Daily Clips

October 24, 2017

LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017

DODGERS.COM:

Astros, not legacy, at forefront for Kershaw—Jenifer Langosch

LA monitoring Turner, Seager ahead of Series—Ken Gurnick

Hollywood innings: HOU-LA World Series begins—Anthony Castrovince

Hot-tober! Temps don't faze World Series foes—Jenifer Langosch

Safe at home: Astros, Dodgers strong on own turf- Joe Posnanski

Meet the Players: Get to know the Dodgers- Chad Thornburg and Matt Kelly

Veteran quest: 5 in search of first WS title- Mark Feinsand

5 key Statcast storylines for Astros-Dodgers- Matt Kelly and David Adler

Just in time for the World Series, find out: Which Dodgers player are you?- Eric Chesterton

Dodgers build dominant bridge to Jansen- Joshua Thornton

Hinch, Roberts share tight bond, similar styles- Richard Justice

Turner hopes to add to LA's hallowed legacy- Ken Gurnick

#AwardWorthy: Support Puig and a Dodgers fan- Chad Thornburg

How the Astros, Dodgers were built- Jonathan Mayo

The ties that bind: Connections run deep in WS- Barry M. Bloom

Justin Turner fired off a great quote when asked to compare his beard to Dallas Keuchel's- Adrian Garro

All that's happened to LA since 1988 title- Tracy Ringolsby

LA TIMES:

Tommy Lasorda is ready for one more World Series title—Bill Shaikin

Lives will be changed during this Dodgers World Series. Here's how mine was in 1988—Dylan Hernandez

The Dodgers' road to the World Series: highlights from the NLDS—Times Staff Reports

OC REGISTER:

Dodgers vs. Astros is a World Series for baseball’s Information Age—Bill Plunkett

Yasiel Puig has Dodgers feeling fortunate their attempts to trade him failed—Bill Plunkett

Whicker: Astros offer Dodgers a stiff 7-game challenge- Mark Whicker

Back injury could make Corey Seager the Dodgers’ preferred DH in Houston- J.P. Hoornstra

ESPN:

Altuve vs. Kershaw could be the stuff of legends- Bradford Doolittle

This World Series Could Be An All-Time Classic—Tony Chow and Neil Paine

From 1-25, every roster spot matters in the World Series—David Schoenfield

Your World Series uniform preview—Paul Lukas

Dallas Keuchel, Clayton Kershaw unfazed by hot Game 1 forecast—Jerry Crasnick

Corey Seager back for World Series barring 'unforeseen,' Dave Roberts says- Bradford Doolittle

Why the dominant Dodgers are actually World Series underdogs- Sam Miller

TRUE BLUE LA:

Clayton Kershaw & the Dodgers can build a history of their own- Eric Stephen

Happy to be back at the World Series, 29 years later—Eric Stephen

Corey Seager good to go, and other thoughts from World Series media day—Eric Stephen

Cody Bellinger wins Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year- Eric Stephen

DODGER INSIDER:

Dodger Stadium World Series food specials—Rowan Kavner

Drysdale HOF broadcasting candidate- Rowan Kavner

Notebook: Seager recovery, Dodger rotation, Bellinger honor- Rowan Kavner

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:

The Astros and Dodgers Exemplify Contemporary Baseball. Now, They Meet in the World Series.- Tom Verducci

Enemy Lines: A Rival Scout Breaks Down the Dodgers Ahead of the World Series- Emma Span

YAHOO! SPORTS:

We quizzed Dodgers players about 1988, the year of their last World Series win—Mike Oz

NEW YORK POST:

Dodgers somehow getting even better before World Series—Kevin Kernan

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

DAILY CLIPS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017

DODGERS.COM

Astros, not legacy, at forefront for Kershaw

By Jenifer Langosch

LOS ANGELES -- Legacy may seem a premature thing to discuss when talking about someone still five

months shy of his 30th birthday. Norms need not apply, however, to a once-in-a-generation type

pitcher.

Over 10 seasons, Clayton Kershaw has already built the sort of resume that will one day make him a

shoo-in for election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. There are the three National League Cy

Young Awards, seven All-Star selections, four ERA titles and the distinction of being the only pitcher to

win NL MVP honors since the sport changed the height of its mound in 1969.

Missing from that run of individual accolades, though, had been the opportunity for the game's best

pitcher to be showcased when the lights are brightest. Only fitting it is, then, that Kershaw will be the

one to end the Dodgers' 29-year absence from the Fall Classic on Tuesday in Game 1, when he throws

the the first pitch of the 113th World Series presented by YouTube TV.

"I wish I could let it all sink back in," Kershaw said. "But in order for me to do my job, I think I just have

to focus on getting the Astros out right now."

Kershaw may have little time for narratives, but that hasn't kept others from forcing theirs upon him.

Until now, he had been the only three-time Cy Young Award winner whose career did not include a

World Series appearance. Each of the other eight has won a ring. Four of them have at least two.

And it had been those past postseason runs in which the Dodgers fell agonizingly short of hoisting the

NL pennant that nagged at Kershaw. For some, it diluted his legacy.

Kershaw entered this October with a 4.55 postseason ERA in 18 appearances (14 starts) and had

shouldered the loss in the club's elimination games in three of the past four seasons.

"I think a lot of them you have to put the blame on the organization and us," Dodgers pitching coach

Rick Honeycutt said in defense of his ace. "Every time in the past, we've asked him to come back on

short rest. We've asked him to pitch out of the bullpen. We've asked him to pitch an extra inning or an

extra batter that, if we had more depth or better relievers, he might not have been asked to do those

things.

"Most of that shouldn't be on him."

Circumstances, however, can't alter the images that had trailed him. Those moments when he stood on

the mound, hands on his knees, or sat in the dugout, his eyes staring off in disbelief, became

synonymous with the Dodgers' postseason letdowns. This year he buried those snapshots beneath

others of a champagne-soaked lefty celebrating among teammates and smiling alongside his family.

"I think it meant a lot in Chicago, when we were saying we are going to the World Series," Kershaw said.

"That's a special thing. But now we're flipping the switch a little bit, and we're trying to figure out how to

win four games."

The efficiency with which the Dodgers dispatched the D-backs and Cubs en route to meeting the Astros

has Kershaw uniquely positioned this time around. Each of the past four postseasons, Kershaw was

asked to either pitch on short rest or also come out of the bullpen. He's done neither this October,

posting a 2-0 record with a modest (by his standards) 3.63 ERA, and will take the mound Tuesday on a

normal four days' rest.

The time Kershaw missed nursing a back injury during the regular season further lessens the fatigue

factor, as does the preparation that he has seemingly perfected.

"I think the fans get cheated on not getting the opportunity to see him in between starts," Dodgers

manager Dave Roberts said. "I think that we, as fans, can appreciate him every fifth day and the energy

and the emotion and the success that he's had on the field. But to be behind the scenes and to watch

him work so diligently, with detail, every single day, that's something for me, I marvel at.

"I wouldn't know what it's like to be a superstar. But with what he does every single day, working with a

purpose, with everything he does, it makes sense."

One the eve of his World Series debut, Kershaw was adept at deflecting questions about the magnitude

and the moment, his legacy and this opportunity. His focus remains singularly on the Astros, a team he's

faced just once since Houston changed leagues.

All that other stuff is for everyone else to talk about, he said.

Those around him prefer to marvel at it instead.

"When you're around a guy like that who is passionate and intense and loves what they do every single

day, you can't help but have that seep into your own game," said Dodgers Game 2 starter Rich Hill. "It's

his constant pursuit of perfection. It's his intensity in the weight room. It's his continued preparation in

his bullpens. His passion for the game is something that everybody can feed off of in the locker room,

and everyone does."

LA monitoring Turner, Seager ahead of Series

By Ken Gurnick

LOS ANGELES -- Corey Seager and Justin Turner, the All-Star left side of the Dodgers' infield, are banged

up but expected to be active for Tuesday night's Game 1 of the World Series presented by YouTube TV

at Dodger Stadium.

While Seager's injury has been front of mind since he was left off the roster for the National League

Championship Series presented by Camping World, there were further signs on Monday that Turner,

termed "banged up" by general manager Farhan Zaidi, could be compromised by an injury of unknown

severity.

Turner was held out of Sunday's team workout. On Monday, he briefly did agility drills with strength

coach Brandon McDaniel and took ground balls at third base, but he did not take batting practice on the

field for the second consecutive day, on the eve of the World Series. Although missing batting practice

could signal a back or core issue, when asked before the workout if he had any concern about being

healthy enough to play through the World Series, Turner answered forcefully: "No."

Zaidi said on Sunday that Turner missing a workout is not comparable to Seager missing a workout

before the NLCS, which proved to be a precursor of a significant injury. Turner also downplayed his

absence.

"The majority of my work I get done underneath in the cage and with the [pitching] machine, so with

four or five days and the hot weather, I just wanted to take it easy and spend some extra time in the

training room and doing my work inside," said Turner.

Turner slugged the epic walk-off home run in Game 2 and was co-MVP of the NLCS with Chris Taylor.

While Turner was in the trainer's room on Sunday, Enrique Hernandez and Kyle Farmer took ground

balls at third base. Turner's primary fill-in at third base this year was second baseman Logan Forsythe,

and the Dodgers went 21-10 when Forsythe started there. Forsythe said he would be ready if it came to

that.

"The best possible thing for me is, whatever position I'm playing that day, that's where I'm taking ground

balls," Forsythe said. "If I have to come in later for J.T., I feel confident enough to where I don't have to

take ground balls."

Seager, who missed the NLCS with a low back sprain sustained in the clinching Game 3 of the NL Division

Series presented by T-Mobile, said he thought he had checked every box in his recovery until asked on

Monday if he had tried sliding, since that was how he was injured in the first place.

"I didn't even think about that, honestly," said Seager. "I should probably do that today. That's really

caught me off guard, thank you. I guess you just try not to make it a mental thing and just do it. It wasn't

awkward, it wasn't mislanding. I think it was a fluke thing. I should test it, but I don't think it's a huge

thing."

The Dodgers beat the Cubs in five games of the NLCS without Seager, shuffling outfielder Taylor and

roster replacement Charlie Culberson in at shortstop. Culberson is expected to make the roster again to

back up Seager, meaning someone else must come off the roster. Based on NLCS performance, that

could be Curtis Granderson or Joc Pederson.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said "unless something unforeseen happens, I don't see how [Seager]

wouldn't be" on the roster. But Roberts also said with the unpredictability of back injuries, Seager will be

watched closely.

"Obviously you've got to trust the player, but we also have to trust our eyes and the medical staff," he

said. "And Corey is going to do everything he can to lobby to be active and play in the World Series. And

I know that. He knows that. So to have Charlie Culberson and other guys that can play short, if

something does go south on us, we're definitely cognizant of that. But to have the DH potential, also,

because I think from the training staff, swinging the bat really doesn't pose a problem, it's more of the

bending over."

Catcher Yasmani Grandal missed a second workout to be in Arizona with wife Heather, who delivered a

son on Monday. Child and mother are well and Grandal is expected to be on the roster.

Hollywood innings: HOU-LA World Series begins

By Anthony Castrovince

October does not bow in reverence toward what the regular season wrought. October is a season unto

itself, and we've seen, time and time again, six months of magic upended by one rough series of

postseason play.

That's why it's so refreshing to see a Fall Classic that keeps it 100. With Clayton Kershaw and Dallas

Keuchel opposing each other, the Astros and Dodgers open the World Series presented by YouTube TV

tonight (8 ET/FOX) at Dodger Stadium having already achieved the rare feat of living up to their own

individual acclaim and esteem.

Call it the Century Series, because these two teams, unlike so many others before them, have stayed

true to their elite status.

"That's a great thing," Astros closer Ken Giles said. "You want to have the best teams face each other in

the World Series. It doesn't get better than that."

The Dodgers won 104 games in the regular season, the Astros 101. When Game 1 dawns -- mere

minutes from Century City, and with high temperatures in the area expected to hit 100 -- it will be the

first time two 100-win teams face each other in the Series since the Reds and Orioles in 1970, and the

first time in any postseason series since the Yankees-Royals American League Championship Series in

1977. Only seven times have two 100-game winners met on this Series stage. Now come these two

clubs. They have already accomplished so much this year, but they know a triple-digit win total, in and of

itself, is far from enough.

"We're four wins away from accomplishing our goal," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

These teams play with purpose -- the Dodgers trying to end their 29-year championship drought dating

back to 1988, and the Astros trying to win it all for the first time in their 55-year franchise history after

getting swept by the White Sox in their lone appearance, in 2005. They play with passion, against the

backdrop of what Hurricane Harvey did to Houston and what Hurricane Maria did to Puerto Rico, the

home island of Astros stars Carlos Beltran and Carlos Correa and the Dodgers' Game 5 hero in the NLCS,

Enrique Hernandez.

They play with personal ties, such as the close relationship of Roberts and Astros skipper A.J. Hinch. And

they play with the pride of representing two organizations that won big not only in the win column but

at the two trade cutoffs this summer -- the Dodgers reeling in Yu Darvish mere minutes before the non-

waiver Trade Deadline at the end of July, and the Astros bringing Justin Verlander to Houston mere

seconds before the waiver deadline at the end of August.

"You saw two teams that played extremely well throughout the regular season and two front offices

that stepped up to bring in the right players to make that final push," Astros third baseman Alex

Bregman said. "I think it just shows that both clubs are committed to winning."

Still, it's the homegrown-stud starters taking the hill in Game 1. Houston came all the way to Hollywood

just to run into a Texan, with Dallas-native Kershaw lined up on regular rest against a fully rested

Keuchel. Unmet October expectations for the Dodgers have been a bugaboo in Kershaw's probable

Cooperstown-worthy career, and he's eager to change that narrative.

"I grew up a Dodger and got drafted by the Dodgers," Kershaw said. "I didn't know a ton of Dodger

history at the time, but coming up it kind of gets ingrained in you, which is a good thing; it's not a lot of

organizations that have the type of history that the Dodgers do. It's been a special thing, and I hope

after this week is over, they can talk about 2017 a little more and 1988 a lot less."

The Dodgers, who are 7-1 in this magic month, outscoring their opponents, 48-19, will have had four

days of rest by the time Game 1 begins, and they've got star young shortstop Corey Seager back in

action after a back injury held him out of the NLCS. ("I've checked all the boxes," Seager said.) Los

Angeles has the home-field advantage by virtue of the superior regular-season record (the first club to

gain that advantage under the new format). The Dodgers also had a built-in rotation advantage in the

first two rounds of the postseason because of the hamstring injury that held up the Nationals' Max

Scherzer and the five-game NL Division Series battle that compromised the Cubs.

But this time, L.A.'s opponent is aligned exactly as hoped -- Keuchel in Game 1, ALCS MVP Verlander in

Game 2. This gives the Astros added confidence coming off an epic seven-game battle against the

Yankees in the ALCS presented by Camping World.

"Personally, I thought we were the best team [in the AL] from start to finish, and I thought the Dodgers

were the best team in the National League start to finish," Keuchel said. "So this is going to be a great

matchup. And it's not overblown, because we've both won 100 games."

Last year the Cubs defeated the Indians to break their 108-year drought without a World Series title,

leaving Cleveland -- which has not won a title since 1948 -- as the team with the longest such drought. A

win for Houston would be the organization's first since being founded in 1962. A Dodgers victory in the

World Series would be their first since 1988, 29 years ago, despite winning their fifth straight NL West

crown this season. So either way, a long stretch without a championship will end at the conclusion of

this year's Fall Classic.

At the break in 2017, the Dodgers (61-29) and Astros (60-29) were far and away the best two teams in

MLB, and at separate points in the season there was talk of each team challenging the 2001 Mariners'

record for most wins in a season (116). That didn't happen due to some second-half stumbles that came

long after they had both all but locked up their respective divisions, and they've advanced as advertised

in October. Both are undefeated at home this postseason, so perhaps the built-in advantage for Los

Angeles will prove to be a big deal; it certainly was to Houston in the ALCS, which became the fifth

seven-game series in which the home team won every game. That has happened three times in the

World Series: the Twins over the Cardinals in 1987, the Twins over the Braves in 1991 and the D-backs

over the Yankees in 2001.

"They're a good team," Astros outfielder Beltran said of the Dodgers. "There's a lot of similarities when I

look at the Dodgers and look at our team. They've got talent, and they seem like they really enjoy

themselves, they seem like they have good chemistry in the clubhouse, which is great."

When strength meets strength -- and 100 meets 100 -- that's special stuff.

Hot-tober! Temps don't faze World Series foes

By Jenifer Langosch

LOS ANGELES -- The heat has been turned up -- literally -- for the Dodgers and Astros, who prepare to

begin the World Series presented by YouTube TV under conditions foreign to the Fall Classic.

Twenty-four hours before first pitch at Dodger Stadium, Accuweather.com forecast a high of 103

degrees Tuesday and 100 degrees Wednesday. A 5 p.m. PT start time won't provide much relief, either,

as the local temperature is projected to have cooled off only to 98 degrees by that time.

The average high for Los Angeles at this time of year is 72 degrees.

"A coach I played under in college always said, 'You're going to play your most important games in cold

weather,'" Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier said. "He was wrong on this one."

World Series temperatures have been tracked as far back as 1975 and only twice has the reading

exceeded 90 degrees at first pitch. Those two instances came back in 2001, when the Game 1

temperature in Phoenix hit 94 degrees and the Game 6 temperature reached 91. (And the roof was

open.)

"I never thought it would be that hot," Dodgers outfielder Curtis Granderson said Monday, when

temperatures peaked at 102 degrees, a record for the date. "But at the same time, I definitely would

rather it be warmer than the potential 30-degree [nights] like I've had in some World Series I've played

in. You play all season long and all Spring Training, so six to eight months of your season [is played]

typically in decent-to-nice weather.

"So to have the two teams determine who the best team in baseball is when it's 50-to-60 degrees below

what you've normally been playing in is always something I've questioned. The fact that it does happen

to be a little bit warmer, I'm sure a lot of guys aren't complaining."

On that, Granderson was correct. Some players said they were unaware of the record-setting temps -- "I

didn't even know it was going to be 100 degrees until I went outside to play Wiffle ball with my son in

the backyard today," said Dodgers Game 2 starter Rich Hill.

