Title pressure routine for Dodgers

They know they’re on the precipice of history — and that they’re playing for a larger legacy. ‘It’s just in our DNA’

- BY JACK HARRIS

CLAYTON Kershaw chooses to focus on how far the Dodgers have come in his 18-year career.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

They did not come charging out of the dugout. They did not mob one another with a dogpile by the mound.

When the Dodgers won the National League pennant last week, their on-field celebration hardly looked any different than normal. What would be a frenzied moment of accomplishment for others, they seemed to treat as almost routine.

“The celebration wasn’t even there,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said, “because everybody is consumed with winning a World Series.”

“That,” he added, “is the only celebration that we want to really have.”

This has been the Dodgers’ ethos all year long. They knew they were on the precipice of history, trying to become MLB's first repeat champion in a quarter-century. They knew they were playing for a larger legacy, trying to cement a modern-day dynasty with the franchise’s third title in the last six seasons. But they rarely actually vocalized it to one another. They tried to keep such historical stakes in perspective.

“The legacy, dynasty talk, a lot of that is meant for other people who aren't playing,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Let them have those debates.”

“Very few people have a chance to do something as great as this organization has a chance to do,” reliever Blake Treinen added. “But it’s not like we have a huge team huddle and are like, 'This is what we're doing. This is all we're worried about.’ It’s just in our DNA.”

Treinen is one of six players who, if the Dodgers win this year’s World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, will have contributed to all three recent titles (Will Smith, Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández, Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw are the others).