Dodgers: Win NLDS

LOS ANGELES – The history of the Dodgers in the Dominican Republic run deep, dating back to the first ever baseball academy on the island back in the 1970s.

Another chapter was added Saturday at Dodger Stadium when the club topped the Cubs 3-1 to complete a three-game sweep in the National League Division Series and advance to the National League Championship Series next week against either Philadelphia or Milwaukee.

“It’s very satisfying,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “We had a lot of people doubting us all year.  And we didn’t have ‑‑ we weren’t resentful about it.  It was just the fact we haven’t really played well enough to get anybody’s attention.”

The organization can thank Dominicans Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal (again) for their good fortune. Ramirez went 5-for-10 in the series with two home runs. Furcal, seeing extended action for the first time since coming back from back surgery and a sore hamstring, went 4-for-12 with three walks, four runs scored and served as the offensive catalyst at the top of the lineup.

“I thank everybody for the support they have given me and especially Joe Torre,” Furcal said. “He had faith in me that I could play. He trusts me and I trust him. I told him I could go and we did.”

But Ramirez and Furcal did not do it alone. James Loney and Russell Martin also shined, leading the club on offense. It was also the lesser known names and the role players that proved vital to the club’s success, especially in the final portion of the season.

“Casey Blake I thought was a great start for us as far as starting to glue together,” Torre said. “And of course Manny and (Gregg) Maddux, even though Maddux was here for a short period of time, I think his influence and his calmness really helped these young players … Jeff (Kent) and Nomar (Garciaparra) and Juan (Pierre) made my life a lot easier to write a lineup without their names in it.”

The task was not an easy one. The Cubs came into the NLDS with 97 wins and believed to be the best team in the National League. But being the favored team never meant so little.

“We don’t pay attention to what other people have said about our team,” Furcal said. “We believe in ourselves and we did it. They had to beat us in three games but we were the one that won.”

“Anything can happen,” Ramirez said. “We got in and we were the underdogs but now we are moving to the second round. It doesn’t matter if you are the preferred team; you still have to go play hard.”