"It's going to be hotter than normal, but at the same time, I like to sweat," said left-hander Dallas

Keuchel, who will start Game 1 for the Astros. "I like to get that perspiration, and make sure I have a

firm grip on the ball. And, I mean, it's the World Series, so if it's a little bit hotter than usual, that's fine

with me. There's no place I'd rather be."

His opponent, Clayton Kershaw, agreed.

"It is going to be hot, but, no, I don't think it's going to change anything," he said. "They're from

Houston. I'm from Texas. It's going to be hot for everybody. We're all used to it. It will be fine."

Still, it will be different. The Astros play half of their regular-season games in a climate-controlled

stadium, while the Dodgers are benefactors of the cool air that typically pushes in when the sun sets

over Dodger Stadium.

The first-pitch temperature exceeded 90 degrees twice this season (July 8-9) at Dodger Stadium. The

Astros' Aug. 11 game at Texas in Arlington began with the thermometer reading 96 degrees. It was one

of four games the Astros played in heat that reached the 90-degree mark.

Several players did wonder if the unseasonably warm nights will help power the offenses in a ballpark

that is typically pitcher-friendly, and the numbers say the ball will carry more than usual.

And then there was Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, who put his own spin on the coming

conditions.

"I think the reason it's going to be so hot is because the 'Stros are in town," Bregman said. "I think we

brought it with us from the last two games in Houston."

Safe at home: Astros, Dodgers strong on own turf

By Joe Posnanski

LOS ANGELES -- Something strange happened with ballparks in 2017. Most people think of Houston as

having a mad hitter's park. It was once, back in the early 2000s, when it was still called Enron Field and

in the first couple of seasons after it changed names to Minute Maid Park. Over the last few years, it has

become a more neutral park, which is to say it has not decisively favored hitters or pitchers.

But in the last year or two, Minute Maid Park somewhat, suddenly and defiantly turned into an extreme

pitcher's park -- the most extreme, in fact, in the American League, according to Baseball Reference's

ballpark factors.

Conversely, Dodger Stadium has long been known as a great pitcher's park; this goes back to the days of

Koufax and Drysdale. But in 2017, hitters actually hit better at Dodger Stadium than they did on the

road.

All of which is to say: It's baffling out there.

All of which is to say: Stadiums could be major factors in this year's World Series.

Of course, that's the storyline before every World Series, right? Yes, every year before the games begin,

we write all these stories about home-field advantage, about how good it is to have Game 1 (and,

potentially, Game 7) at home, about how important it is for a team to steal a road game.

Do these stories reflect anything real? Well, it depends on your point of view. It is true that since 1980,

teams with home-field advantage in the World Series are 27-9, and home teams have won 61 percent of

the games. So that pretty persuasively suggests home field can be a big deal, especially when you

consider that until this season home-field advantage was not chosen by the team's individual records.

On the other hand, the last three World Series champions have clinched on the road -- this includes the

Cubs, who last year won the last two games in Cleveland to take it all. You have to go back to 2001, that

classic Series between the D-backs and Yankees, to find the last time each team won all its home games

in the World Series.

So what does any of this mean for this World Series presented by YouTube TV? Who knows? But here's

the thing: These Astros and Dodgers fit their ballparks well, and it could be difficult for either to break

serve. Neither team has lost a home game in this postseason. Neither team has come especially close to

losing a home game in this postseason. The Astros outscored the Red Sox and Yankees, 31-7, in the five

games at Minute Maid Park, and their pitchers did not allow more than two runs in any game.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have averaged 6.5 runs a game at home and have outscored the D-backs and

Cubs, 26-13, in their four postseason games at home.

This is a small sample size, of course, but it does reflect how those teams played at home this year.

During the season, the Astros' pitchers held opposing batters to a .225 average at home (30 points less

than on the road) and a .388 home slugging percentage (almost 40 points less than on the road). The

Astros' ERA was almost a full run better in Houston.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, uncharacteristically mashed the ball at Dodger Stadium all year. Their 115

home runs at home was a Dodger Stadium record, and their .449 home slugging percentage was the

second highest since the team moved to Los Angeles.

Of course, both teams were superb on the road, too. You don't win 100 games, as both teams did,

without success on the road. The Astros actually had a slightly better record on the road through the

season (they tied Cleveland for the best road record in baseball) because their incredible offense

overcame their pitchers' 4.61 road ERA.

But in the postseason, when everything is magnified, when managers will use their pitching staff

creatively to get every out, when each moment feels so important, it's easy to see these ballparks being

weapons for each team. The Dodgers are just so comfortable at Dodger Stadium. They went 57-24 at

home -- only the 1998 Yankees (62-19) have had a better home record the last 25 years.

And those Astros pitchers at Minute Maid Park are just a different bunch. It was something to see in

Games 6 and 7 of the American League Championship Series presented by Camping World, when the

Astros came in on the brink of elimination. The crowd was crazy -- observers say it was as loud and

electrifying an atmosphere as any in recent memory -- and the Astros' pitching staff, which got beat up

in New York, allowed just one run in the final 18 innings.

There will be a million analyses going in the World Series, and most of them will be rendered

meaningless pretty quickly -- perhaps including this one. But keep an eye on the home park. The first

visitor to break through might just win this thing.

Meet the Players: Get to know the Dodgers

By Chad Thornburg and Matt Kelly

Here is everything you need to know about the Dodgers, who are searching for their first World Series

title since 1988.

Austin Barnes, C

Born: Riverside, Calif.

DOB: 12/28/89

HS: Riverside Poly (Calif.) High School

College: Arizona State University

Minors: Jamestown (A-), Greensboro (A), Jupiter (A+), Jacksonville (AA), Oklahoma City (AAA)

• Major League Baseball runs in Barnes' family. His uncle Mike Gallego was an infielder for the A's,

Yankees and Cardinals from 1985-97 and won a World Series with Oakland in '89. Gallego also previously

served as the A's third-base coach and the Angels director of baseball development.

"Uncle Mike made the big leagues an obtainable goal," Barnes said of growing up around Gallego. "You

see your uncle can do it, and it puts it in your mind that it's possible. His attitude and the way he carried

himself transferred over and showed me this is something you could do if you just work hard."

Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF

Born: Scottsdale, Ariz.

DOB: 7/13/95

HS: Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) High School

Minors: AL Dodgers (R), Ogden (R), Rancho Cucamonga (R+), Oklahoma City (AAA), Tulsa (AA)

• Cody Bellinger isn't the first in his family to reach the Major Leagues and he may not be the last. Cody's

father, Clay, was a second-round Draft pick of the Giants in 1989 and went on to play in three seasons

with the Yankees from 1999-2001 and appear in two games for the Angels in '02. Following behind Cody

is Cole Bellinger, a right-handed pitcher, who was selected by the Padres in the 15th round of this June's

Draft.

Bellinger, who was the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect entering 2017, clubbed 39 home runs -- more than three

times the amount his dad hit in his entire career -- to set a National League rookie record. Bellinger's

home run against Arizona in Game 3 of the NLDS presented by T-Mobile made him the youngest Dodger

to homer in a postseason game at just 22 years and 88 days old.

Tony Cingrani, LHP

Born: Evergreen, Ill.

DOB: 7/5/89

HS: Lincoln Way Central (New Lenox, Ill.) High School

College: Rice (Houston), South Suburban College (South Holland, Ill.)

Minors: Billings (R), Pensacola (AA), Bakersfield (A+), Louisville (AAA)

• Cingrani starred at Lincoln-Way Central High School before his baseball career led him to the big

leagues. He tossed a no-hitter as a senior in 2007, striking out 20 batters against the state's top-ranked

team. On April 28, 2013 -- Cingrani's rookie season -- the lefty became only the 58th pitcher in history to

strike out four batters in an inning, doing so in the fourth against the Nationals.

Yu Darvish, RHP

Born: Habikino, Japan

DOB: 8/16/86

HS: Tohoku (Sendai, Japan)

• Twelve years ago, Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda traveled to Japan in an attempt to persuade

Darvish, then a senior in high school, and his parents that Darvish should begin his professional career in

Los Angeles, according to the LA Times. Darvish instead opted for seven seasons in Japan's Nippon

Professional Baseball, becoming one of the league's biggest stars, but eventually found his way to L.A.,

joining the Dodgers at this year's non-waiver Trade Deadline.

Darvish allowed only two combined runs in his first two postseason starts for the Dodgers, but he

accomplished something much more rare in Game 3 of the NLCS presented by Camping World. In the

sixth inning of that game, Darvish became the first pitcher to draw a bases-loaded walk in postseason

play since Dodgers pitcher Burt Hooton in the 1977 NLCS.

Andre Ethier, OF

Born: Phoenix

DOB: 4/10/82

HS: St. Marys (Ariz.) High School

College: Arizona State University, Chandler-Gilbert Community College

Minors: Vancouver (A-), Kane County (A), Modesto (A+), Midland (AA), Las Vegas (AAA)

• Ethier has spent 12 seasons in the Majors, but his athletic accomplishments may be rivaled in his own

household. Ethier and his wife, Maggie, were the first husband-wife inductees into the Arizona State

Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. Andre was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection in baseball, while Maggie was an

All-American gymnast on vault in 2001 and on floor in 2003. She scored nine perfect 10.0s in her

collegiate career -- two on the vault, one on the beam and six on the floor -- the most in school history.

Ethier's resiliency has paid big dividends in each of the past two seasons for the Dodgers. Ethier broke

his leg in Spring Training last year but came back to hit a home run in the 2016 NLCS against the Cubs.

Ethier missed the majority of this season with a herniated disk in his back, but again returned to homer

against the Cubs in this year's NLCS. Now in his 12th year with the Dodgers, Ethier is the longest-serving

member of the club.

Kyle Farmer, C

Born: Atlanta

DOB: 8/17/90

HS: Marist High School (Atlanta)

College: Georgia

Minors: Ogden (R), Rancho Cucamonga (A+), Great Lakes (A), Tulsa (AA), Oklahoma City (AAA)

• Fans seeing Farmer for the first time on the October stage may recognize the Dodgers rookie from

2009's The Blind Side. As a senior at Marist, Farmer played a high school quarterback in the Academy

Award-nominated film starring Sandra Bullock. His acting debut was unpaid, however, to preserve his

college eligibility.

Farmer's first Major League at-bat on July 28 was about as memorable as could be. Entering as a pinch-

hitter in the bottom of the 11th, Farmer knocked a two-run, walk-off double to deliver the Dodgers a 3-2

victory over the rival Giants. Farmer became the first Dodger in history to record a walk-off hit in his first

career plate appearance.

Josh Fields, RHP

Born: Athens, Ga.

DOB: 8/19/85

HS: Prince Avenue Christian (Bogart, Ga.)

College: Georgia

Minors: West Tennessee (AA), Tacoma (AAA), Portland (AA), Jackson (AA), Pawtucket (AAA), Portland

(AA)

• Before Fields was pitching out of the Dodgers bullpen, he was one of the college game's top relievers

for Georgia. He appeared in 36 games for the SEC-champion Bulldogs that advanced to the College

World Series in 2008, going 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA with 18 saves, a school record. A consensus All-

American, Fields was named SEC Pitcher of the Year and National Stopper of the Year, and he

established a new Georgia and SEC record for career saves (41). Fields, along with Farmer and Alex

Wood, is one of three former Bulldogs on the Dodgers' roster.

Logan Forsythe, INF

Born: Memphis

DOB: 1/14/87

HS: Christian Brothers (Memphis) High School

College: University of Arkansas

Minors: Eugene (A-), AZL Padres (R), San Antonio (AA), Lake Elsinore (A+), Tucson (AAA)

• As a junior at Arkansas, Forsythe starred for Team USA at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio De Janeiro.

He hit .625 (10-for-16) in the tournament, helping the U.S. to a silver medal finish behind gold-medalist

Cuba. Forsythe is known for his versatility; he has played at every position in the big leagues except

pitcher, catcher and center field. He was one of only two players to start in all nine spots in the batting

order at least once during the 2015 season.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

Born: San Diego

DOB: 5/8/82

HS: Eastlake (Calif.) High School

Minors: GCL Marlins (R), Utica (A-), Kane County (A), Portland (AA), Frisco (AA), Carolina (AA),

Albuquerque (AAA), Oklahoma (AAA)

• Gonzalez is very involved in his support for youth baseball, particularly in Tijuana, Mexico, where he

spent much of his childhood. He helped renovate a Little League baseball field in the city and continues

to fund two fields at Campo Adrian Gonzalez en la Liga Municipal de Tijuana. In 2014, he also established

Liga de Beisbol TELMEX Adrian Gonzalez, a youth league in Mexico.

Yasmani Grandal, C

Born: La Habana, Cuba

DOB: 11/8/88

HS: Miami Springs (Fla.) High School

College: University of Miami

Minors: AZL Reds (R), Bakersfield (A+), Carolina (AA), Louisville (AAA), Tucson (AAA)

• As a junior at Miami, Grandal was one of five finalists for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.

He hit .401 with 15 home runs and 60 RBIs and was named 2010 ACC Player of the Year, but eventually

lost out on the Golden Spikes Award to junior-college star Bryce Harper, the top pick in that year's MLB

Draft. Grandal is recognized as one of the Majors' best catchers at framing pitches for strikes, including

pitches he's had to stand up to receive.

Curtis Granderson, OF

Born: Blue Island, Ill.

DOB: 3/16/81

HS: Thornton Fractional South (Ill.) High School

College: University of Illinois at Chicago

Minors: Oneonta (A-), Lakeland (A+), Erie (AA), Toledo (AAA)

• The UIC baseball team plays every home game in a ballpark named after one of its most famous

alumni. Granderson donated $5 million to help fund the $10 million Curtis Granderson Stadium, which

opened in April 2014. According to Sports Illustrated, his contribution is the largest one-time gift from an

athlete to their alma mater in history.

Granderson hit a grand slam on Aug. 17 against the Yankees for his final home run as a member of the

Mets. Four days later, Granderson hit another slam for the Dodgers to become the first player in MLB

history to hit two grand slams for two teams in a span of four games.

Enrique Hernandez, INF/OF

Born: San Juan, Puerto Rico

DOB: 8/24/91

HS: American Military Academy (Toa Baja, P.R.)

Minors: GCL Astros (R), Tri-City (A-), Lexington (A), Lancaster (A+), Corpus Christi (AA), Oklahoma City

(AAA), New Orleans (AAA)

• Hernandez dabbled in a different profession last year, guest starring on an episode of The Bold and the

Beautiful. Hernandez's fiancee, Mariana Vicente, is an actress and one of her first roles was on the long-

running daytime series.

Coincidentally, Hernandez made his MLB debut with the Astros and hit his first career home run at

Minute Maid Park. He was traded to the Marlins in a deal for outfielder Jake Marisnick before being

traded to the Dodgers. In Game 5 of the NLCS, Hernandez became the 10th player to hit three homers in

a postseason game, helping Los Angeles punch its ticket to the World Series. Hernandez, a Puerto Rico

native, has been organizing relief efforts and raising funds for those in his home country. His father,

Enrique Hernandez II, was a scout in Puerto Rico and coached Astros star Carlos Correa as a teeanager.

He is fighting cancer but was in the stands at Wrigley Field to see his son hit those three home runs in

Game 5.

Rich Hill, LHP

Born: Boston

DOB: 3/11/80

HS: Milton (Mass.) High School

College: Michigan

Minors: Boise (A-), Lansing (A), Dayton (A+), Iowa (AAA), West Tennessee (AA), Peoria (A)

• It's been a winding road to Los Angeles for Hill, who's played for nine different Major League

organizations since he was selected by the Cubs out of Michigan in the fourth round of the 2002 Draft.

Injuries and inconsistency had Hill bouncing between teams on a number of Minor League deals before

eventually landing with the independent Long Island Ducks in 2015. Hill made two starts with the Ducks

before the Red Sox offered him a shot at a Major League comeback, and in the span of 16 months, he

went from an independent league team to signing a three-year, $48 million contract with the Dodgers

over the winter.

Kenley Jansen, RHP

Born: Willemstad, Curacao

DOB: 9/30/87

Minors: Inland Empire (A+), Chattanooga (AA)

• Jansen, now one of baseball's elite closers, didn't even begin his professional career as a pitcher. The

Curacao native was signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free-agent catcher in 2005, the position he

remained at until the Dodgers converted him to a reliever in '09. Jansen credits his performance as

primary catcher for the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, when he flashed his arm

strength from behind the plate, for instigating the shift to the mound.

It was at Jansen's wedding in Curacao last offseason that he and Justin Turner, who were both free

agents, decided to re-sign with the Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw, LHP

Born: Dallas

DOB: 3/19/88

HS: Highland Park (Texas) High School

Minors: GCL Dodgers (R), Great Lakes (A), Jacksonville (AA)

• Kershaw received a shoutout during the Detroit Lions' Week 2 matchup against the Giants by Lions

quarterback Matthew Stafford, who used the Dodgers star's name as an audible call at the line of

scrimmage. Kershaw and Stafford both grew up in the Dallas area, playing football, baseball, basketball

and soccer together. At one point, Stafford was Kershaw's catcher and Kershaw was Stafford's center.

Now, more than a decade after graduating together from Highland Park High School in 2006, Kershaw

and Stafford are the highest-paid players in both MLB and the NFL, respectively.

After winning five NL ERA titles, three Cy Young Awards and an MVP Award, Kershaw is making his first

appearance in the World Series.

Kenta Maeda, RHP

Born: Senboku-gun, Japan

DOB: 4/11/88

HS: PL Gakuen (Japan) High School

• Maeda was well-decorated in his time with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japan Central League. He won

two Sawamura Awards, given to the league's top pitcher, in 2010 and '14. Maeda also became the

youngest pitcher in Japanese baseball history to achieve the pitching Triple Crown during his first

Sawamura Award-winning campaign in 2010, going 15-8 with a 2.21 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 215 2/3

innings.

Maeda had a bit of fun during a visit back to his native Japan last offseason, dressing in disguise as an old

man and pitching to some of his young fans.

Brandon Morrow, RHP

Born: Santa Rosa, Calif.

