You don’t win a World Series in the Summer, but the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dominance in August has many fans believing that this team has what it takes to be World Series-bound.
The Dodgers posted a 24-5 record in the month of August, the most wins in a month since the franchise moved to Los Angeles. But will a month-long hot streak in the Summer translate to a World Series Title in the fall?
Based on the Dodgers’ recent past, fans have a right to be concerned.
This is the fourth straight season that the Dodgers have won 20-plus games in August. It is also the fourth straight August where the Dodgers have a win percentage over .750.
The Boys in Blue are just the second team in Major League Baseball history to post a .750+ winning percentage in the same month four years in a row. The last team to accomplish that feat: the Chicago White Stockings (now known as the Chicago Cubs), in June from 1878-1881.
Adding up the Dodgers’ August win totals from 2020-2023, they have the best win percentage in a single month over a 4-season span in MLB history (minimum 80 games).
This recent late-summer success, however, has not always translated into titles. In fact, the last two seasons have ended with the Dodgers coming up short in the postseason.
After winning the 2020 World Series in a pandemic-shortened campaign, the Dodgers were eliminated in the 2021 National League Championship Series by the Atlanta Braves (Atlanta would go on to win the 2021 World Series).
In 2022, Los Angeles lost to their new-age rivals to the south, the San Diego Padres, in the National League Division Series. The Dodgers won a franchise-record 111 regular season games last year and were ultimately eliminated from the postseason two rounds short of their ultimate goal.
Many baseball fans and pundits alike would agree that the path to the World Series is about ‘getting hot at the right time’.
The Dodgers enter the final full month of this regular season with an 83-50 record and a commanding 13 ½ game lead in the National League West.
“It’s just good all-around baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said following his ballclub’s 7-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. “I think a lot of times teams talk about when you have the hitting, you’re not pitching, and vice versa. But I think right now we’ve had both every night.”
With just 29 games left in the regular season, the Dodgers are on pace to clinch their 10th National League West Division title in the last 11 seasons. They soon could be popping champagne bottles in September to celebrate another Division title. They have the hitting, the pitching, and several players with World Series experience.
So, what’s to stop Dodgers fans from thinking that this could be the year that we see the franchise win their 8th World Series Title? Time. August is not October. Teams win World Series titles in the Fall, not in the Summer.
