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Path to the 2017 World Series - Los Angeles Dodgers
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Path to the 2017 World Series - Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers followed up one of the most relentless regular season campaigns in history with an equally potent push through the postseason. And after dispatching the defending champs in the Chicago Cubs, Dodger Stadium is readying itself to host its first World Series in 29 years.

As baseball's best team in 2017 prepares for the World Series, let's have a look back at the road they traveled to get to this point.

 
1 of 25

Opening Day

Opening Day
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

L.A. opened the season seeking its fifth straight National League West title, hosting the San Diego Padres. And it was a start for the ages, as L.A. picked up a 14-3 victory behind a club-record four Opening Day homers and seven innings from Clayton Kershaw. Joc Pederson hit the first Dodger grand slam in 17 years, while Yasmani Grandal contributed a homer from each side of the plate.

 
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Ace-off, Part 1

Ace-off, Part 1
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

For three years, Kershaw and Zack Greinke formed the most dominant starting pitching duo in the National League, before Greinke moved on to head the staff in Arizona. The two former mates faced off for the first time since their departure in early April, with Kershaw getting the upper hand. The southpaw emerged victorious, working 8.1 innings, walking one and striking out eight to pick up his second victory of the year.

 
3 of 25

Cody Bellinger arrives

Cody Bellinger arrives
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

If a singular moment can be tied to when the year took off for the Dodgers it would likely be the promotion of Cody Bellinger on April 25. The club would win five of his first six games, and Bellinger would hit his first career home run four days later –and add another one in his next at-bat. It was the first of six multi-homer games in the breakout rookie campaign for the slugger.

 
4 of 25

Corey Seager goes (really) deep

Corey Seager goes (really) deep
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

While Seager would follow up hit 22 home runs in his follow up campaign to his Rookie of the Year effort in 2016, one particular shot stood head and shoulders above the rest. On April 26, Seager sent a Johnny Cueto delivery 462 feet into left centerfield. The massive shot was the longest home run of the year at the time.

 
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Back-to-back-to-back and a walk off

Back-to-back-to-back and a walk off
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Down 5-2 as the bottom of the ninth got underway, they were running out of time against the Phillies. However, after a Yasiel Puig home run, Cody Bellinger followed by hitting his second homer of the night in the next at-bat. And if that was not enough, then there was another shot in the next at-bat by Justin Turner. Back-to-back-to-back homers had pulled the game even. Following two more singles – as well as two outs – an Adrian Gonzalez base hit gave the Dodgers a harrowing victory.

 
6 of 25

A hot start for Turner

A hot start for Turner
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Arguably the most important move of the offseason was not who came to L.A., but who stayed. Re-signing Turner was the top order of winter business for the club, and he paid back that investment with haste. The first month of the season was extremely kind to Justin Turner. The Dodger third baseman hit .404 (36-for-89) in April, with 11 doubles and 12 RBI. He led the National League in hitting, along with an 1.097 OPS, .465 on-base % and .562 slugging %.

 
7 of 25

Vin Scully makes the Ring of Honor

Vin Scully makes the Ring of Honor
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

2017 marked time in 67 years that the legendary voice of Vin Scully could not be overheard calling the action for LA. Scully traveled west with the club from Brooklyn and called every World Series victory in the team’s history. And for this, the Baseball Hall of Famer was rightfully enshrined in the Dodger Ring of Honor on May 3.

 

 
8 of 25

A date with dominance for Jansen

A date with dominance for Jansen
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

It was a season for the ages for the hulking Dodger closer, who would eventually lead the National League in saves. He was at his most dominant on May 18 against the Marlins, when it only took nine pitches to reach three outs for Jansen. It was only the 79th such inning in Major League history and locked up the eighth of what would be his 41 saves on the year. 

 

 
9 of 25

Dave Roberts goes to bat for his guy

Dave Roberts goes to bat for his guy
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Manager versus manager blow ups are a rare event to behold, but a face-off for the ages ensued between Dave Roberts and Padres manager Eric Green back in June. Benches cleared when Roberts went after Green during a June 30 matchup between the division rivals, after Green yelled at Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood for calling out San Diego’s Jose Pirela for allegedly stealing signs. Both managers were ejected and continued the war of words afterwards as well.

 
10 of 25

Seager makes homering a habit

Seager makes homering a habit
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Question: if one has two three-homer games in two years, is it fair to call it a triple-double? Or would double-triple be better? Whatever the case may be, Corey Seager pulled off the feat, tallying the second three homer game of his young career on June 20 during a 12-0 rout of the Mets, after first doing so last June against Atlanta. Seager was responsible for six of the runs on the board in the affair.

 

 
11 of 25

2K for Kershaw

2K for Kershaw
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

When Clayton Kershaw rung up Brewers infielder Jonathan Villar for strikeout number 2000 of his career on June 2, he became the fifth youngest pitcher to reach the mark. He also became the second fastest to do so, needing only 277 games. Only Randy Johnson reached 2000 in less games on the mound, doing so in 15 fewer games.

 

 
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Ace-off, Part 2

Ace-off, Part 2
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw had another marquee matchup on June 7, when he faced-off against the Washington Nationals and Stephen Strasburg. Unlike the pairing with Greinke earlier in the year, this battle of heavyweights on the hill delivered a classic pitchers' duel. Strasburg struck out eight over six innings, while Kershaw countered by setting down nine over seven innings. A Yasmani Grandal double broke the tie late in the game, and gave the Dodgers a victory in an NLDS rematch from the year before.