DOB: 7/26/84

HS: Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park, Calif.) High School

College: California Berkeley

Minors: Inland Empire (A+), AZL Mariners (R), Tacoma (AAA), West Tennessee (AA)

• After spending much of his time in the big leagues as a starting pitcher, Morrow has enjoyed a late-

career re-emergence as a reliever -- in large part due to health -- as one of the most reliable arms in the

Dodgers' bullpen. Signed to a modest Minor League deal this winter, Morrow turned out to be a steal for

the Dodgers this season. He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2006 Draft, two slots ahead of

Kershaw, but an early ascent to the Majors and questionable use led to multiple injuries before he found

a career renaissance in Los Angeles. This is his first career postseason.

Morrow on rising to the occasion

Morrow on rising to the occasion

Brandon Morrow talks about how the Dodgers made it to the World Series and discusses the club's

impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio

Yasiel Puig, OF

Born: Cienfuegos, Cuba

DOB: 12/7/90

Minors: AZL Dodgers (R), Rancho Cucamonga (A+), Chattanooga (AA)

• This offseason, Puig launched his Wild Horse Foundation, a non-profit organization that draws its title

from the nickname given to Puig by legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully. Puig hosted one of his

first charitable events in May, the inaugural Wild Horse Poker Tournament, drawing a star-studded

guest list to Dodger Stadium, including teammates Kershaw, Jansen, Gonzalez and Turner, former

Dodgers greats Don Newcombe and Orel Hershiser, comedian George Lopez, TV and radio personality

Larry King, former NBA forward Metta World Peace and former "The Bachelor" star Ben Higgins.

Puig has been arguably the most entertaining player of the 2017 postseason -- both with his play and his

celebrations. From licking his bat to epic bat flips and even a tongue wag or two, Puig has been must-

watch this October.

Corey Seager, SS

Born: Charlotte, N.C.

DOB: 4/27/94

HS: Northwest Cabarrus (Concord, N.C.) High School

Minors: Ogden (R), Rancho Cucamonga (A+), Great Lakes (A), Chattanooga (AA), Oklahoma City (AAA)

• Baseball runs in the Seager family. Kyle Seager, the oldest at 29, has played third base for the Mariners

for seven seasons and was an All-Star in 2014. Justin, 25, was a 12th-round Draft pick of Seattle in 2013

and spent this year playing for Double-A Arkansas in the Mariners' farm system. And Corey, the

youngest at 23, is in his third season with the Dodgers and coming off a National League Rookie of the

Year campaign. For the inaugural Players Weekend, during which MLB encouraged players to wear

nicknames on their jerseys, Kyle wore "Corey's Brother" on the back of his jersey to acknowledge his

younger sibling's rapid ascent.

Chris Taylor, OF

Born: Virginia Beach, Va.

DOB: 8/29/90

HS: Frank W. Cox (Virginia Beach) High School

College: Virginia

Minors: Clinton (A), Everett (A-), Jackson (AA), High Desert (A+), Tacoma (AAA)

• Taylor's father and grandfather both competed on the wrestling team at Virginia Tech, and Taylor

followed in their footsteps early, winning a Virginia Beach city wrestling championship in middle school.

Once he got to high school, however, he bucked the family tradition to focus on baseball. And for good

reason, as Taylor went on to play collegiately at Virginia and now finds himself a key piece to the

Dodgers. After struggling through three seasons with the Mariners, Taylor was traded to the Dodgers

and completely overhauled his swing, which led to a significant power surge. He's since taken a firm hold

on the Dodgers' leadoff spot in what's been a breakout season.

Taylor on prep for WS matchups

Taylor on prep for WS matchups

Chris Taylor talks about his preparation for the various pitching matchups during the World Series

Justin Turner, 3B

Born: Long Beach, Calif.

DOB: 11/23/84

HS: Mayfair (Calif.) High School

College: California State University Fullerton

Minors: Billings (R), Dayton (A), Sarasota (A+), Chattanooga (AA), Norfolk (AAA), Buffalo (AAA)

• Turner's path to stardom has been long and winding. As a college junior (the year most college

prospects get drafted and signed) he was selected by, but didn't sign with, the Yankees. In fact, nine of

his college teammates were drafted before him that year. He was then a seventh-round Draft choice of

the Reds in 2006 before Cincinnati traded him to the Orioles two years later in a deal that included

catcher Ramon Hernandez. Turner's first All-Star Game selection didn't come until this year at the age of

32, but his career .368 average in the postseason is tied with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor for the highest

of any player with a minimum of 100 plate appearances.

Chase Utley, 2B

Born: Pasadena, Calif.

DOB: 12/17/78

HS: Polytechnic (Calif.) High School

College: UCLA

Minors: Batavia (A-), Clearwater (A+), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)

• Utley fulfilled a childhood dream when he was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade with the Phillies in

August 2015. The veteran second baseman grew up cheering on the Dodgers in Long Beach, Calif., and

attended college at UCLA.

Utley has seven career World Series home runs on his resume -- the most by any second baseman in

history. That includes the five homers he hit for the Phillies in the 2009 World Series -- which is still tied

with Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson for the most hit in any Fall Classic.

Tony Watson, LHP

Born: Sioux City, Iowa

DOB: 5/30/85

HS: Dallas Center Grimes (Iowa) High School

College: Nebraska

Minors: Hickory (A), State College (A-), Lynchburg (A+), Altoona (AA), Indianapolis (AAA)

• Watson was too young to remember his great uncle -- he was only a month old when he died -- but

he's heard stories of Tom Offenburger's role in the Civil Rights movement. According to the Pittsburgh

Post-Gazette, Offenburger left his job with U.S. News and World Report in 1966 to become director of

information for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He also

later worked as press secretary for activist and U.S. congressman Andrew Young.

Alex Wood, LHP

Born: Charlotte, N.C.

DOB: 1/12/91

HS: Ardrey Kell (N.C.) High School

College: University of Georgia

Minors: Rome (A), Mississippi (AA), Gwinnett (AAA)

• The University of Georgia is well-represented on the Dodgers. Wood is one of three players to play his

college ball for Bulldogs, along with Fields and Farmer. Wood's collegiate career got off to a delayed

start as the left-hander tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in the playoffs his senior year of

high school and had to redshirt his first season at Georgia after Tommy John surgery.

Farmer and Wood have matching tattoos on their arms that read "Second Chance" to honor Chance

Veazy, their former UGA teammate who was paralyzed from the waist down in a scooter accident in

2009.

Veteran quest: 5 in search of first WS title

By Mark Feinsand

LOS ANGELES -- As his teammates spilled out of the dugout to mob each other on the Minute Maid Park

mound Saturday night, Justin Verlander acted like a man who had been there before.

Twice, actually.

Verlander knows how sacred a trip to the World Series is for a player, and after reaching the Fall Classic

twice in his first seven seasons -- winding up on the losing sides both times -- the 13-year veteran is

doing his best to appreciate his latest chance to pitch for a championship.

"It was kind of a Cinderella story for Detroit and for me in my rookie year; it was like, 'Oh, we'll be back

here. This is super easy,'" Verlander said as the Astros prepared for Game 1 of the World Series

presented by YouTube TV. "That experience and the time in between does give you an appreciation for

how special it is to get this far."

This World Series features many compelling angles, and one of them is the quest of five long-time

veterans in search of their first World Series title.

Verlander, Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann are three prominent Astros veterans vying for their first

World Series ring, while Clayton Kershaw and Curtis Granderson will try to thwart Houston's postseason

run and pick up the first such hardware of their accomplished careers.

"There have been moments this postseason where I've taken a little more time to appreciate it and let it

sink in," Verlander said. "When we clinched, I wasn't the first one running on the field into the pile. I

slowly jogged out there, looked around the stadium, waved to my family and tried to feel it a little more

so I could remember it."

Verlander didn't do that in 2006 or '12 with the Tigers, overwhelmed by the excitement of the situation

both times.

"It's such an adrenaline rush and it's so exciting, you just kind of forget to experience it," Verlander said.

"You experience it, but you don't really take it in. This postseason, I've made a point a couple times to

take a moment to step back and soak it all in."

"To get a chance to be here right now, you look back and go, 'Wow,' knowing what everybody had to go

through to get to this point," said Granderson, who played in the World Series with the 2006 Tigers and

the 2015 Mets. "You definitely don't take anything for granted."

Beltran is in his 20th season, and at the age of 40, it's uncertain how many more shots he'll have at that

elusive title. He's been to the postseason seven times with six teams, but he's appeared in only one

World Series, losing to the Red Sox as a member of the 2013 Cardinals.

In the Astros' clubhouse, Beltran is the wise old sage, always there to offer advice or an encouraging

word to his younger teammates. As much as the Astros want to win it all for themselves and the city of

Houston, it seems that getting Beltran his first championship is as much of a motivating factor as any

other.

"It would mean everything," said McCann, who played with Beltran in New York for three seasons

before they wound up together again in Houston. "We've all talked about it. We want to get this done.

He's a special person. I tell guys all the time, you're not going to come across another Carlos Beltran in

your career."

Beltran seemed both touched and embarrassed about his teammates' desire to help get him a ring,

quickly turning the discussion back to the 25-man unit.

"I take it as a compliment," Beltran said. "I take a lot of pride in being a good teammate, trying to help

my guys and trying to impact my teammates in a positive way. We have to win it for all of us, not just for

me. We all deserve to win it."

Beltran's lack of a World Series title can't be attributed to his play, which has made him one of the great

postseason performers of this generation. In 62 career playoff games, Beltran has 16 home runs, 42 RBIs

and an impressive .311/.417/.618 slash line.

He's not shy about admitting what winning would mean to him, but he's also cognizant that it's not

entirely in his hands. In fact, during the games in Los Angeles without the use of the designated hitter,

he will be little more than a pinch-hitter in Games 1, 2, 6 and 7.

"This is what you dream about as a ballplayer," Beltran said. "Since you get the opportunity to sign as a

professional ballplayer, your first dream is trying to get to the big leagues. Your second dream is trying

to win a World Series. I have never been able to accomplish that. I got the opportunity to go once and

we didn't win it. I'm just grateful and happy to be in this position. It's a blessing. It would be great if I win

it. If I don't win it, it wasn't meant to be."

While Verlander, Beltran and McCann were willing to look at things from a big-picture vantage point,

Kershaw was laser-focused on Game 1 as he spoke about the Series Monday.

For Kershaw, the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and 2014 National League MVP,

this marks his first trip to the World Series, a destination he's longed to visit since he broke into the

league in 2008. The Dodgers have been to the postseason seven times in Kershaw's 10 seasons, but each

of the first six ended with a Los Angeles loss.

Kershaw is hoping this year is different, even if he isn't prepared to discuss what winning would mean.

"I always say you can analyze all that stuff after," Kershaw said. "I think it meant a lot in Chicago, when

we were saying, 'We are going to the World Series.' That's a special thing. But now we're flipping the

switch a little bit, and we're trying to figure out how to win four games.

"After the season is over we'll look back on it, and hopefully have a World Series trophy to celebrate.

We'll wait for all the reflection stuff until after the season."

The one thing each of these veterans have in common is their appreciation for their position, knowing

how difficult it is to even get to the World Series, let alone to win it.

"Not too many people get to this point," Beltran said. "I've heard stories from guys who played for 10 or

15 years and never got to a playoff round. It's hard. You have to embrace it. This doesn't happen every

year."

For at least two of them, this finally will be that year.

5 key Statcast storylines for Astros-Dodgers

By Matt Kelly and David Adler

The Astros and Dodgers took turns holding the mantle of "baseball's best team" during the regular

season. Now, each club has the chance to prove it on the sport's biggest stage.

The upcoming matchup between two 100-plus win teams -- only the eighth such World Series meeting

in history -- is filled with an overwhelming amount of talent on both sides, in every facet of the game.

Either Houston or Los Angeles' long-suffering fanbases will see a postseason drought come to an end,

and Statcast™ will be tracking every pitch of the 113th World Series presented by YouTube TV to tell the

story of how they did it. In fact, Statcast™ has tracked every pitch, swing, run and throw by these teams

dating to Opening Day, when the Astros and Dodgers were just two of 30 teams with World Series

aspirations.

Before they take the field for Game 1 tonight at Dodger Stadium, here are five Statcast™ facts to keep in

mind on the stars of the 2017 World Series.

1. Don't expect hard contact in Game 1

It's hard to imagine a more marquee World Series matchup between two left-handers than Clayton

Kershaw against Dallas Keuchel in Game 1, and each pitcher has the type of command that can

dominate opposing lineups every time they take the mound -- albeit in different ways. Kershaw

recorded the Majors' highest strike rate among starting pitchers at 68.6 percent, and his opponents hit

only .237 against his pitches inside the strike zone during the regular season. Keuchel, meanwhile,

posted the highest ground-ball rate of any starter and allowed just a .126 batting average in at-bats

decided on his pitches outside the strike zone.

Together, both Kershaw and Keuchel were among the Majors' very best in terms of lowest average exit

velocity allowed in the regular season.

Lowest average exit velocity allowed, 2017 regular season

Min. 400 batted balls allowed

1-T. CC Sabathia: 83.9 mph

1-T. Kyle Hendricks: 83.9 mph

3-T. Keuchel: 84.5 mph

3-T. Kyle Freeland: 84.5 mph

5. Kershaw: 84.6 mph

2. Look for Justin Verlander to keep it "rising"

Verlander is not only blessed with one of the hardest four-seam fastballs of any starter in terms of

velocity, he also features the highest spin rate on the pitch. Why is that important? The first three years

of Statcast™ data tells us that higher spin helps generate the "rising fastball" effect -- allowing the ball to

defy gravity for longer -- and elicit more whiffs and popups. Check out where Verlander has gotten his

swings and misses with his four-seamer this year:

Location of Justin Verlander's swings and misses recorded on four-seam fastballs

Only D-backs starter Robbie Ray allowed a lower batting average than Verlander on four-seam fastballs

in the upper-third of the strike zone and above during the regular season. Verlander employed that

pitch to perfection in each of his instant-classic American League Championship Series starts against the

Yankees -- which happened to be his two best starts by fastball spin rate since 2015 -- by holding the

pinstripes hitless in nine at-bats decided on his fastballs upstairs. New York hitters struggled against that

pitch all season, and so did the fly-ball loving Dodgers -- Verlander's Game 2 opponent.

Highest average spin rate on four-seam fastballs, SP, 2017 regular season

Min. 500 4-seamers thrown

1. Verlander: 2,549 rpm

2. Max Scherzer: 2,505 rpm

3. Yu Darvish: 2,501 rpm

4. Sonny Gray: 2,492 rpm

5. Jeff Samardzija: 2,485 rpm

Lowest team batting average on four-seam fastballs in upper-third of strike zone and above, 2017

regular season

1. Rays: .183

2-T. Dodgers: .189

2-T. Brewers: .189

4. Padres: .192

5. Yankees: .196

3. How does one pitch to Jose Altuve and Justin Turner?

That's what opposing pitchers have been asking on either side of the postseason bracket, as Altuve and

Turner have had their way for the majority of October. Sure, Altuve (.400) and Turner (.387) top all

hitters in terms of postseason batting average thus far, but a deeper look with Statcast™ metrics show

that the results line up with the performance. Statcast™'s expected batting average metric (xBA) goes

about calculating what a batter should be hitting independent of outside factors, like standout defensive

plays and shifts, by considering hit probabilities based on exit velocity and launch angle, along with a

batter's real-life strikeouts. Through this prism, Altuve and Turner are still right up near the top of all

hitters this postseason. Good luck to whichever pitcher is tasked with getting these guys out in a big

moment in this series.

Highest xBA in 2017 postseason

Min. 30 at-bats

1. Yuli Gurriel: .371

2. Altuve: .333

3. Turner: .314

4. Carlos Correa: .299

5. Chris Taylor: .264

4. Yuli Gurriel is crushing the ball

We weren't going to forget about the top name on that xBA list. That's just one metric that says Gurriel

is putting together the best at-bats of anyone so far this postseason. Gurriel showed his skills plenty of

times for the Cuban National Team through the years, but the rookie leads all players in average exit

velocity in his first taste of October. The first baseman also ranked among the game's very best at

putting "hard-hit" contact - defined by Statcast™ as any ball hit with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph --

into play, and that's continued right on into October, too. Gurriel's box score numbers cooled off

somewhat during the ALCS presented by Camping World, but expect him to be a force in the World

Series if he continues to make contact like this.

Highest average exit velocity, 2017 postseason

1. Gurriel: 93.8 mph

2-T. Yasiel Puig: 91.8 mph

2-T. Greg Bird: 91.8 mph

4. Carlos Santana: 91.6 mph

5. Aaron Judge: 91.0 mph

Most hard-hit balls (95+ mph exit velocity), 2017 postseason

1. Gurriel: 18

2. Gary Sanchez: 15

3-T. Correa: 14

3-T. Didi Gregorius: 14

5. Alex Bregman: 13

5. Yasiel Puig is as locked in as he's ever been

Yasiel Puig ... disciplined hitter?

Such a description didn't come to mind in Puig's struggles prior to 2017, but Dodgers hitting coach

Turner Ward has re-made Puig into an offensive force. The right fielder has swung at fewer than 20

percent of the pitches he's seen outside the strike zone this October, as compared to close to 30 percent

in his 27 career postseason games before this year. Puig has forced opposing pitchers to give him

pitches to hit within the strike zone, and he's crushed them to the tune of an even .500 batting average

(12-for-24) through the first two rounds. The Dodgers' lineup is much harder to navigate when Puig is

focused, and that's certainly been the case so far.

Lowest swing rate on out-of-zone pitches, 2017 postseason

Min. 50 pitches seen outside the strike zone

1. Jayson Werth: 12.0%

2. Taylor: 17.0%

3. George Springer: 18.9%

4. Puig: 19.4%

5. Anthony Rendon: 20.3%

Highest BA against in-zone pitches, 2017 postseason

Min. 20 at-bats decided on pitches in strike zone

1. Puig: .500

2. Turner: .458

3. Gurriel: .423

4-T. Altuve: .414

4-T. Correa: .414

Just in time for the World Series, find out: Which Dodgers player are you?

By Eric Chesterton

Coming off having the best record in baseball during the regular season, the Dodgers now find

themselves in the World Series presented by YouTube TV. Their roster is certainly a cast of characters,

from Yasiel Puig's silliness to Justin Turner's beard to Clayton Kershaw's unfathomable consistency.

