With history in sight, Dodgers taking October 'one day at a time'

LOS ANGELES -- Last November, as they brought the Commissioner's Trophy home and confetti rained down under a bright blue sky, the Dodgers had still hardly processed the seven games they had just played. But starting at the parade to celebrate their back-to-back World Series championships, they had already begun to look ahead to the next one.

"I'm already thinking about the third time we're going to do this," Shohei Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on SportsNet LA last year.

For a quarter century, no Major League team had won back to back titles before the Dodgers repeated as champions last season. It has been as long since the Majors' last three-peat, accomplished by the Yankees from 1998-2000.

The Dodgers understand how rare it is to have the opportunity to three-peat, let alone to pull it off. And even though they created some of the noise surrounding their bid for history, they are doing their best to block it out as their title defense begins in earnest in the NL Division Series, which begins against the Braves or Phillies on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT at Dodger Stadium.

"I think if you think big picture in this moment, you're going to lose sight of some things," first baseman Freddie Freeman said. "You just got to take each day one day at a time. And we do understand the bigger picture, but if you're looking at the bigger picture, then you won't be able to get to that big picture if you're not focusing on the now."

Since the World Series began in 1903, there have been only 15 repeat champions. Of those 15, only four teams won three in a row (or more): the 1936-39 Yankees, the 1949-53 Yankees, the 1972-74 A's and the 1998-2000 Yankees.

No National League team has pulled off a three-peat.

"We’ve seen how difficult it is to repeat. It’s even more difficult to do it three in a row," president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "We know everyone is coming for us, and we get that. So for us, it’s about putting our heads down and doing everything we can to win … 11 games in October."

Of the 10 teams that have gone back-to-back but did not three-peat, only three made it back to the World Series the following season: the 1921-22 Giants, the 1929-30 A's and the 1961-62 Yankees. Each of those back-to-back runs preceded the 1969 expansion, which also brought on the creation of the League Championship Series.

Given how the postseason has continued to expand since then, with the additions of the Division Series and Wild Card Series, the path to the World Series has grown increasingly difficult.

Back-to-back winners that didn't three-peat

1992-93 Blue Jays: Didn't make playoffs in 1995 -- 5th in AL East (no postseason in 1994)

1977-78 Yankees: Didn't make playoffs in 1979 -- 4th in AL East

1975-76 Reds: Didn't make playoffs in 1977 -- 2nd in NL West

1961-62 Yankees: Lost World Series vs. Dodgers in 1963

1929-30 A's: Lost World Series vs. Cardinals in 1931

1927-28 Yankees: Didn't make World Series in 1929 -- 2nd in AL

1921-22 Giants: Lost World Series vs. Yankees in 1923

1915-16 Red Sox: Didn't make World Series in 1917 -- 2nd in AL

1910-11 A's: Didn't make World Series in 1912 -- 3rd in AL

1907-08 Cubs: Didn't make World Series in 1909 -- 2nd in NL

To that end, the Dodgers have constructed their roster with an eye on winning it all. They returned most of their back-to-back championship core, but filled their biggest needs with two of the top free agents on the market: right fielder Kyle Tucker and closer Edwin Díaz. They bolstered an already-daunting rotation ahead of the Trade Deadline, dealing for two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. They called up their top prospect, Josue De Paula, who could be a threat off the bench in the postseason.

"This year is different. This team's different, although I understand that there's still a lot of the same players," manager Dave Roberts said. "It's still a different season. There's going to be different challenges. So I understand, our guys understand, what's at stake. And I think for me, it's balancing the importance, the opportunity that we have versus trying to add more pressure than there is already."

The Dodgers have a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in October. They have made the postseason in a record-tying 14 consecutive years. They have won three of the past six World Series. That does not mean that their ultimate goal will come easily, but they are battle-tested in a way that many other teams are not.

"Every playoff game, every playoff series, every playoff year gives you different situations and moments that don't only help you," utility man Kiké Hernández said. "But it helps everybody as a team to kind of get seasoned in certain situations where you kind of slow things down and remember: this is what we need to do."

As the Dodgers gear up for another postseason, they will draw on all the things they've experienced in Octobers past with the hope of making another deep run.