California dreamin' ... and winning: Dodgers, Padres both open unbeaten

Southern California is the place to be in the baseball world right now. With the Padres and Dodgers, this is the fifth season where multiple teams started 7-0 or better.

It happened in 2003 with the Royals (9-0) and Giants (7-0). Before that, it was in 1982, with the Braves (13-0) and White Sox (8-0), the 1962 Pirates (10-0) and Cardinals (7-0) and way back in 1884 with the St. Louis Maroons (20-0) and New York Gothams (12-0).

It’s the first time two teams in the same division have both been at least 7-0 since divisional play began in 1969. That means we’ve never seen a division start this way -- but we also have more playoff spots than ever, which hopefully means a deserving team won’t miss out.

The World Series and official postseason history began in 1903, so with apologies to our friends from 1884 who are automatically excluded, none of the previous teams reached the Fall Classic. The only ones to even reach the playoffs were the Giants and Braves.

But none of these happened with the benefit of the current playoff format. And more importantly, none were the 2025 Dodgers -- the first reigning champions to start 8-0 and just the second to open 7-0 -- or the 2025 Padres -- off to by far the best start in franchise history.

Now we get to see how it all plays out. Get your popcorn ready.