

The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the division is four. Colorado, San Diego and San Francisco have been eliminated. So it’s basically in the bag for the Dodgers (yes, I’m saying it. I don’t believe in jinxes).

Here’s what I’d like to see when the Dodgers win the division: Just handshakes and congratulations all around but no champagne celebration. You guys will have won the division for the fifth straight year. That’s good. But the reason to play is to win the World Series.

What the Dodgers fail to realize is that in the World Series drought of the last 29 years, L.A. has turned from a Dodgers town to a Lakers town. And the Lakers have always held one thing above everything else: Winning the title. Nothing else is worth celebrating. That’s part of the reason fans sometimes seem so disappointed with the Dodgers: They are used to the Lakers telling people division or conference titles are meaningless.

So when you win the division, be happy, but maybe give some thought to saving the champagne for after the World Series.

Getting home-field advantage throughout the playoffs

Remember, MLB dumped the rule that the league that wins the All-Star Game gets home-field advantage. Now it goes to the team with the best record.

The standings after Sunday’s games:

Dodgers, 96-53

Cleveland, 93-57, 3 1/2 back

Houston, 91-58, 5 back

Washington, 90-59, 6 back

The magic number to clinch the best record is 10. Getting home-field advantage is vital, because it’s obviously much better to have Games 6 and 7 (or Game 5 for the NLDS) at Dodger Stadium. Speaking of which….

Playoff tickets go on sale Wednesday

If you want to buy tickets to the Dodgers playoffs, make sure you take the day off or arrange your work break for Wednesday at 10 a.m. Pacific. That’s when postseason tickets will go on sale.

Tickets will be available at www.dodgers.com/postseason and at the Dodger Stadium box office. Go to that website to also find out how you can take advantage of presale opportunities.

Sad news

Best wishes go out to Enrique Hernandez, who is away from the team because of the death of his grandfather in Puerto Rico.

The next time you are at a Dodgers game, pay attention to Hernandez before the game. He goes out of his way to talk to kids in attendance, play catch with them, sign what they want. I’ve even seen him acknowledge kids between innings of games when coming back to the dugout. Next time he is back, give him an ovation when he comes to the plate.

I also want to mention the passing of longtime scout Mel Didier, who worked in pro baseball for more than 60 years but will forever be linked to Kirk Gibson’s home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

Didier stressed in his pre-game scouting that if Dennis Eckersley was pitching and the count got to 3-and-2, then expect him to throw a backdoor slider. When you watch replays, notice how Gibson backs out of the box and calls time with a 3-and-2 count. As Gibson said: “I remembered what our scouting report said. It said that at 3-and-2, Eckersley throws a backdoor slider. Mel Didier had told me going into the Series, ‘Podnuh, as sure as I’m standing here breathing, he’s going to throw you a backdoor slider if he gets you to 3-and-2.’ So when I called time and stepped out of the box, I looked at Eckersley and said, ‘Podnuh, as sure as I’m standing here breathing, you’re going to throw me that 3-and-2 backdoor slider.’

Eckersley did. Gibson hit it out. And it wouldn’t have been possible without Mel Didier.

Best hitter?

Just for fun, using the OPS+ stat, who have been the best hitters on the Dodgers this season (minimum 90 plate appearances)? Remember, OPS+ compares a player to the league average, adjusting for his home ballpark. A player with an OPS+ of 150 is 50% better than the average hitter this season. A player with an OPS+ of 50 is 50% worse.

The best

Justin Turner, 149

Cody Bellinger, 148

Austin Barnes, 135

Corey Seager, 128

Chris Taylor, 124

Yasiel Puig, 116

Andrew Toles, 101

The worst

Curtis Granderson, 42

Adrian Gonzalez, 63

Logan Forsythe, 84