The Dodgers will open their National League Division Series on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium with a chance to begin something no National League club has ever managed: a third straight World Series championship. Game 1 is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT, with the opponent still to be determined between the Braves and Phillies. The game will air on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One.
Los Angeles carried the Commissioner’s Trophy through its November parade after finishing off a second consecutive title run, but Shohei Ohtani was already looking beyond the celebration. Speaking through interpreter Will Ireton, Ohtani said he was thinking about doing it all again for a third time.
That is the history sitting quietly in the clubhouse now. Only 15 franchises have repeated as World Series champions since the Fall Classic began in 1903, and just four have extended that streak to three titles or more: the Yankees of 1936-39, the Yankees of 1949-53, Oakland’s 1972-74 Athletics and the Yankees from 1998-2000. No NL team has completed the feat.
The Dodgers know the larger conversation will follow them all month, but Freddie Freeman said the club cannot afford to live in it. The first baseman said players lose necessary focus when they stare too far down the road, stressing that the only way to reach the ultimate goal is to handle the day in front of them.
Andrew Friedman sees the same challenge from the front office side. The president of baseball operations noted that repeating is difficult enough, while adding a third championship is harder still. The Dodgers expect every October opponent to view them as the team to beat, he said, and their task is to keep working toward the 11 postseason wins required to finish the job.
Modern October has made that road even steeper. Of the 10 teams that won two straight titles without adding a third, only the 1921-22 Giants, 1929-30 Athletics and 1961-62 Yankees returned to the World Series in the following season. All three played before the 1969 expansion introduced league championship series. The later arrival of Division Series and Wild Card rounds has added more hurdles to a championship run.
Los Angeles has built with those hurdles in mind. Much of the championship core returned, while the roster added right fielder Kyle Tucker and closer Edwin Díaz from the free-agent market. Near the Trade Deadline, the Dodgers strengthened their rotation by acquiring two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Top prospect Josue De Paula also reached the big league club and could offer Roberts another postseason option off the bench.
Roberts has emphasized that familiar names do not make this season a replay of the previous two. He said this is a different team facing different tests, even with so many returning players. His balance, he explained, is to make sure the club recognizes the scale of its opportunity without piling unnecessary pressure onto an already demanding postseason.
The Dodgers enter it with plenty of October mileage. Their 14th consecutive postseason berth matched the Major League record, and they have claimed three of the past six World Series. Kiké Hernández said every playoff game and every series leaves a team with situations it can draw upon later, helping players slow down and remember what must be done in decisive moments.
That experience does not guarantee another parade. It does, however, give the Dodgers a clubhouse that understands how quickly October can turn and how much has to go right before a title is won. The three-peat can wait. On Saturday, the work begins with one game.
