clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

LA Dodgers clinching dates

Where will 2013 rank on the relative timeline of playoff clinching dates for the Los Angeles Dodgers?

By Eric Stephen

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Getty Images

The Dodgers inched closer to their first National League West title in four years with a win on Thursday night over the rival Giants. No matter how many MVP-caliber players are fighting their hamstrings — Matt Kemp is working his way back in Arizona, while Hanley Ramirez was removed Thursday night with tightness — the Dodgers are going to clinch the division soon.

With a 12½-game lead over the Diamondbacks with 16 games to play, the time is nearly at hand.

LA Dodgers clinching dates
Year Date Opponent Game No.
1959 Sept. 29 Milwaukee 156
1963 Sept. 24 New York 158
1965 Oct. 2 Milwaukee 161
1966 Oct. 2 at Philadelphia 162
1974 Oct. 1 at Houston 161
1977 Sept. 20 at San Francisco 151
1978 Sept. 24 San Diego 156
1983 Sept. 30 San Francisco 160
1985 Oct. 2 at Atlanta 158
1988 Sept. 26 at San Diego 157
1995 Sept. 30 at San Diego 143
1996 Sept. 27 San Diego 160
2004 Oct. 2 San Francisco 161
2006 Sept. 30 at San Francisco 161
2008 Sept. 25 San Diego 159
2009 Oct. 3 Colorado 161

The earliest the Dodgers could possibly clinch is Sunday, but to celebrate in front of the home crowd at Dodger Stadium the Dodgers need five of six outcomes to go their way. Arizona hosts the Rockies over the weekend in Phoenix.

But whether or not the Dodgers clinch at home, they are primed for one of the earliest celebrations since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. In 1977 the Dodgers clinched the division with a win over the Giants in San Francisco on Sept. 20, in the 151st game of the season. It was the earliest clinching date by a Los Angeles Dodgers team and, with 11 games remaining in the season the earliest point in the season, too.

Tuesday in Arizona is the Dodgers' 151st game of the season. On Sept. 20, the Dodgers will be in San Diego to open a three-game series against the Padres.

The last time the Dodgers clinched before the 1977 team was in Brooklyn in 1955, when they beat the Braves on Sept. 8 for a 17-game lead with 16 games remaining.

Clinching notes

  • In 1959 the Dodgers were tied with the Braves at the end of the 154-game season but won the first two games of the best-of-three playoff for the NL pennant.
  • The 1995 club clinched the NL West in San Diego in the 143rd game of the season, but that year featured a strike-shortened 144-game season.
  • Technically in 1981 there was no clinching date as the players strike cut the season into halves. The Dodgers won the first half to qualify for baseball's first division series.
  • The 1996 and 2006 squads reflect clinching a playoff spot, as the team secured a wild card position before losing the division, in both cases, to the Padres.
  • The L.A. Dodgers clinched with a loss from their closest pursuer (rather than a Dodgers win) in 2008, 1996, 1985, 1983, 1974 and 1963.

More From True Blue LA