That raises an important question: If you could be a Dodgers player, which one would you be? There's

only one way to find out: By taking the quiz below. And don't forget to tune in Tuesday for Game 1 (7:30

p.m. ET air time/8 p.m. ET game time on FOX).

Dodgers build dominant bridge to Jansen

By Joshua Thornton

LOS ANGELES -- Kenley Jansen, Sergio Romo, Ross Stripling, Grant Dayton, Chris Hatcher and Luis Avilan.

Those were the relievers on the Dodgers' Opening Day roster this season.

Jansen and Stripling were the only two included on their roster for the National League Division Series.

The Dodgers overhauled their bullpen thanks to Brandon Morrow's breakout season, the Trade Deadline

additions of left-handers Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson, and Kenta Maeda joining the relief corps from

the starting rotation.

Heading into the World Series presented by YouTube TV, Los Angeles' bullpen has been lights out this

postseason to the tune of a 0.83 ERA, having walked only two batters in 28 1/3 innings and setting a

postseason record with 23 straight scoreless frames.

They've also made the bridge to get to Jansen much easier, and Clayton Kershaw and the rest of the

Dodgers' rotation can rest a bit easier when manager Dave Roberts comes out of the dugout to take the

ball.

Their roles are simple. Cingrani and Watson handle the lefties, Maeda is the "righty killer" and Morrow

uses his fastball to set up the closer Jansen. The bullpen stifled the Cubs in the National League

Championship Series presented by Camping World, tossing 17 scoreless innings with 22 strikeouts and

one walk. Dodgers relievers retired 52 of 58 batters they faced.

"I think everybody knows on our team when they come in the game, it's a really good feeling," Kershaw

said. "That's awesome to have. It's such a luxury. And all the way down, every single guy in the bullpen

has been rock solid for us."

What makes them so successful? Cingrani credits the Dodgers' analytics staff for the amount of

information they receive and how easy it is to digest. After the southpaw was acquired from the Reds,

the club suggested he throw his slider more to lefties, which he's done effectively in the postseason to

get out left-handed hitters when called upon.

"They do a very good job of knowing our strengths," Cingrani said. "Basically, the results, they speak for

all that preparation."

Then there's Maeda.

The Dodgers' starter-turned-reliever has also used his slider to whiff opposing hitters. His fastball

velocity also has ticked up to 96 mph since moving to the bullpen. In five postseason games, Maeda

hasn't thrown more than 12 pitches in an appearance and has retired every batter he has faced while

striking out seven.

"The numbers said before that he kills righties," Morrow said about Maeda. "You don't expect that to

change, you expect it to [get] better in the bullpen. The most impressive thing is the way he locates his

slider, it's so hard and sharp. He paints it like a fastball."

Morrow, a former starter, become the Dodgers' setup man after Pedro Baez's regular-season struggles.

Morrow didn't make the Dodgers' Opening Day roster after signing a Minor League deal in the

offseason. He finished the regular season without giving up a homer and didn't allow one until Game 2

of the NLDS.

"We've just had a really sharp focus," Morrow said.

Their success has also made life easier for Jansen. The Dodgers' All-Star closer was prepared to pitch

multiple innings this postseason as he did in 2016, but his fellow relievers have been so efficient that he

has been asked to get more than three outs only twice heading into Game 1 of the Fall Classic.

"It takes a lot of pressure off the starters," Jansen said. "And it takes innings and pressure off me, like,

'Hey, you know what? These guys can do the job.'"

Hinch, Roberts share tight bond, similar styles

By Richard Justice

LOS ANGELES -- How do close friends handle things when they find themselves managing against one

another in the Fall Classic? Funny you should ask.

"Radio silence," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Seriously?

"Well, we're not friends this week," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We're mortal enemies."

Yeah, no.

Nothing that happens in this Astros-Dodgers World Series presented by YouTubeTV will shake the bond

between Roberts and Hinch and their families.

But the friendship is an interesting sidebar: to have these two buddies looking across the diamond at

one another in a World Series.

After all the miles they've traveled, the thing every person in baseball dreams of has come to pass.

When Hinch and Roberts met for breakfast in San Diego last July, their teams were both in first place,

and suddenly, the whole thing didn't seem so farfetched.

"We kind of rooted each other on that we would meet each other in October and fight it out for the

World Series," Hinch said. "Now we've got to be careful what we wish for. We have to go up against

each other's teams."

Hinch and Roberts became friends in 2011 when both worked for the Padres, Roberts as a coach, Hinch

an assistant general manager.

They found an immediate bond in both having played in the Pac-12, Hinch at Stanford, Roberts at UCLA.

And their other mutual love was baseball.

"We just kind of hit it off," Roberts said, "and obviously we were contemporaries, and had mutual

friends, and just loved talking about the game.

"And so to be managing against him now in this situation, it's really surreal. I think after we advanced,

he reached out to me. And then after they advanced, I reached out to him."

Roberts and Hinch shared a brief hug during Monday's workouts at Dodger Stadium, but that was it. No

more supportive texts for the next few days while each takes care of business.

Here's the interesting part about their managerial styles. They are similar in that their strengths are

building relationships with players.

In baseball's information age -- and both teams are at the forefront -- nothing will ever diminish the

importance of a manager being able to lead a team and get a constant, consistent effort.

"He's one of the most caring people I've ever been around," Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor said of

Roberts. "Everything about him is 100 percent genuine, and you can feel that when you talk to him.

"I think that keeps everything positive. Everyone is optimistic about that day's game and we understand

we're one tight-knit family. Everybody's going to be supportive of everyone else."

Which is pretty much what the Astros say about their manager.

"It's just how approachable A.J. is," Houston outfielder Josh Reddick said. "We've talked about

everything, whether it's playing time or how to handle a certain thing in the clubhouse. It's so much fun.

I feel it's been a lucky thing for me to be here."

Roberts, 45, is two years older than Hinch. Roberts played 10 seasons for six teams and is an icon in

Boston, where his stolen base in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series sparked the

turnaround that led to the city's first World Series championship in 86 years.

Hinch played seven seasons for four teams and got a warmup managing gig with the D-backs in parts of

2009 and '10. He's in his third season with the Astros while Roberts is finishing up his second season --

his first managerial gig -- with the Dodgers.

"I love the man," Hinch said. "He's an excellent example of what leadership should be about. I have a lot

of respect for how he connects well with players and how he's leading his team. And I'm really happy

and proud that we're in this together.

"I think we both have unique backgrounds. And we find ourselves in the center stage of the World

Series. It shows you that anything's possible, and none of us can really be so good at being experts that

we're going to predict anything."

Both Hinch and Roberts are still learning, both still curious about how to improve. Astros pitching coach

Brent Strom said Hinch will sometimes approach him after a tough loss and ask, "What did I do wrong?"

But what both do well is lead men, maintain their composure and know their players have their best

interests in mind. Many factors contribute to a clubhouse culture, but the manager is a huge part of

that.

"I think just [Roberts'] overall attitude kind of carries out throughout the clubhouse," said Clayton

Kershaw, the Dodgers' Game 1 starter. "I think he is such an enthusiastic guy, positive guy, which you

can't fake that over a six-month season, 162 games. And for him to have that positivity throughout the

year, it's good. It rubs off on guys. On the dog days, it helps guys know that he has their backs."

It'll be interesting to watch Hinch and Roberts shake hands at home plate before Game 1 on Tuesday.

That hug will have some history, and that hug will represent what the two men have come to mean to

one another.

"I think Dave, as a coach first, was really good at connecting players and connecting with players and

finding the competitive advantage," Hinch said. "He has the will to win. Probably gets maybe wrongfully

accused of being too nice of a guy to everybody. He's got an inner burn to compete. I loved that when

we were together and I'm sure I'll see it firsthand this week.

"It's an incredible journey to get to this place, no matter what. Obviously his is a special rise to the top

on one of the best teams in baseball. Like I said, I've got great respect for him. More so on how he goes

about it, not necessarily what he's doing."

#AwardWorthy: Support Puig and a Dodgers fan

By Chad Thornburg

En route to winning the most games in the big leagues this season, the Dodgers enjoyed a number of

memorable moments, both on and off the field, throughout their 2017 campaign. A few of those

moments, as well as the team's biggest personality, are among the nominees for this year's Esurance

MLB Awards.

Yasiel Puig is up for two honors, Personality of the Year and Best Player-Fan Interaction, and one

particularly skilled Dodgers fan is in the mix for Best Fan Catch.

Personality of the Year: Puig

Personality of the Year: Puig

From #PuigYourFriend to re-creating the Eclipse to hitting homers, in general baseball is better with

Yasiel Puig having a good time

The Esurance MLB Awards annually honor MLB's greatest achievements as part of an industry-wide

balloting process that includes five groups, each of which accounts for 20 percent of the overall vote:

Media, front-office personnel, retired MLB players, fans at MLB.com and Society for American Baseball

Research (SABR) members.

The MLB Awards are an all-inclusive program, encompassing the top players and performances from

both the American and National Leagues from Opening Day through the end of the postseason.

Player-Fan Interaction: Puig

Yasiel Puig tries to give a young fan a baseball, but the case of the drops leads to a fun exchange

between Puig and the young fan

Voting led off with seven categories on Sept. 18 at mlb.com/awards, serving as the grand entrance of a

program that will unveil nominees for Best Call, TV/Radio; Best Major Leaguer, Postseason; and Best

Postseason Moment following the Fall Classic's final out. The ninth inning of voting will begin around

BBWAA Awards week, which opens when the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winners are

unveiled Monday, Nov. 13. Voting for the final five categories will begin at 7 p.m. ET on the following

dates:

• Best Executive: Thursday, Nov. 9.

• Best Rookie: Monday, Nov. 13.

• Best Manager: Tuesday, Nov. 14.

• Best Pitcher: Wednesday, Nov. 15

• Best Major Leaguer: Thursday, Nov. 16.

Once unveiled, each category will remain open for voting until 2 p.m. ET the next day.

MLB Awards season will culminate Friday, Nov. 17, when winners are announced live on MLB Network

and MLB.com starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Here's a look at the Dodgers' nominations:

Personality of the Year: Puig not only has one of the biggest personalities on the Dodgers, he's one of

the most engaging personalities in all of baseball.

Best Player-Fan Interaction: It took three tries, but Puig managed to send one young fan home with a

souvenir ball after a pair of missed attempts.

Best Fan Catch: One Dodgers fan earned this nomination after managing to snag a rocket off the bat of

Cody Bellinger with her hat.

How the Astros, Dodgers were built

By Jonathan Mayo

As the 2017 regular season started to hit the homestretch, it became very clear the Houston Astros and

Los Angeles Dodgers were postseason bound. On July 31, the Astros had a 16-game lead in the American

League West, while the Dodgers had a comfortable cushion of 14 games in the National League West.

Both teams, though, felt they could use a rotation upgrade to increase their chances of playing deep into

October. The Dodgers made their move right at the edge of the non-waiver Trade Deadline on July 31 by

acquiring Yu Darvish from the Texas Rangers. The Astros waited a full month to make their move,

nabbing Justin Verlander on Aug. 31 after the Tigers had put the veteran right-hander on waivers.

Both moves, obviously, have paid large dividends for the two clubs preparing to play tonight in Game 1

of the World Series presented by YouTube TV. Darvish was solid in August and September (4-3 with a

3.44 ERA in nine starts) and has won both of his postseason outings (11 1/3 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 14 K).

"We went into July with the mindset of focusing on impact-type talent," said Andrew Friedman, the

Dodgers' president of baseball operations, at the beginning of October. "To the extent we were able to

line up on it, we would be aggressive in doing that. Our most acute need was left-handed relief, but if

there was someone who could impact us in October … and Yu fits that perfectly."

Verlander has been other-worldly, with his September (5-0, 1.06 ERA in five starts) just a tune-up to his

postseason run, particularly in his AL Championship Series MVP-winning peformance (postseason

combined 4-0 in 24 2/3 IP, 17 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 24 K).

"The Verlander deal took a long time to pull together, and it wasn't clear it would come together,"

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said as the postseason was about to begin. "To get two years of

control, along with him pitching as well as he has pitched in his career, we went through a pretty

disciplined approach to get that result."

That Los Angeles and Houston would get such production from trades should come as no surprise. The

Dodgers had more players on their roster at the start of the postseason acquired via trade or waivers

(14) than any team in the playoffs. The Astros, with 11, weren't too far behind. Tweaks to the World

Series roster may bring the Dodgers down to 13, with Curtis Granderson likely making way for Corey

Seager, but it's still the top total. That baker's dozen produced a bWAR (Baseball-Reference WAR) of

21.1 for the Dodgers in 2017. Houston now has an even dozen on the roster, which put up a bWAR of

17.8.

As much as trades have been crucial parts of building these World Series participants, there have been

some big contributions from homegrown players. L.A. is obviously thrilled to get Seager back after he

missed the NLCS presented by Camping World with a back issue, joining Clayton Kershaw and Cody

Bellinger as Dodgers draftees making an impact. The Dodgers' homegrown players put up a bWAR of

19.9.

The Astros have eight homegrown players on their World Series roster, and like the Dodgers, have a pair

of infielders (Houston's entire starting infield is homegrown, actually) and a frontline starter who

originally signed with the organization leading the group. Carlos Correa was the No. 1 overall pick in

2012, and he hit .333 and slugged .556 in the ALCS presented by Camping World. International signee

Jose Altuve has gone 16-for-40 (.400) this postseason, with five homers and eight RBIs. Dallas Keuchel, a

humble seventh-round pick back in 2009, may have been overshadowed by Verlander this postseason,

but he has a combined 2.60 ERA in 17 1/3 playoff innings this October, having allowed just 14 hits and

five walks while striking out 25. In total, the eight homegrown players provided 28.8 in bWAR.

Houston has been more "active" on the free-agent market than Los Angeles, though that's all relative.

There are five free agents on the Astros' current roster, with Josh Reddick leading the way in terms of

regular-season bWAR (4.4), though he's gone just 7-for-41 in the postseason. The Dodgers, for their

part, have three free agents for 6.9 bWAR. Justin Turner's 5.7 mark was tops during the season, and he's

gone 6-for-18 with a pair of homers this postseason.

The ties that bind: Connections run deep in WS

By Barry M. Bloom

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers outfielder Enrique Hernandez (aka Kiké) has a real affinity for the Astros. The

Puerto Rico native was selected by Houston in the sixth round of the 2009 Draft and played his

formative years in that organization.

Hernandez was traded to Miami in 2014 and then to Dodgers later that year, but the relationship

doesn't end there. When Hurricane Maria recently devastated his home island, Astros owner Jim Crane

sent two planes to evacuate families of players.

Hernandez had his mother, father, fiancée and her family airlifted out of harm's way on one of those

flights.

"There's a lot of love for that organization, and that's never going to change," Hernandez said Monday.

"But I'm a Dodger now and we have to take care of business this week."

The Astros meet the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series presented by YouTube TV on Tuesday at

Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers haven't won it all since 1988, and the Astros are still seeking their first

championship in their 55 years of existence.

Hernandez is one of a number of players and coaches in the World Series who has a connection to the

other team. Here's a deeper look at a few of those stories:

He hit three homers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series presented by Camping

World as the Dodgers vanquished the Cubs to win their first pennant since 1988. The Dodgers use

Hernandez as a spot outfielder and right-handed bat, flipping him in and out of the lineup based on

matchups. Hernandez was traded by the Astros after playing only 24 games for the big league club in

2014, but not before hitting his first big league home run -- the only one he would hit for Houston -- at

Minute Maid Park on July 2, 2014, against Chris Young of the Mariners. It was a magical moment

because Hernandez's family was in the stands.

Hernandez's first career homer

7/2/14: Enrique Hernandez hits his first career homer to deep left, as his family cheers him on

"I remember my first professional game vividly like it was yesterday," Hernandez said. "I remember the

last game with the Astros, both in the big leagues and the Minor Leagues. I remember everything. I'll

always be very appreciative of that organization. They gave me a chance to sign my first professional

contract and mature enough that I became a big leaguer at 22. They're the first team I got to the big

leagues with. I got to fulfill my dreams."

On July 31, 2014, Hernandez was sent to the Marlins with right-hander Jarred Cosart in a trade that saw

outfielder Jake Marisnick (among others) heading to Houston, and then that winter Hernandez was

shipped to the Dodgers along with catcher Austin Barnes in the blockbuster that sent Dee Gordon to

Miami. Speaking of Marisnick and Barnes …

Marisnick-Barnes

The friends played for Riverside Poly High School in California and then took different paths. Marisnick

was picked in the third round of the 2009 Draft by the Blue Jays, reaching the Majors with the Marlins in

2013. Barnes played his college ball at Arizona State and was selected by the Marlins in the ninth round

of the 2011 Draft.

"We played high school ball together, travel ball together, we played everything together coming up,"

Marisnick said of Barnes. "He's a competitor, man. He's not the biggest of guys. He's just a gamer. He

likes to go out and play. He's going to do what it takes to go out and win a game. Watch out for him.

That's what I'm trying to tell these guys."

Marisnick's recovering from surgery to repair a fractured right thumb and won't be on the World Series

roster, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Monday. Barnes, a converted infielder, has replaced Yasmani

Grandal as the Dodgers' starting catcher.

Dallas Keuchel and Logan Forsythe

Forsythe was a top college third baseman when Keuchel joined the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in

2007. Even then, Forsythe said, he could see the elements of the pitcher who would become one of the

most prolific left-handers in Major League Baseball.

"He wasn't this," Forsythe said about the Keuchel he knew from his Arkansas days. "But each year he got

better and better. His work ethic has always been there. And he's improved and improved. When he got

to the big leagues, all the guys were very happy for him."

Keuchel was a seventh-round pick by the Astros in the 2009 Draft. The Dodgers obtained Forsythe --

originally the 46th overall pick of the Padres in 2008 -- this past offseason in a trade with the Rays.

"We had a working relationship at Arkansas. And coming in he had already established himself as one of

the best third basemen in college baseball," Keuchel said. "I respected him immediately. I was just trying

to make a name for myself and be respected by him. And he's a guy that just brings a smile to my face

because I know how hard he works. I know how hard he's worked to get here and be the player he is."

Dave Roberts-A.J. Hinch

From 2011-14, Hinch, the manager of the Astros, was an assistant general manager for the Padres who

served as a liaison with the coaching staff. At the same time, Roberts, the Dodgers manager, was the

first-base coach and later bench coach for the Padres. The two became close. Both were effusive when

speaking about the other on Monday.

