One can’t seem to go anywhere in Los Angeles these days without seeing someone or something that’s saluting the World Champion Dodgers. In my place of business, I can’t seem to go more than a few steps without running into a cap, a sweatshirt or a work bucket with the interlocking LA and/or Palmer-script “Dodgers” logo, or at least the words “Los Angeles” tellingly stuck on something in that hue of blue.
And no doubt, the Dodgers have earned that level of giddy devotion so far in 2025. They began the season with a two-game sweep in Tokyo of the Cubs that cemented the fact that Shohei Ohtani is indeed the best player on two continents, and we’ll assume the other five as well, and then returned home to raise their championship banner, get their rings and provide the celebratory homestanders with the best start of any defending champion, a streak that reached 8-0 when the heroic Ohtani completed a five-run comeback of the visiting Atlanta Braves with a walkoff solo home run on Wednesday night.
But despite that unprecedentedly perfect start, all they’ve earned in their divisional battle so far is a slim half-game lead over their nearest rival both geographically and record-wise, the San Diego Padres, and let it not be forgotten they’re off to a pretty historic start of their own. MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell certainly remembered in his story from Wednesday:
With their 5-2 victory over the Guardians at Petco Park, the Padres improved to 7-0 for the first time in franchise history — another complete team victory in a homestand full of them. “It’s just been great baseball all the way around,” said Fernando Tatis Jr., who had two more hits and a steal of home. “We have a great ballclub over here, and we came out of the gate on the right foot.”
And while they may not have Ohtani, the Pads have a pretty compelling and now wealthier player of their own that could very well be dominating the game even after Shohei finishes his surreal and seemingly inevitable (a descriptor which Dodger announcer Joe Davis applied to describe that most recent walk-off) ascension to Cooperstown immortality:
Off to the best start in franchise history, the Padres finalized a nine-year contract extension with Jackson Merrill on Wednesday morning.
Indeed, the Padres have been masters of situational ball over the season’s first week. But they mash, too, and Merrill offered a quick reminder with his second home run in as many games, putting San Diego on top, 4-0, in the third.
After the game, Merrill was asked to sum up his day. Sure, he’d guaranteed himself $135 million over the next nine years. But he insisted that wasn’t his focus. “We’re 7-0,” Merrill said. “If we didn’t win that game today, I would’ve been pissed.”
That’s the sort of attitude you can develop when as a rookie Merrill and his teammates proved to be the team that ultimately presented the most daunting obstacle to the Dodgers’ title run last year. Do remember the Pads had a 2-1 lead in their National League Division Series and a chance to close out LA at home for the second consecutive year last October before the Dodgers were able to pull off an unlikely bullpen game upset in Game Four to send the series to a deciding fifth game back in LA, where ultimately the Dodgers’ own expensive rookie, Yoshinobu Yamamato, rose to the occasion to shut down San Diego and gain a measure of revenge for 2023 in the process.
But it took the heartbreakingly meticulous Sarah Langs, whose work should be savored and appreciated every minute she is still able to produce it, to remind us all exactly how unique what we’ve seeing out of both franchises so far is:
Southern California is the place to be in the baseball world right now. With the Padres and Dodgers, this is the fifth season where multiple teams started 7-0 or better. It’s the first time two teams in the same division have both been at least 7-0 since divisional play began in 1969. It happened in 2003 with the Royals (9-0) and Giants (7-0). Before that, it was in 1982, with the Braves (13-0) and White Sox (8-0), the 1962 Pirates (10-0) and Cardinals (7-0) and way back in 1884 with the St. Louis Maroons (20-0) and New York Gothams (12-0). That means we’ve never seen a division start this way — but we also have more playoff spots than ever, which hopefully means a deserving team won’t miss out.
The World Series and official postseason history began in 1903, so with apologies to our friends from 1884 who are automatically excluded, none of the previous teams reached the Fall Classic. The only ones to even reach the playoffs were the Giants and Braves.
But none of these happened with the benefit of the current playoff format. And more importantly, none were the 2025 Dodgers — the first reigning champions to start 8-0 and just the second to open 7-0 — or the 2025 Padres — off to by far the best start in franchise history.
Now we get to see how it all plays out. Get your popcorn ready.
And if there is indeed a G-d, Langs will able to enjoy a little popcorn of her own along with other true baseball lovers on June 9th, when these two juggernauts finally go head-to-head in the first of a three-game series in San Diego that both teams’ fan bases are already circling on their calendars. No, they probably won’t still be undefeated; indeed, later today the Padres will visit frigid Chicago for the Cubs’ stateside home opener, and the Dodgers will open their road schedule as the Phillies’ home opener opponent, so it’s entirely possible that both teams’ 1.000 percentages might be lower by tonight.
But then again, considering that they’ve both gotten to this point (at least in games played in the U.S.) by sweeping exclusively other playoff teams from 2024, honestly, would it be all that surprising if they’re still the two best teams in baseball when they do square off?
Courage…