 
13 of 25

The dynamic Dodger duo takes matters into their own hands

The dynamic Dodger duo takes matters into their own hands
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

On June 11, after falling behind 7-3 in the sixth inning against the Reds, the young Dodger tandem single-handedly brought the club back. Cody Bellinger homered early in the eighth inning, while a Corey Seager grand slam capped a six-run eighth inning comeback. It was an undeniable snapshot of the brilliance the pair could bring to Chavez Ravine for years to come.

 
14 of 25

10-game win streak

10-game win streak
Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Although they had already played around with heating up over the preceding few weeks with a pair of six-game win streaks, the Dodgers found their longest groove of the year by late-June. Sealed by an Austin Barnes dash to home plate after an Adam Ottovino wild pitch, they sealed their tenth straight win on June 25. It was part of a larger run of winning 16 of 17 games, dating back to June 7.

 
15 of 25

A sensational start for Alex Wood

A sensational start for Alex Wood
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

After starting the season in the bullpen, Alex Wood reached the Dodger rotation by late April. Along the way he built out a scoreless innings streak that reached 27.1 innings, as well as seemingly forgetting how to lose a game in the process. Wood’s record reached 10-0 by July 5, becoming the first Dodger hurler to start a year 10-0 since Don Newcombe in 1955. 

 

 
16 of 25

Dodgers take siege of the NL All-Star roster

Dodgers take siege of the NL All-Star roster
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

By the All-Star Break, the boys in blue had firmly established themselves as baseball’s best team with a 61-29 record. And accordingly, the Midsummer’s Classic became a showcase for the club, with six Dodgers making the National League roster. Kershaw earned his seventh straight appearance, while Bellinger, Jansen, Seager, Wood and Turner – who was elected via the NL Final Vote ballot – joined him. Bellinger was also selected to compete in the Home Run Derby, in which he reached the semifinals.

 
17 of 25

A big splash by a rookie caps a historic month

A big splash by a rookie caps a historic month
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

On July 30, Kyle Farmer drove in a pair of runs in his first Major League at-bat to seal a 3-2 victory over the Giants in extra innings. It was the finale performance in a month where the team went team posted an incredible 20-3 record and reached 40 games over .500 for the first time since 1974. Their .870 win percentage was the highest in a month since the New York Giants of 1936.

 

 
18 of 25

Yu Darvish comes aboard

Yu Darvish comes aboard
Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The final day of the month also brought a new attraction to the Dodger rotation. The team acquired pitcher Yu Darvish from the Texas Rangers in exchange for a package of prospects. The four-time All-Star made an immediate impact upon arrival, throwing seven shutout innings against the Mets, while striking out 10 in his Dodger debut. 

 

 
19 of 25

The long dry spell

The long dry spell
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

For as high as the highs were, the lows dipped down just as deep. After a five-game losing streak to close out August, the club fell into a deep tailspin in early September. Between Sept. 2-11, they dropped 11 straight games and 16 of 17 contests, including nine losses to the Diamondbacks. But despite the nosedive, they still never dropped lower than 40 games above .500. In the process, they became only the second team ever to have both a winning and losing streak of 10 games in the same season.

 

 
20 of 25

Ticket to October punched... finally

Ticket to October punched... finally
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Despite a losing streak that last nearly a full two weeks, an inevitable date with the postseason still awaited the NL’s top team. With a losing skid-ending win on Sept 12, the Dodgers clinched a spot in the postseason. Kershaw led the way, picking up his 17th victory over six innings against the Giants.

 
21 of 25

Bellinger re-writes the rookie record books

Bellinger re-writes the rookie record books
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

After bashing his way through his first tour of duty in the majors, Bellinger had a date with history during the final week of the season. On the same night the Dodgers wrapped up the NL West, he launched his 39th (and final) home run of the season, to set a new National League record for rookie home runs, passing the record of 38 shared by Wally Berger and Frank Robinson.

 
22 of 25

National League West champions, five times over

National League West champions, five times over
Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

With a win over Giants on Sept 22, a fifth-straight National League West title made its way to Dodger Stadium. It is the third longest divisional championship streak of the wild card era, behind the nine straight AL East titles for the Yankees from 1998-2006 and the eleven straight NL East championships for the Braves from 1995 to 2005.

 
23 of 25

Breaking out the brooms in the NLDS

Breaking out the brooms in the NLDS
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

After a harrowing final month of the season, followed by an impressive rebound late in September, Dodgers reached the postseason as a reinvigorated team. And their first challenge was in the form of a familiar foe in the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had won the NL Wild Card play-in game and were victors of their last nine matchups with L.A. in the regular season. But they posed little challenge in the postseason, as L.A. quickly dispatched of their divisional foes in the Division Series, sweeping them out in the three-game minimum.

 
24 of 25

Enrique Hernandez takes an unlikely hero turn

Enrique Hernandez takes an unlikely hero turn
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Only 10 players have ever hit three home runs in a single postseason game, and Enrique Hernandez is easily the most nondescript of them all. But he became a legend for a night, going deep three times in the NLCS close out game, including a third inning grand slam. In the process, he set an NLCS record with seven RBI in an inspirational performance by a player with only 28 career homers otherwise.

 
25 of 25

A breakthrough back to the World Series, finally

A breakthrough back to the World Series, finally
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

A dominant NLCS performance that included a walk-off win via a three-run Justin Turner home run in Game 2 and holding the Cubs to two runs or fewer in four of five games, the Dodgers finally got over the postseason hump and return to the World Series for the first time in 29 years. It was a relieving and validating victory for a team that has flirted with destiny all season.

Matt Whitener is St. Louis-based writer, radio host and 12-6 curveball enthusiast. He has been covering Major League Baseball since 2010, and dabbles in WWE, NBA and other odd jobs as well. Follow Matt on Twitter at @CheapSeatFan.

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