The best night of our lives
The Burns family Christmas Card photo, celebrating the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2020 World Series win. (Left to right): Cora, Wyatt, Brian, Graham, Mindy and Carter.
The Burns family loves baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, specifically. And it was no better year to be a Dodgers fan than this one.
Village residents since 2016, Brian and Mindy with children Cora, Wyatt, Carter and Graham are obsessed with the Dodgers.
It all started in southern California. Brian grew up in LA and attributes his passion for the team as a generational calling.
“He was born into a Dodgers family; his dad was a huge fan,” Mindy explained. Brian’s dad taught Brian and his younger brother to love the game. He coached the boys’ t-ball and little league teams until his early death at 32, when Brian was just 9 years old. Brian kept playing baseball all the way through high school to connect with his father spiritually but also knowing they had a shared enthusiasm for the Dodgers.
Mindy grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, moving to southern California when she was in the 11th grade. “There was a lot of soccer to watch growing up. I started watching baseball and cheering for the Dodgers as a supportive girlfriend and wife,” Mindy said.
Her excitement for the game really blossomed when twin boys, Carter and Wyatt (now 19), started playing t-ball. By chance, she became a regular parent scorekeeper when the twins were young and she was quickly hooked. Graham (8) carries on the family tradition of playing and watching baseball.
Although Cora (22) did not play baseball, she sat through plenty of her brothers’ games over the years and is an avid Dodgers fan, living and working in Salt Lake City.
The family attends as many in-person games as possible. They go to Dodgers Stadium whenever they are in LA and to Coors Field when their team is in town, even going multiple nights in a row. They have attended division and championship series games, including a handful of World Series games.
The World Series this year was an exciting week for all Dodgers fans, facing their storied rivals: The New York Yankees. The Burns family watched the first two games together, hosting big watch parties, then rearranged their schedules to miss Halloween parties that conflicted with Game Four.
Game Five, the final game, had the family scattered: Brian working in Tennessee, Mindy and Graham watching from home, and Cora watching from her apartment in Utah. Mindy and Brian connected over Zoom during the game and Cora checked in via text throughout the night. The twins missed the entire season because they are on mission trips.
When the Dodgers tied it up in the fifth inning, there was much cheering and couch jumping. The rest of the game was filled with anxious anticipation, which only shifted to unadulterated excitement with the Dodgers winning the World Series in New York, four games to one.
“As a lifelong fan, the win made Brian’s year!” Mindy declared. “It was the best night of our lives.”
Graham and Brian watching the Dodgers play the New York Mets in game six of the National League Championship on October 20, 2024. The Dodgers won 10-5, winning the National League pennant and clinching a spot in the World Series.
By Celeste McNeil; photos courtesy of Mindy Burns
