You never know: Jelling at right time, Dodgers just might win it all

LOS ANGELES -- From "Hello, My Name Is ..." nametags to champagne two months, the rampaging Los Angeles Dodgers finished puncturing the Chicago Cubs' best World Series hope in years and dove headfirst into their first National League Championship Series since 1988.

Or was that simply catcher Russell Martin leaping up onto the left-field wall during a half-lap around Dodger Stadium while toasting the 56,000 roaring fans?

The once-scuffling Dodgers are 22-8 since Aug. 30 and have a growing belief they can go far into the postseason. (AP)

"We're just trying to win ballgames, one at a time," Martin said after the Dodgers' 3-1 victory Saturday night to sweep the Cubs from October. "If we keep that attitude, who knows what we can do?

"I really believe in our team. We've got pitching, defense, our offense ... we just battle. Everybody puts up a tough at-bat.

"I think we're good enough to win a championship."

The Dodgers were so dominant, and the Cubs so weak, that it looked as if someone mistakenly booked the Pittsburgh Pirates into Dodger Stadium.

"That's just Dodgers being Dodgers," read one sign as several Dodgers partied on the field and doused the fans in the front rows with champagne.

While the Cubs will need a lifetime supply of air freshener to get over this one, the Dodgers, after emerging from an anemically weak NL West, still retain that new-car smell. They're looking better every day, and there is a distinct feeling they still are learning how good they can be even in these first few days of October.

"You never know," said Manny Ramirez, who batted .500 with two home runs, three RBI and four walks in the series. "The key is to just get into the playoffs, and then anything can happen.

"There's a lot of joy, a lot of blessing, just to move on to the second round."

The Dodgers didn't acquire Ramirez until August. They didn't land Casey Blake until the last week of July. Greg Maddux didn't arrive until August.

Their leadoff man, igniter and shortstop, Rafael Furcal, opened the season with the Dodgers before suffering a back injury that knocked him onto the surgeon's table and out of the lineup from early May until late September. Furcal missed 126 games.

Point is, odd as it sounds, this remains a relatively new, evolving Dodgers team. We don't know what they're capable of and, maybe more important, they don't yet fully know what they're capable of.