by Paul Teetor
They were good – and they were lucky too.
Both things can be true at the same time.
The Dodgers were good enough to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, the team with the best and deepest roster in all of baseball – except for the Dodgers — in the National League Division Series.
And the boys in blue were also lucky enough to survive an 8-2 blowout in game three to win the series by three games to one. Their three wins were by a combined total of 4 runs — 5-3 in game one, 4-3 in game two and 2-1 in game four.
It just as easily could have gone the other way in all three victories.
Nowhere was the element of good fortune or random fate or karma or whatever you want to call it more apparent than in game four, an 11-inning, overtime white knuckler. That game pointed up the importance of having Lady Luck smile on you while trying to do something that hasn’t been done since the New York Yankees did it 25 years ago: repeat as World Series champions.
Let’s take a closer look at the lucky breaks that went the Dodgers way in that incredible fourth game. Exhibit A is the Phillies bone-headed decision to hand an intentional pass to Shohei Ohtani in the seventh inning of what had been a scoreless tie until the Phillies scored one run in the top half of that inning. That intentional walk eventually resulted in the Dodgers scoring a run. It was just enough to tie the game at 1-1 and keep the Dodgers in the hunt until the fateful bottom of the 11th ending.
Now, dedicated readers know All Ball is Shohei Othan’s biggest fan. He is an athletic wonder, the modern-day Babe Ruth, and unlike Ruth he works night and day to perfect his craft – both hitting and pitching. On top of all that, he is an all-time bargain at $700 million on a 10-year deal – even with most of that money deferred until after he is retired.
But the cold hard fact is the Dodgers won the NLDS with very little help from him – except for his six innings of spectacular pitching in game one. He was a disaster with the bat – an automatic out who consistently reached for pitches out of the strike zone, swung too hard trying to hit home runs, and was visibly frustrated as he lost confidence right in front of our eyes.
Indeed, he was mired in a 1-for-18 slump — one of the worst of his career – when the Phillies made the crazy decision to walk him intentionally with one runner already on base.
Sure, he might have hit a two-run home run right there to put the Dodgers up 2-1 – after all, he hit 55 dingers this year — but a manager with his finger on the pulse of the game would have known that was unlikely given the way he was performing at the plate. And that the smart percentage play was to pitch to him and avoid a bases-loaded situation, which is exactly what happened when Mookie Betts was walked – unintentionally — right after Ohtani.
Fast forward to the bottom of the 11th inning. The Dodgers had loaded the bases again, but there were two outs and the Phillies only needed a fly out or a grounder that they could make a play on to end the inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a smart move that proved decisive a few minutes later when he sent in Hyeseong Kim – the fastest man on the team – as a pinch runner on third base.
An easy grounder is exactly what the Phillies got when Andy Pages hit a broken-bat nubber in front of the plate that bounced straight to pitcher Orion Kerkering. All he had to do was pick it up, make the easy throw to first base for a force-out, and the two teams would move on to a 12th inning.
But Kerkering had trouble fielding the ball and momentarily bobbled it. Then he compounded his physical error with a mental error, throwing the ball to home plate in an attempt to get the force out on the runner coming home from third base. The ball flew well wide of catcher J.T. Realmuto and rolled all the way to the backstop as Kim sprinted towards home plate.
And just like that the game – and the hard-fought NLDS — was over on an infield error. Not a walkoff home run, not even a dramatic single or double that drove in the winning run. A walk-off dumb mistake on an easy play.
In this case, the Dodgers strategy of waiting for the other guy to make a mistake – and then pouncing on it – worked to perfection.
The Dodgers poured out of their dugout – the dominant emotion was relief crossed with jubilation – and the Phillies could only feel sorry for Kerkering, the young pitcher who was sure to take a beating from the notoriously negative Philadelphia media and fan base.
“He just got caught up in the moment a little bit,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Coming down the stretch there, he pitched so well for us. I feel bad for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders.”
The little-used Kim was the unexpected hero for scoring the winning run, Pages was the guy who set the final play in motion when he hit the ball in play, and Kerkering was the unwilling foil. It was a taut game that lived up to its status as a series decider, with great pitching on both sides. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez, his team’s Game 1 starter, came back in Game 4 with six shutout innings before coming out after a walk and a single started L.A.’s seventh-inning rally.
From the Dodgers’ standpoint, Tyler Glasnow provided six scoreless innings in his first playoff start as a Dodger. And rookie flamethrower Roki Sasaki contributed three scoreless innings of relief, cementing his new role of Roberts’ go-to guy in tense situations after being used strictly as a starter during the regular season.
Sasaki threw 35 pitches in three innings, and backed up Roberts’ insistence that, rather than being a “closer,” Sasaki will pitch in high-leverage situations regardless of the inning or the score.
Both sides played this like an elimination game, which is telling. It was literally so for the Phillies, but the Dodgers absolutely did not want to board a plane on Friday morning for a Game 5 in the steaming cauldron that is Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
All Ball wasn’t there, but his pickleball friend and die-hard Dodger fan Mary Ann Dillon was. She reported that the crowd at Grunions, a local sports bar, “went absolutely wild” when they realized the Phillies were not going to make the simple play and that the game and the series was over.
They knew it was better to be lucky than good, but even better to be both lucky and good.
Now it’s on the National League Championship series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Prediction: the Dodgers will win the League Championship Series on a ninth-inning Shohei Ohtani walk-off home run in Game 7 after he pitches a two-hit complete game shutout.
And the Dodgers continue being good and lucky as they head for the World Series.
PS – The Dodgers thrilling 2-1 win in game one of the NLCS Monday night was their next step to the World Series.
Mira Costa football, Redondo both romp
Twin brothers Liam and Luke Meeker — Mira Costa’s quarterback and wide receiver tandem — led the Mustangs into Culver City Friday night for a 37-14 romp that pushed their Bay League record to 2-0 and their season record to 6-1.
The Meeker brothers combined to produce all five Mustang touchdowns, in the process scoring 23 unanswered points.
“Just great athletes, great players, great human beings, really, is what they are,” Mustangs coach Don Morrow said.
Liam Meeker, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for another TD, finished 13-of-20 passing for 204 yards to go with 38 yards rushing. The Mustangs also got a touchdown reception from running back AJ McBean, who added 77 yards rushing on the ground.
Luke Meeker’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown snapped a 14-14 tie with 8:02 to play in the half.
The Mustangs had four sacks. Defensive lineman Magnus Johnson had three, and fellow lineman Hunter Taylor had the other. Taylor added a fumble recovery late in the first half.
The Mustangs will host defending league champion Inglewood next week. Mira Costa lost 27-7 in last season’s meeting.
Meanwhile, the return of star running back Bo Ausmus powered Redondo to a 34-7 romp over Torrance. The Sea Hawks are now 3-4 on the season and 1-1 in the Pioneer League.
Ausmus broke his foot before the start of fall camp. He was back in action last week, but in a very limited role. Friday against North Torrance he was going full speed.
“You saw it on the opening series,” Redondo coach Keith Ellison said. “He’s dynamic.”
On the game’s opening drive, Ausmus scored on a 52-yard run on the second play of the night. He would add another touchdown later and even completed a pass.
“I felt great,” Ausmus said. “The line was moving, making big holes the backs were able to take advantage of it.”
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com
