No More ‘Wait Till Next Year’ After 32 Years Dodgers Win The World Series!

No Comments November 9, 2020 Dodgers By John Stellman

There will be no more promises of ‘Wait till next year’.

We’ve heard that cry every winter since the Dodgers needed just five games to push aside the Oakland Athletics in 1988.

Since then, it’s been, ‘close but no cigar’.

The Dodgers got about as close as you can get in 2017.

Houston Heist

The year of Houston’s infamous ‘sign stealing scandal’.

Although their dugout banging on trash cans didn’t deafen our ear drums, Astros hitters quietly heard the message.

I guess Houston decided they’d do whatever it takes to win, regardless of the consequences.

Unfortunately, Major League Baseball’s response was reprehensible.

Not one player was disciplined.

No suspensions. No fines. Nothing.

Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended for one year and subsequently fired by the Astros.

The team also lost a couple of draft picks.

Trophy Came Cheap

Big deal. They still had the Trophy.

The after affects spilled over into the following season.

And the Red Sox showed no mercy. Boston steamrolled the Blue in five games to claim the 2018 Trophy.

Now here’s a real coincidence for you. Guess who the Red Sox skipper was during that 108 wins regular season?

I’ll give you a hint: His initials are A.C.

That’s right. Alex Cora. Hinch’s bench coach in 2017.

Court Is In Session

A 2018 investigation into allegations that Boston stole signs, found no wrong doing on Cora’s part.

But in November of 2019, Cora and former Astro player turned Met manager Carlos Beltran, were implicated in the Houston fiasco.

With a cloud hanging over them, Cora and the Red Sox ‘mutually’ agreed to part ways before the 2020 season.

On April 22, Cora was suspended by MLB for the remainder of the season.

Cora was then ‘rehired’ as Red Sox manager on November 6, 2020

Poetic justice perhaps that the 14 year major league veteran -7 of those seasons having been spent with the Dodgers – inherited a team that finished last in 2020.

Boston was the worst team in the American League East (.400). In fact only Detroit (.397 in the Central), and Texas (.367 in the West) were inferior.

To the contrary, the Dodgers 43 wins was tops in this 60 games season.

So now, finally, next year had arrived.

It took 32 agonizing summers of disappointments on top of disappointments.

Thankfully those unfilled dreams have been obliterated.

World Series Champions

The Dodgers are finally the World Series champions.

They’ve erased all of those bitter memories.

And what difference does it make that it came during a 60-game COVID-19 pandemic shortened season?

In reality, this was probably a more difficult journey than normal.

But the Dodgers endured all the starts, stops and delays that almost reached into November.

In the end, the grind was totally worth it.

For his teammates, it was a time to celebrate on Globe Life Field, the brand new home of the Texas Rangers.

And celebrate the Dodgers did.

Missing In Action

But without Justin Turner.

Initially.

Questions swirled when Turner was mysterious yanked in the eighth inning of the Dodgers 3-1 Game 6 clincher over Tampa Bay.

“Immediately upon receiving notice from the laboratory of a positive test, protocols were triggered, leading to the removal of Justin Turner from last night’s game,” commissioner Rob Manfred’s office said in a statement.

My question is, who was the first to know and when were they notified?

Were the Dodgers aware of the positive results but kept their lips zipped because they didn’t want the game postponed and a lengthy quarantine to follow?

It seems odd that the results wouldn’t be known prior to game time.

However, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman quashed those rumors, saying he wasn’t made aware of the results until the seventh inning.

So who whispered the information into Friedman’s ear?

Right/Wrong Decision?

Though isolated for the reminder of the game, Turner chose the endanger the health of others by returning to the field (sometimes wearing a mask, sometimes not) for the post game party.

Mingling with teammates, family and friends (what social distancing?) could have become a disaster.

Players flying coast to coast to reunite with loved ones? How about international players, flying home to other countries?

“While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner’s decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong, and put everyone he came in contact with at risk,” MLB’s statement concluded.

He was caught up in the moment, I get it. But sometimes you’ve got take a long, hard look at the big picture.

Prior to the start of the series, Turner praised his comrades for behaving responsibly.

“It’s ultimately a testament to the players for being responsible and making good choices and doing everything we had to do to ensure that the season was able to go on.

“I tip my cap to every player who put the uniform on and took that risk of playing and was responsible about it and enabled us to have a season and now participate in the World Series.”

Sounds a little hypocritical, don’t you think?

“I will not make excuses for my conduct, but I will describe my state of mind,” Turner wrote.

“Winning the World Series was my lifelong dream and the culmination of everything I worked for in my career…”

Bone Head Move

Perhaps Turner should have sent Kevin Cash a ‘Thank You’ card and the Dodgers should have included a little stipend.

After all, the Rays manager pulled a page right out of the Dave Roberts’ playbook entitled ‘Failed Analytics’.

Managing by the computer, not common sense, Cash inexplicably yanked his best pitcher who had been practically unhitable.

Blake Snell was the American League’s Cy Young Award winner in 2018. An he looked like the same guy who was 21-5 with a 1.89 earned run average two years ago.

He opened the game by striking out Mookie Betts, Corey Seager and Turner.

Max Muncy managed a check swing dribbler in front of the plate before Chris Taylor led off the third with a double. And that’s exactly where Taylor was positioned when the inning came to an end.

The 6’4 225-pound lefty again struck out the side in the fourth inning and faced three harmless Dodgers in the fifth.

Nine strikeouts in five innings.

But that wasn’t good enough for Cash.

A one out Austin Barnes single in the sixth might have denied the Rays a decisive Game 7.

“I was shocked,” said a disbelieving Cody Bellinger.

“We were kind of joking around in the dugout, ‘Way to go. We got him out in the sixth just like we wanted to.’

“Rallied from there. Snell had us stuck. He was gross. Yeah, I’d say it uplifted us.”

The Other Side

In fairness to Cash, Tampa Bay had been nursing Snell along after he had bone chips removed from his pitching elbow in July of 2019.

But come on! This was a chance to even the World Series!

I wouldn’t blame Tampa fans for being enraged.

Could you image Walter Alston pulling Sandy Koufax or Don Drysdale in that situation?

The topic wouldn’t even come up for discussion.

I don’t care if you’re seeing the hitters for the third time.

You’ve got all winter to get healthy. And you don’t need to micro manage.

Ask Cash?

If I’m a Tampa Bay fan, I’ve got this question for Cash.

When’s the next time the Rays reach the Fall Classic?

“I guess I regret it (the move) because it didn’t work out,” the skipper admitted.

Duh!!!

Regrettably, Roberts himself has been down that road.

Thank goodness that this time the shoe was on the other foot.

So all Tampa Bay can do now is ‘Wait till next year’.

Image: SEAN M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGES

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John Stellman

I was born with sports in my blood. I began coaching little league baseball at 15. I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper. I did football play by play for the college radio station. I broadcast high school basketball for a local commercial station. But baseball was always my passion. During the 1970's I covered the Angels for the Orange County Register. And now I am back where I belong...