Related articles:

Philly's late power rings Dodgers' bell Haven't had their Phil With bat of Loney, Dodgers not phony Dodgers counting on bigger stadium Fighting spirit Baseball: Phillies advance to World Series

Other articles by John Nadel:

Haven't had their Phil Baseball: Phillies advance to World Series Philly's late power rings Dodgers' bell Fighting spirit Trojans' defense picks up sputtering offense Devils' date with USC lacks glamour Cubs' World Series drought reaches 100 years as Dodgers complete sweep A blast of a debut 'Nice night' for a dominating victory Ohio State to face USC without Wells

Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER

LOS ANGELES — In the midst of the Los Angeles Dodgers' wild champagne celebration, a dripping Manny Ramirez had a message for future postseason opponents.

"We did it once," the dreadlocked slugger screamed. "Believe me, we can do it again."

The way they dominated the long-suffering Chicago Cubs in their NL division series, the Dodgers certainly appear to have what it takes to beat anyone, starting with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL championship series.

"We had nothing to lose," Ramirez said after Los Angeles completed its three-game sweep of the Cubs with a 3-1 victory Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. "We got in and we were underdogs, now we're going to the second round.

"It doesn't matter if you're the underdog or the favored team. But we don't want to peak too soon. The key is to go to the big dance."

The Dodgers and Phillies open the best-of-seven NLCS on Thursday in Philadelphia, with the winner going to the World Series.

"We had a lot of people doubting us all year," first-year Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We weren't resentful about it. It was just the fact we haven't really played well enough to get anybody's attention."

That was certainly the case following a 9-3 loss Aug. 29 at Arizona, the Dodgers' eighth straight setback. That left them with a 65-70 record and 4 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.

A complete turnaround began the following two days, when the Dodgers beat Arizona aces Dan Haren and Brandon Webb to trigger an eight-game winning streak, putting them atop their division for good.

"We learned a lot about ourselves during that eight-game losing streak and we came together," third baseman Casey Blake said. "I think we found out what we were made of."

They would eventually win 19 of their final 27 games to give them momentum entering the postseason, and then came a sweep of the favored Cubs.

The Dodgers acquired free-agents-to-be Blake from Cleveland and Ramirez from Boston, but everything didn't fall into place until the end of August.

Ramirez changed the entire dynamic of the Dodgers, on and off the field. He batted .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 53 regular-season games with Los Angeles and loosened up the clubhouse as well.

Ramirez was 5 for 10 with two homers, three RBIs and scored five runs against the Cubs, who walked him intentionally twice in Game 3.

The Cubs, in search of their first World Series triumph since 1908, won an NL-leading 97 games to the Dodgers' 84. But Los Angeles was far superior in all aspects in their playoff series, starting with a 20-6 advantage in runs scored.