"I love the man," said Hinch. "He's an excellent example of what leadership should be about. I have a lot

of respect for how he connects well with players and how he's leading his team. And I'm really happy

and proud that we're in this together."

Their paths first crossed during their college days when both were in the Pac-10: Roberts at UCLA and

Hinch at Stanford, though the bond didn't really take hold until they overlapped in San Diego.

"To be managing against A.J. now, in this situation, it's really surreal," said Roberts. "I think after we

advanced [to the World Series], he reached out to me. And then after they advanced, I reached out to

him. And from that point on it's been radio silence."

Justin Turner fired off a great quote when asked to compare his beard to Dallas Keuchel's

By Adrian Garro

On Tuesday night, the Astros and Dodgers will begin the World Series presented by YouTube TV (Game

1: 7:30 p.m. ET air time/8 p.m. ET game time on FOX).

Los Angeles (104-58) and Houston (101-61) dominated the National League and American League,

respectively, making this a true battle of 100-plus win clubs in the Fall Classic. But the parallels don't

stop there. Both teams also rely heavily on the contributions from heavily bearded players -- the

Dodgers with third baseman Justin Turner:

... and the Astros with Dallas Keuchel.

Asked at World Series Media Day on Monday to compare his beard to Keuchel's, Turner raved about the

lefty's look, and also fired off a particularly amazing quote:

"The beards aren't throwing any pitches, or taking any swings. It's about the man underneath them."

So, so true, and so perfectly put.

All that's happened to LA since 1988 title

By Tracy Ringolsby

The Dodgers are looking to end a 29-year world championship drought. This is the 11th time they have

been to the postseason since they surprised the A's in the 1988 World Series, but it is the first time they

have even been back to the Fall Classic.

So what has happened since the last World Series celebration for the Dodgers?

Well, 16 other teams have won world championships, including the Yankees, who have won five (1996,

1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009).

The Red Sox (2004, '07 and '13) and the Giants ('10, '12 and '14) have won three apiece.

The Blue Jays (1992 and '93), Marlins (1997 and 2003) and Cardinals (2006 and '11) won two apiece.

And the Angels (2002), Cubs (2016), D-backs (2001), White Sox (2005), Reds (1990), Twins (1991), A's

(1989), Royals (2015), Phillies (2008) and Braves (1995) have each won a world championship.

So what has happened since that last World Series celebration for the Dodgers?

Well, the Marlins and Rockies were added as expansion teams in 1993. The Marlins have won two world

championships and the Rockies did at least get to the World Series in 2007.

And in 1998, the D-backs and the Rays were added through expansion. The D-backs won the World

Series in 2001, and the Rays did get to the World Series in 2008.

The Cubs ended the longest World Series drought in history a year ago, claiming their first championship

since they won back-to-back in 1907-08.

The Red Sox not only ended the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, but added additional world

championships in '07 and '13.

So what has happened since that last World Series celebration for the Dodgers?

The Dodgers have had 592 players appear in their uniform.

They have had 46 players catch, led by Mike Piazza with 700 games, Russell Martin, 641, and A.J. Ellis,

526.

They have had 95 players appear at first base, including Fernando Valenzuela in one game, and Eric

Karros in 1,579, James Loney 860 and Adrian Gonzalez 704.

They have had 93 players appear at second base, led by Jeff Kent with 497 games, Mark Grudzielanek,

428 games, and Delino DeShields, 356 games.

They have had 104 players appear at third base, led by Adrian Beltre with 957 games, Justin Turner, 424

games, and Tim Wallach, 374 games.

They have had 74 players appear at shortstop, led by Rafael Furcal with 572 games, Jose Offerman, 571,

and Cesar Izturis, 553.

They have had 158 players appear in left field, led by Gary Sheffield with 425 games, Andre Ethier with

297, and Todd Hollandsworth with 295 games.

They have had 82 players appear in center field, led by Matt Kemp with 827 games, Brett Butler with

704, and Joc Pederson with 378.

They have had 115 players appear in right field, led by Ethier with 922 games, Raul Mondesi, 768, and

Shawn Green, 685.

They have had 129 pitchers start a game, led by Clayton Kershaw with 290 starts, Ramon Martinez, 256,

and Hideo Nomo, 191.

They have had 249 pitchers appear in relief, led by Kenley Jansen with 474 appearances, Jonathan

Broxton, 386, and Ronald Belisario, 273.

And they have even had 76 players appear as a DH thanks to Interleague Play, led by Olmedo Saenz with

20 games, Dave Hansen, 12, and Carl Crawford, 10.

So what has happened since the last World Series celebration for the Dodgers?

Depending on the status of shortstop Corey Seager, as many as 12 players on the Dodgers World Series

roster were born since the final Game of the 1988 Fall Classic.

• C Yasmani Grandal Nov. 8, 1988

• INF Charlie Culberson April 10, 1989

• LHP Tony Cingrani July 5, 1989

• LHP Luis Avilan July 19, 1989

• RHP Ross Stripling Nov. 23, 1989

• C Austin Barnes Dec. 28, 1989

• OF Kyle Farmer Aug. 17, 1990

• OF Chris Taylor Aug. 29, 1990

• OF Yasiel Puig Dec. 7, 1990

• OF/INF Enrique Hernandez Aug. 24, 1991

• OF Joc Pederson April 21, 1992

• SS Corey Seager April 27, 1994

• 1B/OF Cody Bellinger July 13, 1995

So what has happened since that last World Series celebration for the Dodgers?

The Marlins, Cubs and Reds have had 13 full-time managers, the Blue Jays and Mariners 11, and the

Nationals 10. Oh, and the Nationals are looking for a new manager right now, along with the Phillies and

Red Sox. The Mets hired Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway on Monday. The Tigers dismissed Brad

Ausmus at season's end and recently hired Ron Gardenhire to replace him.

Meanwhile, the Twins have had only three managers in the last 29 years, and the Angels, A's, Rays and

Giants have had four apiece.

The Dodgers? Dave Roberts is No. 8, and among the seven of the eight to take the team to the

postseason, the first to get to the World Series. He has joined -- Tommy Lasorda (1995), Bill Russell

(1996), Jim Tracy (2001), Grady Little (2006), Joe Torre (2008-09), Don Mattingly (2013-15), and Roberts

(2016-17). The lone exception was Davey Johnson.

LA TIMES

Tommy Lasorda is ready for one more World Series title

By Bill Shaikin

There had been a camera trained on Tommy Lasorda, no surprise to anyone who followed the Dodgers

with even the slightest degree of interest.

Kirk Gibson blew off an immediate interview on the field, disappearing down the dugout steps. So NBC

cut to the replays, with the two images that endure to this day.

Gibson jerked his right elbow backward, twice, as he rounded second base.

"Watch Lasorda," said Joe Garagiola, the NBC analyst.

And there was Lasorda, the manager, thrusting both arms toward the sky, deliriously taking a couple

steps onto the field, throwing up his arms again, hopping and skipping and huffing and puffing, his arms

going up and down every couple of steps as if he were a marionette.

When Clayton Kershaw delivers the first pitch of the World Series on Tuesday, it will mark 29 years,

eight days, 20 hours and about 30 minutes since the Gibson home run, that legendary exclamation point

on Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Not that Los Angeles has been counting.

Gibson walked off the Oakland Athletics that day, the Dodgers won that World Series five days later, and

the Fall Classic had gone on without the Dodgers ever since.

"It's been a long, long time," Lasorda said last week at Chicago's Wrigley Field. "It's like Chicago. They

had been over 100 years. I thought our team was going to be like that."

Until last season, the Cubs had not won the World Series since 1908. The Dodgers have not won it this

year, but this team won more games in the regular season than any of its predecessors had in the six

decades since the team moved from Brooklyn.

In the 1988 World Series, the Dodgers had that one at-bat from Gibson. Oakland had Jose Canseco

batting third and Mark McGwire batting fifth. The Dodgers had Mickey Hatcher batting third and Orel

Hershiser sprinkling magic dust.

"They scratched all year," Lasorda said. "They believed in themselves. And we won with them."

And the 2017 Dodgers?

Lasorda laughed.

"This team," he said, "is much, much better."

That Lasorda is part of this team feels right. That the Dodgers could find the right place for him with this

team, well, that was a delicate dance for the better part of a decade.

Hershiser went on to pitch for the hated San Francisco Giants and coach for the Texas Rangers. Gibson

coached for the Detroit Tigers and managed the Arizona Diamondbacks. Mike Scioscia, the catcher on

the 1988 Dodgers, left the organization to manage the Angels, winning the 2002 World Series with two

of his 1988 teammates — Hatcher and shortstop Alfredo Griffin — on his coaching staff.

Lasorda never left, never even entertained the thought.

"I wanted to die a Dodger," he said. "I love the Dodgers so much."

After the 1988 World Series, the Dodgers never won another postseason game under Lasorda. He was

nudged into retirement in 1996, after a heart attack, and into a vaguely defined role in the front office.

In 1997, when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Lasorda said he liked Bobby Valentine best among

all the major league managers. Bill Russell was managing the Dodgers.

In 1998, when he served as interim general manager, he traded a prospect named Paul Konerko for

closer Jeff Shaw, without realizing Shaw could demand a trade at the end of the season.

In the meantime, the Dodgers had been sold, for the first time in generations. To the O'Malley family,

Lasorda was family. To Rupert Murdoch and Fox, he was an employee in a corporate asset under

absentee ownership, with new management eager to make its own mark.

When Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers in 2004, Lasorda lamented that he had been marginalized

under Fox ownership. He was 76 by then. He no longer aspired to a big say in running the team. He just

wanted to be respected and appreciated.

McCourt, an outsider from Boston, quickly and smartly embraced Lasorda. So did Stan Kasten, the

president of the Guggenheim Baseball group that bought the team from McCourt five years ago.

Lasorda signed a ball for Kasten's son some three decades ago, with this inscription: "You and the

Dodgers are great." Kasten said he saw Lasorda sign some memorabilia for someone recently, with the

same inscription.

"All of what we know as Tommy's demeanor and actions in life, it's all so sincere," Kasten said. "He

thinks this, 24-7. In every fiber of his being, there has never been anyone, anywhere that can equal that

part of his personality."

Lasorda's role is most often described as ambassador, and that fits. So does mascot, but not in a

disparaging way. He represents the team and makes fans smile.

He preaches the Dodgers gospel far and wide. He signs autographs for countless hours during spring

training, lends his likeness to bobblehead dolls, spins stories of his seven decades in baseball, poses for

selfies with fans, sits in the owners’ box more than the owners.

When Kershaw signed his first contract, at 18, he and his mother got to meet Lasorda.

"That was pretty cool," Kershaw said.

Former Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda speaks with fans while attending a UCLA football game at the

Rose Bowl in 2011. Lasorda, the second longest-serving manager in franchise history, has been involved

with the Dodgers organization for more than six decades. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

1 / 38

When Kenley Jansen participated in his first spring training, as a 17-year-old catcher, Lasorda needled

him about needing to hit better if he wanted to avoid returning home and cutting sugar cane in Curacao.

(Not true, but pitching came later.)

When Dave Roberts participated in his first spring training with the Dodgers, as a 29-year-old outfielder,

Lasorda took over his session with the hitting coach, advising Roberts to hit down on the ball and

sticking around for another two hours to make sure he did.

"Called me 'The Okinawa Kid,' " said Roberts, who was born in Okinawa, Japan. "Until I became

manager, I don't think he knew my name."

When Alex Anthopoulos joined the Dodgers front office last year, he joined Lasorda for dinner one night.

Or, at least, he waited at the table while Lasorda was repeatedly stopped for autographs and pictures.

"It was like sitting with the Godfather," Anthopoulos said. "Everybody knows who he is."

That has been true since Lasorda managed, when he was the face of the team. His office was a social

club. Lasorda might have interrupted an interview to say hello to Frank Sinatra, or to invite his players to

come on in for the latest catered pasta.

Lasorda's style of managing never would fly today. The Dodgers clubhouse is much larger and the

manager's office much smaller. The players are the stars, in Los Angeles and elsewhere. The front-office

executives are celebrities, a trend accelerated by the rise of fantasy sports and the accessibility of

analytics. The manager is a middle manager, a corporate spokesman.

Front-office types walking into the clubhouse to present data and offer advice to players? Back in the

day, that was heresy.

"I never had that happen in my 20 years," Lasorda said. "But they're part of the team. They're part of the

winning. They're part of the losing. These guys take an interest that's a little unusual. They go down

every day and talk to the guys. It's OK. It's all right.

"Just so they win. That's the main thing."

They win. Just in time, perhaps.

Lasorda turned 90 last month. He is a blue lion in winter.

He had a pacemaker installed in May. He sometimes uses a motorized wheelchair to navigate Dodger

Stadium.

The lines he has delivered for decades — wanting to see one more World Series championship before

the Big Dodger in the Sky calls him home, hoping the team schedule can be affixed to his tombstone so

cemetery visitors can see whether the Dodgers are playing at home that night — no longer ring so

funny.

The World Series opens Tuesday, at the ballpark Lasorda calls "Blue Heaven on Earth." If the Dodgers

win, Lasorda could ride in one more parade.

"I hope so. I think so. I believe so," Lasorda said. "I believe we are going to do it."

He paused, just long enough to command attention and anticipation from his listener.

He might not talk as loudly as he used to. He might not walk as fast.

The twinkle in his eye is every bit as defiant as ever.

"We'd better do it," Lasorda said.

Lives will be changed during this Dodgers World Series. Here's how mine was in 1988

By Dylan Hernandez

When I think about Kirk Gibson’s famous World Series home run, I don’t visualize Gibson pumping his

fist or hear Vin Scully’s perfect call.

I picture my father.

The Dodgers’ long-awaited return to the World Series has resulted in a series of retrospective stories

and columns, Bill Plaschke relaying a behinds-the scenes reconstruction of Gibson’s home run from

Game 1 of the 1988 Series and me revisiting Orel Hershiser’s legendary season.

The legacy of that season extends beyond that, however. It was as much about the people embracing in

the stands and the celebrations that erupted in households around Southern California.

Households like mine.

I spent the majority of my childhood in a small house in South Pasadena. My family moved there from

Echo Park when I was 5. My father was a teacher, my mother a housewife.

The television was rarely on in our house because my Japanese mother believed too much exposure to

the "dummy box" would make me and my younger brother stupid. (So much for that.) My father made

exceptions for sporting events, but that was of little value to 8-year-old me. I played sports but had no

interest in watching them.

I have no idea why I was in the living room while my father watched the ninth inning of Game 1 of the

1988 World Series, but I was there.

About my father: He was very laid-back. Still is. He likes to laugh and joke, but is never vulgar, never too

loud. He doesn't drink. He has an air of dignified restraint.

My perception of him changed that night — specifically the instant Gibson lauched Dennis Eckersley's

backdoor slider into the right-field pavilion.

My father picked me up and jumped up and down. He squeezed me and screamed. He was always

mindful of not disturbing the neighbors, but he could not have cared less at that moment.

Who was this crazy person?

In retrospect, that night made a huge imprint on my 8-year-old mind. It wasn't the home run itself. I

didn't understand the context of the victory or appreciate how improbable the moment was. It was my

father's reaction. I figured that if sports could move my father as much as it did, they had to be

important.

Twenty-nine years later, scenes like that will play out again all over our region, and really, this is the

beauty of the Dodgers' magical run to the World Series. Not to be overly dramatic, but lives will be

changed.

Hershiser said he came to a similar realization earlier this month. He has spent this October as a studio

commentator on SportsNet LA’s pre- and post-game shows, but didn’t work the second games of both

the National League division series and Championship Series.

"I was out in public, a restaurant, for those games," Hershiser said. "And I got to see the impact the

team has on the public.

"It's not only the energy, it feels like you're almost changing people's lives, you're changing their brain

chemistry. They're going to a happier time and a better place. It's really amazing, the power of sports

and the Dodgers."

This was a new perspective for Hershiser.

"You realize it when you're at the parade," he said. "You realize it when you walk into a restaurant and

people give you a standing ovation. But you're not seeing it when you're doing it on the field. That's the

postscript, that's the aftermath. You're not in the middle of it. I got to be kind of in the middle of it."

For an entire generation of Angelenos, that kind of jubilation has existed only in the imagination. Their

children known nothing about it, either. The championship drought has become multi-generational.

The Lakers provided us with moments like this, but even they are seven years removed from their last

championship. Plus, as much as the Lakers won, they never reflected the city the way the Dodgers do.

The city's demographics are represented by the Dodgers' roster, which includes players of virtually every

imaginable background.

The Dodgers offer the city a reason to come together.

"When I came to Los Angeles, all I knew was that it was like 450 square miles," Hall of Fame broadcaster

Vin Scully told me several years ago. "There was no 'there.' I felt like Los Angeles did not have a

centerpiece."

Dodger Stadium is now that centerpiece, that place where this diverse city gathers, 50,000-plus people

at a time.

This was the unfortunate part of the team’s television deal with Spectrum. Yes, the $8-billion contract

provided the Dodgers with the wherewithal to construct a roster capable of blowing away the defending

World Series champion Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. But it’s the same deal that has robbed countless

fathers, mothers, sons and daughters of special moments over the last four years, costing them the

opportunities to spend time on the family couch watching Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig, Justin

Turner and Kenley Jansen.

The next five to nine days could make up for at least part of it. The city will cheer together over the

results of these games — or cry, if the series unfolds as I expect and the Houston Astros win.

By the end of next week, names such as Kershaw and Turner could be spoken with the same level of

reverence as Hershiser and Gibson almost three decades ago. And an 8-year-old child somewhere could

forever hold a memory about his father or mother.

The Dodgers' road to the World Series: highlights from the NLDS

By Times Staff Reports

The Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series. Here’s what

happened:

GAME 1: Dodgers 9, Arizona 5

Headline: Dodgers regain their summer swagger

Andy McCullough: In the first game of the first round of 2017 playoffs, the Dodgers pulped the

Diamondbacks in a 9-5 victory, galvanized a crowd of 54,707 at Dodger Stadium and re-staked their

claim for National League preeminence.

