It was a wild World Series and the Dodgers came out on top. Of course you know how happy that makes me, and I promised myself I wouldn’t be obnoxious about it this year. However … there were a lot of lessons in mindfulness one could take away from this year’s series:
Patience
It was the iconic series between two outstanding teams, the kind that gives you a reason to love baseball. They played a full seven games, game three tying for the longest in World Series history, and game seven went into extra innings. Just game three alone is enough to teach patience, with the score tied in the ninth inning before a walk-off homerun won it for the Dodgers in the 18th inning.
Letting Go of Expectations
The Dodgers were the favorite among oddsmakers to win the 2025 World Series from the very beginning of the regular season. This would be a repeat for them, having won the 2024 World Series, adding them to a short list of teams who have won two or more consecutively. The last time was three straight titles from the New York Yankees in 1998-2000.
But as the Series played on, the announcers were clearly expecting Toronto to take it, and if you thought too much about it, you’d probably agree after some careless Dodger mistakes. And then, in typical Dodger fashion, they pulled out some mind-blowing plays to end innings along with well-timed base hits and homeruns.
As the great baseball legend Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
Staying in the moment
With the score flip-flopping and times when a win seemed hopeless, each team member, from the players to the management, generally stayed with just this one pitch. There were times I noticed some looks of disbelief on the face of manager Dave Roberts – “did we really just do that?” – but in order to get through to the end, to not buy into the predictions, you have to be fully engaged and focused in the moment, one breath, one pitch, at a time.
Say what you want about the LA Dodgers with their sky high budget that let’s them hire the phenomenal players they have, I see more to their team than just the payroll. I see players that genuinely like each other. I see the best manager in baseball who inspires and commands respect all while having fun. I see a reason to keep coming back to the sport known as “America’s pastime,” but has lost their fan base in recent years. And I see a practice in mindfulness.
So, you can see now how my love of baseball is right in line with my mindfulness practice. And I’m hopeful I shared in a way that wasn’t obnoxious!
Deborah Smith
Your enthusiasm is so contagious! Love our Dodgers too.