The long view: Taking in the Dodger giddiness from Europe

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

LONDON -- From afar, from Europe, from where the CNN International anchor pronounces it ‘Los Angeleeze,’ the runaway Internet mirth that greeted a single Dodgers win in a single playoff game seemed foreign and exotic and underscored a weird fact about life.

Sometimes, it seems really, really shrewd to win only one playoff game across 20 years. That way, you conserve expectation, build appreciation, maximize eventual happiness. You prevent the kind of widespread fan persnicketiness that has burdened other places from Tuscaloosa to the Bronx to Roger Federer to Lincoln, Neb.

If you have the wisdom to go, oh, say, 20 years from a ninth inning in Oakland when Orel Hershiser throws and Tony Phillips swings and that glorious geezer Rick Dempsey catches, to a night in Chicago when James Loney mashes, with a 1-12 post-season record in between, you teach your fans how to savor better.

No?

Sure, it has inconveniences in some cities, like some fans dying of natural causes after above-average lifespans before the payoff, but there’s no need to get all picky.

-- Chuck Culpepper