A four-run, first-inning blitz against a jittery pitcher set the tone. Justin Turner bashed a three-run

homer, en route to tying a playoff franchise record with a five-RBI night. Corey Seager scored three runs

and delivered a tension-easing RBI triple in the eighth. And Yasiel Puig provided the lasting memory of

the evening, wagging his tongue like mad as he dived into third base for a triple, delivering an image to

match a game in which he collected two hits, drove in two runs and licked at least one bat.

The levity of the summer seeped into October. The offensive outburst came at an ideal time, as the

calendar turned to the postseason.

Handed the lead, Clayton Kershaw towed his team into the seventh inning before a fusillade ended his

night. Arizona walloped a quartet of solo home runs against Kershaw, the most allowed by any Dodger

in postseason franchise history. Two came in the seventh, on back-to-back pitches to shortstop Ketel

Marte and catcher Jeff Mathis.

Kershaw finished with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. The barrage sent a scare through the ballpark,

but it could not offset the Dodgers' early charge.

They said it: "He's done that all season. It doesn't seem like the most sanitary thing to do, but if it keeps

getting him hits, I hope he does it more." — Clayton Kershaw, on Yasiel Puig's habit of licking his bat.

By the numbers: Arizona’s Taijuan Walker threw 48 pitches in the first inning, setting the tone for a

postseason in which the Dodgers made starting pitchers work for their outs.

Bill Plaschke: On an early October night that appropriately felt like a warm July afternoon, the Dodgers

began their long-awaited postseason Friday with a raucous, rollicking flashback. Remember when

everyone thought they could be the best team in baseball history? Before everyone thought they were

the worst team in baseball history? Well, after a few hours of brilliant hitting, sturdy pitching and serious

snake crushing, everyone can feel free to jump back on the belief wagon.

Dylan Hernandez: By themselves, the home runs could be viewed as an aberration. In the context of the

last month, they are a clear sign of trouble. Clayton Kershaw isn't himself. He became the first pitcher in

Dodgers history to serve up four home runs in a postseason game, doing so Friday night in the opening

game of the National League Division Series. As much as the Dodgers boast about their depth and claim

to be less dependent on Kershaw, the reality is they won't win the World Series with him pitching like

this.

Yasiel Puig takes an at-bat in the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

GAME 2: Dodgers 8, Arizona 5

Headline: It's a hit sequel for Dodgers

Andy McCullough: Rich Hill clutched the cardboard sign and walked into the Dodgers’ dugout. The crowd

at Dodger Stadium was sitting on its hands in the seventh inning on Saturday, minutes after a five-run

lead over Arizona had shrunk to two. The second game of the National League Division Series was no

longer a party, a lark, a celebration of the Dodgers’ might. The 54,726 fans assembled at Chavez Ravine

wore the scars of the past and suffered the tension of the present.

Hill sought to counteract the encroaching dread with a hand-crafted message: "Make Some Noise."

The crowd caught Hill's drift. The cheers gathered in volume as the Dodgers mounted a rally. As if on

cue, a grounder from Chris Taylor rolled through the legs of Arizona shortstop Ketel Marte. A run scored,

the stadium popped, and the Dodgers had enough to hang on for an 8-5 victory to capture a 2-0 lead in

this series.

After four years of postseason heartbreak, perhaps these Dodgers are different. The offense has

reduced the Diamondbacks' pitching staff to dust over the last 18 innings. Arizona has launched six

home runs, but remains on the verge of elimination.

In Game 1, the Dodgers bruised the Diamondbacks for nine runs. A day later, the offense toppled

Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray, a man who entered the game with an ownership deed for the Dodgers

in his back pocket. Ray lasted 4 1/3 innings, yielded four runs and exited on the hook for a defeat.

Maligned for so much of September, the back half of the lineup carried the Dodgers. Logan Forsythe

scored three runs. Yasiel Puig collected three hits. Curtis Granderson hopped off the bench to extend a

four-run blitz with a single in the fifth inning. Austin Barnes scored twice and roped a critical two-run

double in the fifth.

They said it: "The regular season doesn't matter anymore. But we were the best team in baseball for a

reason. We feel that way again. It was just about getting our swagger back." — Enrique Hernandez.

By the numbers: The Dodgers' Nos. 6-8 hitters went 8 for 12 with four RBIs.

Bill Plaschke: His name has become a song, a deep-throated anthem lasting only three seconds yet big

enough to engulf a city enraptured by its lyric. "Puiiiiig''…. Puiiiiig.'' One night after the stealing the show

in a Game 1 victory by wagging his tongue, Puig thrilled the house again Saturday by wagging his bat,

flexing his arms, screaming for more. In the Dodgers' 8-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Puig

knocked in a run with a grounder, kept alive a scoring inning with a single, knocked in another run with

another single, then added an infield single that eventually led to yet another run.

Dylan Hernandez: Yu Darvish has pitched nine games for his new team, but the truth is that none of

them really counted. There was never any pretense otherwise. From the moment the Japanese right-

hander was acquired, he knew he was here to pitch in October. Specifically, he was here to pitch in

October in the kind of game he will pitch in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, which the

Dodgers lead 2-0. As the team’s greatest X factor, his performance could determine how this postseason

plays out for the Dodgers. If he can be their second frontline pitcher alongside Clayton Kershaw, he can

move the Dodgers within arm’s reach of their first World Series in 29 years.

GAME 3: Dodgers 3, Arizona 1

Headline: Dave Roberts makes all the right moves as Dodgers sweep Diamondbacks

Andy McCullough: Dave Roberts wore a smile on his face and held a can of Coors Light in his hand. He

stood a few feet away from madness, a rising tide of Budweiser and Korbel Brut floating across the floor

of the visitors clubhouse at Chase Field, the sight of a 3-1 Dodgers victory to sweep Arizona out of the

National League Division Series.

After a tidy 27 innings, the Dodgers made a righteous mess. Streams of booze soared through the air.

Kenley Jansen dumped a cooler of ice on Yasiel Puig's head. Even Chase Utley managed a grin as he

flicked beer at Joc Pederson.

Roberts stayed out of the fray. A few specks dotted his goggles. Otherwise he was dry, hanging back,

greeting players, coaches and executives as they escaped the chaos in the middle of the room.

The moment belonged to the players. The night belonged to Roberts, who manipulated this game as if it

was his own personal marionette, pulling each string with the proper force at the proper time. In a

postseason already littered with managers undone by indecision and miscalculation, Roberts offered a

rejoinder: At least one man knows what he is doing.

Roberts could not ensure a victory on his own. Cody Bellinger barreled over a dugout railing and blasted

a home run. Austin Barnes sent Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke to the showers with a sixth-inning

homer. Yu Darvish struck out seven in five innings of one-run baseball, but Roberts opened his bullpen

when Darvish lost his control in the sixth. The Dodgers survived an 0-for-10 night with runners in scoring

position by limiting Arizona to only three hits.

The bullpen operated at an impeccable clip. Tony Cingrani bailed out Darvish by inducing a double play.

Brandon Morrow ripped through the heart of the Arizona lineup. Kenta Maeda embraced his new role

as a reliever with three quick outs. Jansen left no doubt.

On the back of these relievers, the Dodgers completed their first postseason sweep since downing St.

Louis in the first round of the 2009 playoffs.

They said it: "When a manager can make it seem like all the pieces fit together perfectly, that's when

you know he's really done a great job, using the whole roster and strategizing to the absolute maximum.

He did an amazing job." — Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi on Dave Roberts.

By the numbers: Yu Darvish gave up only two hits and struck out seven in five innings.

Bill Plaschke: These Dodgers have been here before, but never like this. The Dodgers have marched into

the National League Championship Series twice before during their current five-year postseason streak,

but never with such quiet intensity and blunt force. What was completed at Chase Field here Monday

night was more than a sweep, it was a stampede. It was a steamrolling. Or it was, if you want to believe

Yasiel Puig, an absolute licking.

Dylan Hernandez: Zack Greinke's role in the Diamondbacks' demise can't be understated. No player on

either team was as responsible for the Dodgers' three-game sweep in this National League Division

Series. What Madison Bumgarner did in leading the San Francisco Giants to the World Series in 2014,

Greinke did the exact opposite over the past week. So this is about as good a time as any to concede

that Andrew Friedman was right when he decided to not re-sign him two years ago.

OC REGISTER

Dodgers vs. Astros is a World Series for baseball’s Information Age

By Bill Plunkett

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers and Houston Astros are playing in the World Series this week. But this is

also the Proprietary Information Super Bowl.

Fifteen years into the post-Moneyball era, an analytics department is as essential to a major-league

team as fungo bats and sunflower seeds. In the early 2000s, the disparity between the sophisticated and

the unsophisticated was wide. Not anymore, every team now searches for advantages in algorithms and

metrics, taking the data available from sources like StatCast, PITCHf/x and Trackman and squeezing it for

all its worth.

“You should know there are at least a half a dozen, maybe 10 teams that are all in on analytics,” says

Dodgers team president and CEO Stan Kasten. “Most of the teams in the playoffs were those kind of

teams.”

But the two that survived, the Dodgers and Astros, are among the industry leaders, considered by many

to be the two most committed and sophisticated in their pursuit of wins hidden in the decimal points.

In 2012, the Astros brought in Sig Mejdal and his master’s degree in operations research and cognitive

psychology and gave him the very un-baseball title of “Director of Decision Sciences.” The former NASA

employee is now listed as a special assistant to GM Jeff Luhnow for process improvement.

The Astros are the envy of the industry – if corporate espionage is the measure. An employee of the St.

Louis Cardinals was sentenced to 46 months in prison for hacking into “Ground Control,” the Astros’

internal database.

In 2015, ESPN the Magazine tried to rate all professional teams on the sophistication of their analytic

efforts. The Astros were the highest-ranked baseball team. The Dodgers didn’t make the top 10 among

MLB teams in that ranking. Andrew Friedman had just been hired as the Dodgers’ president of baseball

operations and the front office transformation of one of baseball’s crown-jewel franchises (with all its

resources) had just begun.

“I knew when I came here it was an area that was becoming more and more important and we had to

beef it up,” Kasten says. “I saw what was happening and if we didn’t get ahead of the curve, we’d fall

behind. And we are the Dodgers. We can’t ever fall behind.

“I thought we were maybe 50 percent of the way to where we needed to be when I hired him. I way

overestimated how far behind we were falling. We were probably only 20 percent of the way to where

we needed to be.”

The Dodgers now have what is believed to be the largest research and development department in

baseball.

“I’ve heard that. I’ve seen that written. I don’t know if that’s true,” Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi says in the

guarded manner the team’s executives adopt when any question strays toward this topic.

There are at least 15 people listed on the Dodgers’ front-office roster as members of the research and

development department. There are more but the Dodgers won’t say how many.

Players who come to the Dodgers from other organizations recognize the difference.

“Just the sheer numbers as far as the bodies, the staff that is analytically-driven,” says Dodgers reliever

Tony Watson who spent 6-1/2 seasons with the analytically-open Pittsburgh Pirates before joining the

Dodgers this summer. “Then I later found out it’s the largest R & D in baseball. … Coming from

Pittsburgh, it’s definitely bigger. That’s the focus. And it works. The numbers don’t lie.”

Like the Astros, the Dodgers use those numbers to search for even the smallest advantages in

everything from injury risk evaluation and prevention to pitch sequencing and defensive positioning.

Individual players are given road maps to maximize their skill sets. For Watson, that meant being told he

didn’t necessarily have to rely on his fastball as much as he always had. For Brandon Morrow, it was

learning that a high fastball is not always a bad thing.

“The way that they take those numbers and present them simply is a big deal – because a lot of those

numbers can be overwhelming and confusing, to be honest,” Morrow says. “If they just gave you all the

numbers, you wouldn’t know where to look or what to focus on. They do a really good job of taking

those numbers and then showing you how you can be successful or taking those numbers and cutting

out the part that’s going to help you and only presenting that part.”

Outfielder Cameron Maybin went from the Angels – behind the curve analytically until the recent efforts

of GM Billy Eppler – to the Astros this season and suddenly was immersed in “a lot of talk about spin

rate and a lot of talk about launch angle.” The Astros’ offense was one of the most productive in

baseball history, focusing on driving the ball to do damage, not just pile up hits.

“It’s pretty cool stuff,” Maybin said. “A lot of days in the lab. I think they’re on to something special.”

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what they’re on to, as Kasten found out.

“Because I’ve done this so long, I know what all 1,200 people who work here during a game – I know

what their jobs are,” he says. “Except when I walk into that part of that department. Everyone has a

cubby and white boards all over the place with complex mathematical formulas.

“One day, I just stopped in the middle of the room and said, ‘Okay, I know you all are screwing with me.

None of this means anything. You just want me to look at it and shake my head.’ Which of course cracks

them up.”

All of that math has no doubt helped the Dodgers’ bullpen put up a postseason-record 23 consecutive

scoreless innings heading into the World Series and prodded their lineup toward its disciplined approach

at the plate.

But will it add up to the decisive edge in a World Series title?

“I don’t know,” Kasten says. “But I do know that I have lost a World Series in extra innings of Game 7

and I lost a World Series on a baserunning error in the eighth inning (with the Atlanta Braves).

“So how much of an advantage do you need it to produce to be meaningful?”

Yasiel Puig has Dodgers feeling fortunate their attempts to trade him failed

By Bill Plunkett

LOS ANGELES — They were pretty much done with him.

A little over a year ago, the Dodgers had seen enough of Yasiel Puig’s act. He had regressed – or at least

failed to progress – for three years and the talent no longer came through often enough to make the

lack of discipline and the poor work ethic worth tolerating, especially not on a team cultivating a new

clubhouse dynamic and culture.

So they tried to trade him and couldn’t. Instead, they sent him down to Triple-A, a shock to Puig’s self-

image as not just a big-leaguer but a star in the big leagues. The expectation was that the Dodgers would

continue their attempts to trade Puig and cut their losses.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman now considers his team fortunate they

weren’t able to find a trade that fit.

“Certainly with the benefit of hindsight, seeing the growth, absolutely,” Friedman says to that. “Very

glad. The growth year over year has been extremely fun to watch. The talent has been evident to

everybody. But now the focus and the preparation and the way he goes about his business puts him in

position to have success a lot more often than not.”

Focus and preparation were not two words that came up often in discussing Puig during his first four

seasons with the Dodgers.

“Yeah, I think there’s been a lot of changes,” left-hander Clayton Kershaw said. “I think it’s kind of been

all over the map from where he started to where he is now. But, I mean, this last – really this whole

season, I think people have gotten through to him a little bit. I think he’s built up trust with some

people.

“And you see it in the way he plays. I think that’s part of it; that he believes people have his best interest

at heart. At the same time, too, his level of focus this postseason has been the best that I’ve ever seen it,

and his determination. When you combine that with the talent level that he has, it’s a really special

player.”

Any question directed at Puig now about his maturation and the progress he has made draws a response

that includes a nod to help from “my teammates, my coaches.”

Those teammates and coaches have changed significantly since Puig arrived as a shooting star in 2013.

Kershaw is one of only three teammates from 2013 who will be on the World Series roster with Puig this

week (Andre Ethier and Kenley Jansen are the others). The manager (Don Mattingly) and coaching staff

he was often at war with during his first three seasons have moved on.

Ask Puig whether this current manager and staff have done a better job of engaging with him or

whether he was simply ready to listen at age 26 more than he was at age 23 and Puig folds his thick

arms across his chest and smiles a tight-lipped smile.

“Both sides,” he says.

Puig’s most … affectionate relationship on the Dodgers’ coaching staff is with hitting coach Turner Ward.

Ward said Puig set a goal of hitting 20 home runs this season. When he reached it, Puig found Ward in

the dugout and kissed him. As with so much Puig does on and off the playing field, cameras caught it.

The kiss became a dugout ritual after every home run since.

Working with Ward produced Puig’s best season since his rookie debut. He had career-highs in home

runs (28) and RBI (74) while regaining nearly 100 points on his OPS (.833).

Not coincidentally, this version of Puig is the most disciplined and selective he has ever been at the

plate. His rate of swinging at pitches out of the strike zone (often among the highest in baseball during

the past four years) is a career low and has dropped under 30 percent for the first time since his lone All-

Star season in 2014. His swinging strike rate is also a career-low (10.6), his contact rate (76.9) a career-

high and his pitches per plate appearance nearly so (3.72) – all keys on a team that prides itself on

extending at-bats and “winning every pitch.”

Those numbers have not only held steady but jumped as Puig has gone 12 for 29 (.414) in the

postseason with a .514 on-base percentage and six RBI – while seeing 4.71 pitches per plate appearance.

“I don’t think I got that out of him. I think he got that out of him,” Ward says. “It’s understanding the

pitchers, understanding who’s on the mound. Watching him prepare this year versus last year, (he’s)

being more selective and understanding that being more selective gives him better results. You want

better results? Swing at better pitches.”

And Puig realizes how close he came to doing that somewhere else this year.

“This is a new year,” he says. “Because I did a lot of bad things last year – bad things in baseball, bad

things with my teammates, bad things with my coaches – the team made a good decision to send me

down to Oklahoma City. It’s an ugly city (smiles).

“When the team called me back in September, I came with a different mind. In the offseason, I tried to

do the best I can – come in this season and try to do the best I can for my teammates. That’s the reason

I came to the United States was to play baseball. That’s why I play better this year. My teammates

helped me a lot. My coaches, my manager gave me one more opportunity to play every day in right

field.”

Whicker: Astros offer Dodgers a stiff 7-game challenge

By Mark Whicker

The water gets deeper now.

Houston is not Arizona, playing 52-card pickup with its pitching rotation. Houston is not the Cubs,

sleepwalking through the NL Championship Series.

Houston is a 101-win team that will challenge the Dodgers in complex ways. It had done everything but

pass a stress test, and the Yankees provided one in the ALCS, leading 3-2 going back to a very juiced

Minute Maid Park.

But the Astros outlasted Luis Severino and CC Sabathia and won the series. They will begin play Tuesday

night with 53 regular-season road wins and zero fear. No matter the temperature, they know Dodger

Stadium won’t be hotter than Jose Altuve.

Expect tight pitching and superb defense on both sides. A ball will have to be flared strategically, kick up

chalk, or scale a wall to make an impact.

The biggest change is the pitching setup. Houston will trot out Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander at

Dodger Stadium. Keuchel is the 2015 Cy Young Award winner and the type of cool left-handed

technician who tormented last year’s Dodgers. Verlander, stolen from Detroit at the end of August, is a

Hall of Fame candidate who has rarely been better than now: three runs in 22 innings in three playoff

starts.

