Introducing the 2008 National League Western Division champions

That would be your Dodgers. The clincher wasn’t that exciting, no walkoff grand slam by Steve Finley or anything like that. It happened just now, when the Diamondbacks lost to the Cardinals. Dodgers won’t even take the field for almost five hours. It will be interesting to see what kind of lineup Joe sends up against Jake Peavy tonight. But it really doesn’t matter how the Dodgers did it. The fact is, they did it, for the first time in four years and for the 10th time since the inception of divisional play in 1969, and it can be argued that none of the previous nine were as tough as this one. It was less than a month ago, after all, that the Dodgers were all but written off. They had lost eight in a row, including the first game of a critical, three-game series at Arizona, and they were 65-70 and going nowhere. And now, here they are, ready to douse each other with champagne after tonight’s game, win or lose. Joe Torre has now won 12 of these things as a manager (10 with the Yankees, one with the Braves and one here), and I can’t imagine any of the previous 11 were as challenging or as gratifying as this one will be. It’s anyone’s guess at this point how long the Dodgers will last in the playoffs. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess, who they’ll play in the first round. But considering where they came from, the simple fact that they have gotten here makes this a season no one will forget anytime soon.