Often called a juggernaut by the media, the Dodgers (80-33), find themselves on a pace to win 116 games. The record of wins per MLB season stands at 116 and was set in 1906 by the Chicago Cubs and matched by the Seattle Mariners in 2001. That Mariners team lost to, of course, the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
Although anything can happen in the playoffs, the 2017 Dodgers look like an unstoppable force and the inevitable champions of all of baseball. The Padres have the dubious pleasure of playing this force 19 times.
In 2011, both teams stood at a crossroads thanks to ownership issues with Jeff Moorad in San Diego and Frank and Jamie McCourt in Los Angeles.