Lance McCullers, who curveballed the Yankees into oblivion as a Game 7 reliever, can start Game 3 on

Friday on regular rest if Manager A.J. Hinch wants.

Charlie Morton, who has been in more hospitals than chipped beef, rose up grandly against the Yankees

on Sunday and can pitch Games 3 or 4.

So the Dodgers have no major edge here, and Alex Wood might be too well-rested, again, if he works

Game 4.

Houston can also bother the Dodgers with speed. Altuve had 32 stolen bases and the Astros were eighth

in baseball with 88, but it’s how they get from first to home on doubles, how they close in on dying fly

balls, that distinguishes them.

Second baseman Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa and third baseman Alex Bregman spread a wide

defensive net. Bregman’s scoop and throw to home Sunday, which nabbed Greg Bird and kept Houston

ahead, made every infield teacher in America stand up and cheer. And center fielder George Springer, a

former gymnast, is a human no-pest strip.

Houston led baseball in runs and slugging percentage and had fewer strikeouts than anyone. Seven

Astros hit at least 18 home runs. Yankee pitchers found temporary ways to retire the Astros, but that’s

the WOOD factor, as Johnny Miller used to say about golf tips: Works Only One Day.

Most of all, the Astros have the 5-foot-6 (maybe) Altuve, whom they signed from Venezuela in 2006.

They watched him evolve into the best player in baseball, at least in 2017.

He has figured out how to hit 24 home runs each of the past two years without losing his identity or

succumbing to strikeouts. He has won three of the past four AL batting titles and has led the league in

hits four consecutive years. In the postseason, he is hitting .333 with five home runs in 11 games.

If the Astros had taken Kris Bryant with the second pick of the 2013 draft instead of pitcher Mark Appel,

they might be illegal.

But the reason the Dodgers are favored, and probably will nail down this World Series next week, is the

endgame.

The Dodgers relief pitchers have faced 100 batters in the postseason and given up 12 hits and two walks.

The only blip came in NLCS Game 3 when Ross Stripling couldn’t close out a 6-1 game.

Again, their enemy is rust, because of their own efficiency and a four-day break between series. The

Dodgers have seen little of Keuchel and Verlander, but few of the Astros have laid eyes, or a bat, on

Kenley Jansen. (Former Angel Cameron Maybin does have two homers off Jansen).

Houston closer Ken Giles throws fiery fastballs, the kind the Dodgers enjoy from right-handers. Chris

Devenski, the Cal State Fullerton workhorse and changeup artist who has been superb for two seasons,

had some setbacks in the first two series.

Like most postseason managers, Hinch is running his bullpen as if nuclear winter will arrive with each

baserunner. But when he managed 101 victories and used an actual pattern for the relievers, his bullpen

was 10th in baseball in WHIP.

That said, erstwhile starter Collin McHugh has four hitless relief innings in October and might surface

somewhere.

Add it up, factor in the return of Corey Seager, and give the Dodgers a seven-game win based on home

field and bullpen.

But write it in pencil, with the white-out nearby.

Back injury could make Corey Seager the Dodgers’ preferred DH in Houston

By J.P. Hoornstra

LOS ANGELES — Corey Seager stood in the left-handed batter’s box at Dodger Stadium on Monday and

stroked a line drive to the left-center gap. That could be a double on Tuesday, when Seager is expected

to be available for Game 1 of the World Series.

On this evening, it was just a sign of progress, and it came at the expense of teammate Brock Stewart.

Manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers are more wary of Seager bending over to field ground balls

than to swing a bat. Judging by his simulated at-bats against Stewart, Seager seems to be hitting the ball

just fine.

But Roberts’ comments raised the possibility that Seager could serve as the Dodgers’ designated hitter

when the World Series shifts to Houston for Game 3.

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“To have Charlie Culberson and other guys that can play short, if something does go out on us, we’re

definitely cognizant of that,” Roberts said.

Seager hurt his back sliding into third base early in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Oct.

9. An epidural injection the following day relieved the pain, but not enough for Seager to play in the NL

Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.

Culberson was added to the 25-man roster for the NLCS and went 5 for 11 with two doubles and a triple

in five games. He didn’t commit an error in the series.

If he remains on the roster for the World Series, Culberson could take the spot of either a position player

or a pitcher. Roberts said that had not been determined as of Monday afternoon. Both the Dodgers and

Astros will formally announce their 25-man rosters Tuesday morning.

Culberson, Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez and Kyle Farmer all took ground balls at shortstop in practice

the last two days.

“We still have a little bit more time to kind of figure it out,” Roberts said.

Video: World Series preview

World Series preview: Dodgers vs. Astros

SCNG

HONEYCUTT RECALLS ’88

Whenever the Dodgers show highlights of the 1988 World Series, as they are certain to do frequently in

the team’s first trip back to the Fall Classic in 29 years, at least one person at Dodger Stadium has a very

different reaction than most.

Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt was a reliever with the Oakland A’s in 1988, sitting in the right

field bullpen when Kirk Gibson’s homer vanished into the bleachers.

“Who would ever anticipate (Dennis) Eckersley, after the year he had, losing that game?” Honeycutt said

on the eve of the Dodgers’ return to the World Series. “It’s something that’s magical for the Dodgers.”

Honeycutt said he still believes the Series might have turned out differently if not for that one swing by

Gibson.

“It’s a huge turning point in the Series,” he said. “You’re in position to win Game 1. You never like to lose

when you have the lead in the ninth. It’s not devastating, because it’s just the first game, but at the

same time, it switched the momentum.”

UMPIRES ANNOUNCED

Veteran umpire Gerry Davis will be the World Series crew chief for the third time. He’ll be the second

base umpire in Game 1. The remainder of the Game 1 assignments include Phil Cuzzi (home), Paul

Nauert (first base), Laz Diaz (third base), Bill Miller (right field) and Dan Iassogna (right field).

Mark Wegner is the replay umpire in Games 1 and 2. Phil Cuzzi is the replay umpire from Game 3

onward.

PLAYING POLITICS

A friendly wager between the congressional representatives from Houston and Los Angeles was agreed

to on the House floor. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D–Los Angeles) challenged Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D–

Houston) as follows: the Member of Congress whose team loses will deliver a congratulatory statement

on the floor of the House while wearing the winning team’s colors.

The losing representative will also bring food from their district to share with their colleagues. Lee will

bring barbecued meat, while Gomez will bring a French-dipped sandwich from Philippe the Original.

ALSO

Houston manager A.J. Hinch said right-hander Charlie Morton will start either Game 3 or 4 and right-

hander Lance McCullers Jr. will “very likely” start the other. Right-hander Yu Darvish is starting Game 3

and left-hander Alex Wood Game 4 for the Dodgers. … Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was back on

the field Monday after sitting out the on-field portion of the Dodgers’ workout Sunday. … Dodgers

catcher Yasmani Grandal was home Monday to be with his wife for the birth of their son. Roberts said

Grandal will “100 percent” be available for Game 1. … Dodger Stadium parking gates will open at 2 p.m.

Tuesday and Wednesday. Fans are encouraged to arrive early. Parking passes cost $30 if purchased in

advance or $50 at the gate.

ESPN

Altuve vs. Kershaw could be the stuff of legends

By Bradford Doolittle

LOS ANGELES -- The World Series is the biggest stage of baseball, one where legends are crowned if not

quite made. But what happens when legends clash?

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros make for a compelling matchup of contrasting team

strengths. Those differing strengths are comprised of the contributions of a lot of different players who

will go toe-to-toe over the next few days.

Baseball almost never boils down to a single player-versus-player matchup, but let's pretend that it does

in the style of, say, an NBA Finals matchup like Bird versus Magic. In a sport where dozens of discrete

matchups decide every game, you rarely can isolate the one that will decide a contest ahead of time.

If we could isolate that key matchup, we'd be focused on the one between Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw

and Astros dynamo Jose Altuve. You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better batter-pitcher matchup

in any pairing of any two teams across the big leagues.

Clayton Kershaw gets the ball in Game 1 of the World Series, but how will he pitch Jose Altuve? Paul

Buck/EPA

Since 2014, only Mike Trout has a higher offensive WAR (34.9) than Altuve (26.8). During that same

span, Kershaw's pitching WAR (25.2) ranks third, just behind Max Scherzer (26.6) and Corey Kluber

(26.0). Even in a seven-game series, this is a matchup you can really count on seeing maybe five or six

times, so pay attention when it happens.

These are two of baseball's more advanced performers at their respective crafts. This won't be the first

time they've faced each other, as their careers overlapped with the end of Houston's time in the

National League. In fact, Kershaw and Altuve have a pretty good history as far as pitcher-hitter samples

go.

Still, the 15 times they've faced each other is far from conclusive. Altuve is 6-for-15 with four doubles in

those encounters, with no walks and no RBIs.

The pair were asked about each other obliquely during Monday's media day at Dodger Stadium.

"He hits everything pretty well," Kershaw said of Altuve. "I think that he's super aggressive. But at the

same time he hits a lot of different pitches. It's not a guy that just hits fastballs well or just hits breaking

ball well. He does everything pretty evenly throughout the board.

"[It's] just a matter of execution with him. You're just trying to mix up spots, pitches, locations, don't

give him any predictable counts, predictable pitches. He's a tough out. I think he's one of the toughest

outs in the game. You just can't give in to him."

Meanwhile, Altuve was a little more circumspect in discussing Kershaw.

"He's a really good pitcher," Altuve said about Kershaw. "It's a big challenge for us. Sure, we know he's

one of the toughest guys out there, but we also have those guys on our side like [Justin] Verlander and

[Dallas] Keuchel."

Altuve isn't giving away any trade secrets here, so it's up to us to figure out what those previous

matchups tell us about how Kershaw should attack baseball's best current pure hitter.

The history

First of all, the existing history tells us that Kershaw needs to make adjustments from whatever he was

doing the last time these two faced each other in 2015.

During 2011 and 2012, Kershaw and Altuve squared off 11 times. Altuve went 0 for the first 7 before

getting a double to lead off a game played on May 25, 2012. The last time they met, on Aug. 23, 2015,

Altuve went 3-for-4.

The version of Altuve that Kershaw saw in 2015 was a different one from the one he saw three years

earlier. The most obvious difference is the amazing development of Altuve's power. After hitting 21

homers over his first four seasons combined, he has 63 in the three seasons since, not to mention five

more in this postseason alone.

Meanwhile, Kershaw has become increasingly susceptible to the long ball. The 23 homers he allowed

during the regular season were seven more than he'd ever allowed before. The six homers he has

allowed in the postseason are already more than any Dodgers pitcher has ever given up in one playoff

year.

Those long balls have to be contextualized: Kershaw has been pitching with sizable leads for the most

part during these playoffs and only one of the homers came with a man on base. He has been intent on

staying in the strike zone, limiting any damage from homers to a single run. Still, the first challenge for

Kershaw will simply be to keep Altuve in the park.

Tendencies

Jose Altuve is as good as anyone in the major leagues at putting the bat on the ball. Bob Levey/Getty

Images

Kershaw is a power pitcher, who now uses his fastball to set up his slider and curveball, with an

occasional changeup mixed in. According to the pitch value metrics at FanGraphs, the per-pitch value of

the fastball isn't special, not this year. But Kershaw's slider ranked fourth in the majors and the curve

was fifth. Still, Kershaw's raw stuff this postseason has been very good and you can't discount his ability

to lean on his fastball as needed.

Incidentally, since there are a lot of analytics in this piece, it's a good time to pass along an amusing

exchange in Kershaw's media session on Monday. Eno Sarris of FanGraphs asked Kershaw about the

depth of his slider and if recent variances in it might be related to the back trouble he has battled this

season.

"No," Kershaw said. "I don't know what analytics group you work for, but no."

And we thought the Dodgers were all about the analytics!

As you'd expect of a player who has hit a combined .334 the past four years, Altuve doesn't have any

glaring weakness on a particular pitch. On a per-pitch basis, FanGraphs ranks Altuve third among all

players against fastballs (just behind teammate Marwin Gonzalez) and 11th against sliders (with

teammate Yuri Gurriel ranking fifth).

Altuve isn't quite as accomplished against soft stuff, but he's easily above average. According to

TruMedia, Altuve had a 1.013 OPS this season against pitches coded as "hard" and .896 against "soft"

pitches. Both figures ranked among the league leaders. So you're not going to get Altuve on pitch

selection.* It'll have to be about execution and command.

(*The one pitch type Altuve struggles with is the cutter. Kershaw doesn't throw that, but of course L.A.

closer Kenley Jansen feature the nastiest versions of that pitch we've ever seen. Keep that in mind for

late in games. Altuve is 0-for-1 against Jansen in his career.)

Keys to watch

The biggest key for Kershaw will be to jump ahead in the count against Altuve before he can do damage

with a ball in play. Altuve's OPS on first pitches this season was 1.244; once he gets to two strikes, it was

.577. Kershaw allowed a .811 OPS on first pitches but held batters to a .438 OPS once he got two strikes

on them.

Really, this is Pitching 101, but the importance of the first couple of Kershaw's offerings to Altuve in any

given plate appearance is heightened in this matchup. Altuve walked just 58 times this season, two shy

of his career best. He's aggressive, an approach that works well for him because of his elite ability to

contact the ball with authority.

Nevertheless, the only way to defeat Altuve is to leverage that aggression against him. Altuve's chase

rate this season (32.4 percent) was 4.4 percent higher than the big league average and ranked 111th

among 144 qualifiers. Kershaw induced chases 31.5 percent of the time, ranking 10th among qualifying

pitchers.

However, it's also important to carefully select just where you're locating a pitch to get Altuve to chase.

He's murder in just about every sector of the strike zone, with the exception of low-and-away offerings.

He's also terrific at pitches just off the plate -- he'll just punch the ball the other way, and do it with

authority. You've got to get him just up and away, or up and in.

Kershaw, for his part, pitches well to every sector in and out of the zone, with the occasional

vulnerability on pitches middle-in, where righty pull hitters can get him. He has the arsenal to attack

Altuve. As Kershaw himself said, it will be a matter of execution.

What will happen?

We don't know! Seriously, if we could predict the outcome of individual plate appearances, we'd own

about four casinos in Vegas by now.

What you might see is Kershaw starting off Altuve with fastballs either up and out of the strike zone, or

possibly in on his hands. They have to be quality offerings because if Altuve seizes the early advantage in

the count, he's really tough. And if the pitch is in a spot where Altuve can attack, we know he'll be ready

to do damage on the first pitch he sees.

If Kershaw can get ahead in the count, he can then try to get Altuve to chase his breaking stuff. You can

envision Altuve in those spots flailing at a curveball in the dirt. Or maybe the crafty Kershaw will dust off

the changeup he rarely uses but seems to be really effective with when he does.

Every batter-pitcher matchup is a moving target of strengths versus weaknesses, and adjustments

versus adjustments. Few of these cat-and-mouse encounters are as compelling as the one of Kershaw

and Altuve. The former can go to multiple plus pitches to any part in and around the strike zone. The

other can do damage with just about all of that arsenal.

It will be fun to watch.

From 1-25, every roster spot matters in the World Series

By David Schoenfield

LOS ANGELES -- The great thing about baseball? All 25 players on the roster matter. Take Game 7 of last

year’s World Series, when Michael Martinez, essentially the 25th guy on Cleveland’s roster, was forced

to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning after entering earlier as a defensive replacement. He made the

final out against reliever Mike Montgomery, who while not quite the last man on the Cubs’ roster, was

the fifth pitcher used by Joe Maddon in the game.

So pay attention to Tuesday’s announcement of the final rosters. The big addition, of course, will be the

return of All-Star shortstop Corey Seager to the Dodgers’ lineup, after he missed the NLCS with a lower

back strain. Charlie Culberson, who started three games at shortstop in the NLCS after starting just one

game at shortstop during the season, was kept on the roster.

The key for the Dodgers is getting their No. 2 hitter back. “I feel good,” Seager said Monday. “They

tested everything they needed to test. Took live [batting practice] yesterday. That was kind of the last

box I needed to check.”

Culberson is not only insurance in case Seager aggravates his back, but he could also serve as a

defensive replacement or start at shortstop in Houston with Seager a DH option. In the NLCS, Culberson

started against a lefty starter, with Chris Taylor playing shortstop against right-handed starters. That

could mean Culberson starts in a potential Game 5 against Dallas Keuchel.

Here are some other notes on the expected rosters:

Bullpens

The trend of relying on more innings from the bullpen has continued this postseason. Check out the

percentage of innings thrown by starters in the postseason over the years, along with ERAs of starters

and relievers and the percentage of seven-inning starts:

Relievers' Share Of The Pitching Workload, 2010-2017

YEAR STARTERS RELIEVERS STARTER ERA RELIEF ERA PCT OF 7+ IP

2017 54.0% 46.0% 3.98 3.82 14.5%

2016 56.8% 43.2% 3.88 2.88 15.7%

2015 60.5% 39.5% 4.33 3.55 22.2%

2014 59.8% 40.2% 3.94 3.35 28.1%

2013 65.2% 34.8% 3.64 2.62 27.6%

2012 62.4% 37.6% 3.04 3.06 28.4%

2011 59.3% 40.7% 4.87 4.26 18.4%

2010 67.7% 32.3% 3.35 3.29 35.9%

The starters made a late surge to even get to 54 percent of total innings, but note that the starter has

made it through seven innings about once every seven starts the last two postseasons. And certainly

don’t expect any complete games, even from Justin Verlander: There have been just five in the World

Series this century (Johnny Cueto, Madison Bumgarner, Cliff Lee, Josh Beckett and Randy Johnson).

All that means is that we'll see plenty of relievers. Dave Roberts has been pulling his starters before 90

pitches -- only Kershaw in a Game 1 blowout in the NLDS exceeded 90. We know how dominant Kenta

Maeda, Brandon Morrow and Kenley Jansen have been. Maeda has pitched five perfect innings in the

postseason and could be an even bigger weapon in this because Roberts wants to match him up against

right-handed batters. Houston’s lineup leans right-handed at the top with George Springer, Alex

Bregman, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Maeda had a significant platoon split in the regular season (his

OPS allowed against right-handers was 134 points lower), but Roberts won’t hesitate to use him against

the top of the order.

