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A few notes on the Dodgers at the close of the 2003 regular season:
LA went on to sweep the Giants in three straight, finishing with a sterling, unmatchable record of 119-43 — a full 18 games ahead of a very good San Diego Padres team, which had the second best record in baseball at 101-61.
Most have already pegged the Dodgers as the NL's representative in the World Series, but of course the team has to win two rounds first.
The opening round playoff match-ups look like this:
Chicago Cubs (95-67) vs. LA Dodgers (119-43)
Atlanta Braves (97-65) vs. San Diego Padres (101-61)
Baltimore Orioles (96-66) vs. Kansas City Royals (91-71) -- imagine that
Seattle Mariners (93-69) vs. Cleveland Indians (94-68)
• No Yankees (89-73) and no Red Sox (86-76) in this year's playoffs. How strange. Andrew Zarzour's childhood favorite team, the Phillies, had the league's worst record this season at 57-105. They fired their manager.
• Paul Lo Duca, the Dodgers starting catcher ended up winning the NL batting crown with a .360 average. Alex Rodriguez suffered a shoulder injury in the last week of the regular season (arrg) but should only miss maybe a game or two in the NLDS. The Dodgers should have enough other weapons to compensate.
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