Yasiel Puig sees Cardinals as Dodgers’ principal rivals
As the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare for what they hope will be the franchise’s first World Series championship season since 1988, superstar Yasiel Puig has made it clear which team he feels they must overcome to achieve their ultimate goal.
One might expect his answer to be the San Francisco Giants. After all, they’re the Dodgers oldest rivals dating back to both franchises time in New York. San Francisco has also taken three of the last five World Series crowns, which should make them the envy of the entire league. However, San Francisco hasn’t been the biggest hurdle standing in the Dodgers way the past two seasons. The St. Louis Cardinals have been, and that’s why they’re the team that dominates Puig’s thoughts and dreams.
Speaking Friday at City Hall, where Dodgers players met with city leaders and wounded military servicemen, Puig said he dreams constantly about the Cardinals, who eliminated his team from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
“If we can beat them, we can win the World Series,” Puig said about the Cardinals. “We have to pass through them. They’re our principal rivals, not San Francisco, not anyone else.”
“I dream about them every day.”
In reality, the Dodgers have fared well against San Francisco, at least in terms of battling for the division title. In 2013, they ran away with the crown, finishing 11 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and 16 in front of the Giants. In 2014, it was a much tighter race throughout, though the Dodgers eventually pulled ahead of San Francisco by six games. In both seasons, the Dodgers did everything they needed to do to position themselves for a postseason run. But each time, the Cardinals were there to emphatically end the dream.
Two years ago, St. Louis downed Los Angeles four games to two in the NLCS, before falling to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Last October, St. Louis won the NLDS matchup three games to one. In both series, St. Louis went right through the Dodgers best to win, defeating Clayton Kershaw in four straight postseason games. That might explain why Kershaw shared a similar sentiment to Puig’s while accepting his Cy Young award in New York. During his speech, Kershaw acknowledged and actually thanked the Cardinals for keeping his focus in the right place.
“So my last thank you goes to the St. Louis Cardinals. Thank you for reminding me that you are never as good as you think you are.”
Like the Michael Jordan led Bulls were to the New York Knicks in the 90s and Tom Brady’s Patriots still are to the Indianapolis Colts, the Cardinals have become the Dodgers’ kryptonite in every sense of the term. What’s important now is to not let St. Louis rent space in their heads for the next nine months, but it may already be too late to reverse that.
“We can’t let them beat us three straight times,” Puig said. “No way. They’re a good team, and we all admire them. They have very good pitchers, very good players. If we beat them, we can win the World Series. We just have to get through them.”
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that there’s no guarantee the Dodgers will meet St. Louis again in the postseason. A lot has to line up again for that matchup to happen, including the Dodgers living up to the expectations once again during the regular season. But regardless of who stands in their way, the onus is on the Dodgers to take what they feel is theirs.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