What will be more interesting is how Roberts handles the situation if his starter gets knocked out early.

Maeda or Ross Stripling could be the long man. We’ll also see if he can get Tony Watson and Tony

Cingrani into games. Watson has faced 13 batters in the postseason, six of them left-handed. Five of the

seven batters Cingrani has faced have been left-handed. The matchup options on the Astros are limited,

however, with Josh Reddick and Brian McCann the only lefty starters (although backup outfielder Derek

Fisher could be a pinch-hitting option). Reddick is certainly somebody you want to get the platoon

advantage on. While he hit .315 against lefties, 12 of his 13 home runs came against righties.

For the Astros, we have no idea what A.J. Hinch will do with his bullpen, given his sudden fixation on

some small sample size results. He’s also at a disadvantage since Francisco Liriano is the only lefty in his

bullpen and the Dodgers are loaded with five left-handed bats in Seager, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson,

Chase Utley and Andre Ethier. Hinch used Liriano for just one inning in the ALCS in a five-run deficit.

Given that Liriano was moderately tough on lefties (.247/.300/.355), you have to think we’ll see him at

some point for some matchups against Seager, Bellinger or the other lefties.

Because of the Dodgers’ lineup balance, Hinch is simply going to have trust some of his righty relievers

against those lefties at some point. You have to think he’ll give another chance to Chris Devenski, even

though seven of the 16 batters he’s faced in the postseason have reached base. Because of his great

changeup, Devenski held lefties to a .111 average. Will Harris is the other righty reliever with a good

split, holding lefties to a .606 OPS.

Bench guys

The Astros lose their DH in the games at Dodger Stadium, but that’s not a huge loss. Carlos Beltran

didn’t have a good season; Evan Gattis started Games 6 and 7 of the ALCS. Beltran will be a pinch-hitting

option, but it will be interesting to see if Gattis starts any games at catcher. He started one game behind

the plate in the ALCS, when CC Sabathia started. McCann hit .227/.324/.412 versus lefties and will start

against Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 and probably Game 2 against Rich Hill, who had an extreme reverse

platoon as left-handed batters had a .407 OBP against him. That probably relegates Gattis to coming off

the bench until a Game 4 start at DH against Alex Wood.

Roberts has a more complicated lineup. Utley and Logan Forsythe platoon at second base while

Pederson or Ethier will platoon in the outfield with Enrique Hernandez. He’s not afraid to pinch hit in the

middle of games at those positions, but he has to worry about being too aggressive or you can run out

of bench players in an NL game where you need to hit for the pitcher. Hinch will stick with his eight

regulars unless he double-switches somebody out of the game.

Deep pitching staff

One area the Astros have the advantage is maybe an extra-inning game where both teams have burned

through their top relievers. With Hinch suggesting Lance McCullers will start Game 3 of 4, that means

Collin McHugh will once again be available in the bullpen. McHugh didn’t join the team until late July,

but had a 2.61 ERA over his final eight starts. If Hinch calls up McCullers in relief, he has McHugh as a

possible starter in his back pocket.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have Maeda, but he’s become an important setup guy. That leaves Stripling as

the other long guy with starting experience, but he’s been used sparingly, with just one inning through

two rounds. That’s also the disadvantage of carrying two left-handed specialists in Watson and Cingrani.

If a game goes extra, Roberts will have already used them or be forced to use them against a string of

right-handers.

Pinch runners

Don’t expect too much with the running game from the Astros. They’ve attempted just two steals in

their 11 playoff games. The one guy who is easy to run on is Jansen, as base stealers were 11-for-11

against him. The Dodgers have tried eight steals in eight playoff games and the Astros are easy to run on

-- McCann was just eight for 54 in throwing out runners and Gattis four for 39. The Astros also led in wild

pitches, so Dodgers baserunners will definitely be extra alert.

There have been just 11 pinch-running appearances in the postseason, and eight of those came in AL

games. The Astros used Fisher twice and Cameron Maybin once, but all three times in the DH spot --

twice for Gattis, once for Beltran. McCann is one of the slowest runners in the league and would be a

guy to run for late in a close game. Roberts has used one pinch runner, using Culberson for Yasmani

Grandal.

The 25th man

Houston’s 25th man is third catcher Juan Centeno, who allows the Astros to DH or pinch hit Gattis and

still have a backup for McCann. He batted 57 times and while he hit two home runs, he has just five

home runs in 2,000 minor league plate appearances.

Based on regular-season playing time, Culberson is the Dodgers’ 25th man given he had just 15 plate

appearances. He already made an impact in the NLCS, going 5-for-11 and making a couple of nice

defensive plays.

Will either guy have an influence on the final outcome? Don’t be surprised ... especially if we go seven

games again and that seventh game goes into extra innings. Hey, we can hope ...

Your World Series uniform preview

By Paul Lukas

After 162 regular-season games and a bunch more in the postseason, it's finally time for the World

Series. With the Dodgers and Astros set to face off on Tuesday night, here are 10 uniform-related

storylines to keep in mind as the Fall Classic unfolds.

1. Déjà blue. For the second straight year, the National League team's colors include royal blue and the

American League team's colors include a darker blue. Last year it was the Cubs (royal) against the

Indians (navy); this year it's the Dodgers (royal) and the Astros (navy).

Incidentally, the same thing would have happened if the Dodgers and Stros had lost their respective

league championship series because then we would have had the Cubs (royal) against the Yankees

(midnight navy).

This also marks the 12th consecutive World Series in which at least one team's colors include a shade of

blue. The last blue-free Series? That was in 2005, when the Astros (who at the time didn't have navy in

their color palette) faced the White Sox.

2. Red letter number day. Many fans over the years have wondered why the Dodgers' jerseys feature

those red numbers on the front, which they've been wearing since 1952. After all, red doesn't appear

anywhere else on their uniforms, so why have the red numbers?

The answer to that question was uncovered years ago by uniform designer and historian Todd Radom,

who found an old article indicating that the Dodgers had actually planned to add the red numbers as a

special addition for the 1951 World Series. As it turned out, the Dodgers didn't make it to the '51 Fall

Classic (that was the year they were knocked out by the Giants, courtesy of Bobby Thomson's famous

"Shot Heard 'Round the World"), but the red-numbered uniforms had already been ordered, so team

ownership decided to use them for the 1952 season, and the numbers have been part of the Dodgers'

look ever since. Additional details here.

3. Houston strong. In addition to the World Series patches that both teams will be wearing on their

jersey sleeves and caps, the Astros have a "Houston Strong" chest patch. They began wearing it on Sept.

2 as the city was recovering from Hurricane Harvey.

4. Helmet happenings. The Dodgers are at the leading edge of the two biggest trends in MLB headwear:

matte-finish batting helmets and raised, three-dimensional helmet logos. They pioneered the use of 3-D

helmet logos last season, initially using a rigid plastic logo that mounted onto the helmet. But the plastic

logos often chipped or cracked, so they began using a flexible, rubberized logo instead. Several other

MLB teams have begun wearing similar helmet logos, but the Dodgers are poised to become the first

team to wear a 3-D logo in the World Series. They're also the first to wear matte helmets in the Fall

Classic.

5. Letter imperfect. There's an admirable simplicity to the chest lettering on the Astros' home jerseys --

but there's also an unfortunate glitch. The "R" is positioned in the center, with three letters on one side

of it (A-S-T) and only two letters on the other side (O-S), creating a lopsided effect that makes it look like

the whole jersey is leaning to one side. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

There's a reason for this: If they centered the lettering properly, the "T" would be split across the button

placket, which could get messy. Several other MLB teams suffer from this same problem. Additional info

here.

6. Those L.A. sew-and-sews. Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernandez, who had three home runs in the

team's NLCS clincher against the Cubs, has an interesting modification made to his jerseys. Look closely

and you'll see a little horizontal seam just beneath the third-from-the-top button. You might also notice

that that his jersey doesn't billow at all along its button placket. That's because Hernandez, who doesn't

like to deal with buttons, has his jersey sewn shut, which essentially turns it into a pullover.

The first Dodger to wear this type of jersey modification was first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who's

currently on the disabled list. Hernandez liked it so much that he copied it. Additional details here.

7. Hands and band. Astros catcher-DH Evan Gattis is one of the few MLB players who don't use batting

gloves. His bare-handed batting style also exposes an unusual accessory: a silicone wedding band on his

left ring finger.

8. Hosiery hero. Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor's on-field look includes an MLB rarity: picture-

perfect stirrups. And unlike fellow stirrup stalwart Francisco Lindor of the Indians, who muddies up the

look of his 'rups by wearing them over spotted TruSox, Taylor pairs his stirrups with clean white sanitary

socks, just as the baseball gods intended.

Hernandez, he of the sewn-shut jersey, also appears to be wearing stirrups. But the key phrase there is

"appears to be." Look closely and you'll see that he's actually wearing socks with a faux-stirrup pattern.

Not the same thing, and not nearly as satisfying, as what Taylor wears.

9. Road show. The Dodgers have two road jersey designs -- one with a "Los Angeles" chest script and

one with "Dodgers." Technically speaking, the "Los Angeles" version is designated as their primary road

jersey and the "Dodgers" version is the alternate. But according to SportsLogos.net's uniform tracker,

they wore the alternate 52 times during the regular season, compared to only 23 games for the primary.

They've also worn the alternate for all four of their road postseason games so far. So expect to see the

"Dodgers" design when the Series shifts to Houston later this week.

10. What might have been. If the Yankees had beaten the Astros and advanced to face the Dodgers, we

would have been guaranteed of having the old-school spectacle of every 2017 World Series game being

white vs. gray, because neither the Yanks nor the Dodgers have any solid-colored alternate jerseys. But

the Stros could end up wearing the orange jerseys for a game or two, and they could wear their navy

Sunday jersey for Game 5 in Houston on Oct. 29, assuming the Series goes that far.

The last time every Series game was white against gray was 2014, but that's only because the Giants and

Royals both opted not to wear their solid-colored alternate jerseys. The last time a Series featured two

teams without any colored jerseys in their wardrobe? That was in 2009, when the Yankees beat the

Phillies.

Honorable mention: Over the rainbow. Many fans have been asking whether the Astros will wear their

rainbow-striped throwback uniforms in the World Series. That's not going to happen, but you can still

brush up on your Astros history by checking out these 10 things you might not know about the rainbow

jerseys, along with this exclusive oral history of how the rainbow design was created.

Dallas Keuchel, Clayton Kershaw unfazed by hot Game 1 forecast

By Jerry Crasnick

LOS ANGELES -- Houston Astros starter Dallas Keuchel says he likes to work up a healthy sweat on the

mound because it gives him a better grip on his pitches.

He has come to the right ballpark.

The National Weather Service forecast Tuesday calls for a high of 101 degrees in Los Angeles and an

excessive heat warning in advance of Game 1 of the World Series between the Astros and Dodgers.

While the temperature is expected to dip into the upper 90s by the 5:09 p.m. PT first pitch, Keuchel and

his opponent, Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw, might feel as if they are sharing a sauna for two-plus

hours and 200-plus pitches.

"I mean, it's the World Series," Keuchel said. "So if it's a little hotter than usual, that's fine with me.

There's no place I'd rather be."

The available statistical information reflects the extraordinary meteorological circumstances the teams

will play under in Los Angeles. Baseball-reference.com lists temperature data from the postseason

dating back to 1984 in both leagues, and the warmest MLB playoff game on record in that span was 96

degrees for the opener of the 2014 National League Division Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and

Dodgers in Los Angeles.

"Yeah, it is going to be hot," Kershaw said. "But, no, I don't think it's going to change anything. I think by

5 o'clock, the sun will be down. They're from Houston. I'm from Texas. It's going to be hot for everybody.

We're all used to it."

Keuchel, Kershaw and their teammates cited two factors that could come into play because of the

excessive heat. The starting pitchers, in particular, will have to make sure to stay properly hydrated if

they plan to throw 100 pitches or more.

The heat could also help the baseball fly. This season, there were 1.2 home runs per game in the majors

when the temperature was 89 degrees or below (or the game was played indoors). There were 1.5

homers when the temperature was 90 degrees or higher, and teams scored almost a full run more per

game.

Justin Verlander, who is scheduled to start Game 2 for the Astros on Wednesday, when the temperature

will also flirt with triple-digits, downplayed the impact of the weather conditions on offense in the

series.

"Can the ball fly any more than it already is the last couple of years," Verlander said. "Seriously?"

For several players at Monday's media sessions, it was more about the oddity of the circumstances

compared with what they have experienced in previous Octobers or grown up watching on television.

In 1976, commissioner Bowie Kuhn was in the stands at Riverfront Stadium for Game 2 of the World

Series between the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees. It was the first World Series weekend game

played at night, and Kuhn was mocked for not wearing an overcoat even as the temperatures dipped

into the 40s.

"I grew up in the South seeing all the different playoffs and World Series, and usually half of them are in

freezing temperatures," said Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood, a North Carolina native and University of

Georgia product. "It's been pretty funny that we haven't had to deal with any of that."

When Chase Utley played second base for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays in the

2008 World Series, Game 5 got underway with 47-degree temperatures, 16 mph winds and a steady

drizzle. The game was suspended in the sixth inning, and the Phillies clinched the series two nights later.

"It's much more hitter-friendly here, that's for sure," Utley said. "And probably body-friendly as well, as

long as you stay hydrated."

Keuchel, who sports one of baseball's most voluminous beards, was asked if he might shave to make his

life a little more bearable in Game 1. But personal grooming isn't on his agenda -- at least for now.

"If it's hot enough for four wins, I'll shave it, for sure," Keuchel said.

Corey Seager back for World Series barring 'unforeseen,' Dave Roberts says

By Bradford Doolittle

LOS ANGELES -- It's all but official: Shortstop Corey Seager will be added to the World Series roster of

the Dodgers.

Prior to his team's workout at Dodger Stadium on Monday, manager Dave Roberts said, "Unless

something really unforeseen happens, I don't see how he won't be active for us."

Seager strained his lower back during the Dodgers' series-clinching win over the Arizona Diamondbacks

in the NLDS. Originally the injury was thought to be minor, but when L.A. announced its roster for the

NLCS against the Chicago Cubs, Seager was left off of it.

Since then, Seager has been working out daily at Dodger Stadium in hopes of being ready for the World

Series, assuming his team advanced. The Dodgers made quick work of the Cubs, finishing a five-game

series win at Wrigley Field on Thursday.

"I feel good," Seager said. "They tested everything they needed to test. Took live [batting practice]

yesterday. That was kind of the last box I needed to check."

Roberts said the club's concern over any possible reoccurrence of the injury is more related to the kind

of bending players have to do when fielding ground balls, than the torque that goes with swinging the

bat.

One possibility the World Series affords is for Seager to serve as designated hitter when the series shifts

to Houston on Friday. That could mean that Charlie Culberson, who helped fill in at short during the

NLCS, might be needed to do the same in the next round.

"To have Charlie Culberson and other guys that can play short -- if something does go out on us, we're

definitely cognizant of that," Roberts said. "To have the DH potential, also, because I think from the

training staff, swinging the bat really doesn't pose a problem, it's more of the bending over."

The Dodgers planned for Seager to test his back during infield practice at Monday's workout, the last

chance he'll have to get on the field before rosters are set on Tuesday.

"He's going to take aggressive ground balls today, and we're going to put eyes on him again," Roberts

said. "We still don't have to make that decision until tomorrow morning."

Seager, 23, was the NL's Rookie of the Year in 2016 and hit .295 this season with 22 homers. His 77 RBIs

ranked second on the Dodgers during the regular season.

The Dodgers will send staff ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound in Game 1 of the World Series on

Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. He'll face Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel.

Why the dominant Dodgers are actually World Series underdogs

By Sam Miller

When researchers at Bowling Green State University asked students to root for one of two teams in a

hypothetical best-of-seven series, 81 percent of the subjects chose the underdog. "Underdogs," the

authors wrote, "receive support from the social value of equity."

My guess, then, is that there are a lot of pop-up Astros fans this week. It isn't that the Houston Astros

are super long shots against the Los Angeles Dodgers, though oddsmakers do favor the Dodgers, who

won more games in the regular season and have home-field advantage in this series. It's that the

Dodgers might well trigger your equity instincts.

Sure, they're in the World Series because they're smart and they tried real hard, but they're also in the

World Series because they're rich and spent more. They have the highest payroll in the league (by more

than $40 million!), just as they have in each of the past four seasons. By one accounting of team

payrolls, the Dodgers since 2013 have spent $150 million more on players than the Astros and Cubs

combined. There's nothing remotely wrong with spending what you've got, but we crave equity. Now

that the Dodgers outspend the Yankees, it's natural to slot them into the old "like rooting for U.S. Steel"

bit.

But there's another way to think about the Dodgers: not as a brand or a trademark or a corporation but

as a collection of Dodgers. Each Dodger is a person, and if they collectively form the whole -- the

designer-brand laundry -- they also never stop being, principally, the individuals. And there is nothing

inevitable about the individuals. There was at least one day in each one of these 25 lives when it

probably seemed impossible that this would happen.

May 10, 2016

In late 2014, the Padres signed Brandon Morrow for one year and $2.5 million. Just a few weeks later,

they signed Josh Johnson for one year and $1 million. At the time, the two moves were seen as almost a

package: Both pitchers had once been very good then became defined mostly for being very hurt, and

by signing the pair, the Padres were diluting the risk while betting on some unlikely upside.

These Good Or Hurt pitchers are fake-GM favorites, but they usually shed the Good label before they

shed the Hurt. Josh Johnson faced exactly one batter in the Padres organization -- at High-A -- before

undergoing his third Tommy John surgery. This is the outcome we expect, or what we should expect,

after a half-dozen or more DL stints. Morrow, who hit the DL in each of his final four seasons as a

Toronto Blue Jay -- with progressively serious ailments -- paid out only a little bit better for San Diego

that season. He made five starts, all before May Day. He missed 155 days.

Morrow signed a minor league contract with San Diego that winter. He started the season in High-A Lake

Elsinore. In six minor league starts, he had a 7.31 ERA, as batters across three levels hit .360/.416/.544

against him. Then, on May 10, he went on the disabled list for an undisclosed injury. He missed more

than two months.

The Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal, and he started the season in Triple-A at 32 years old.

He's now 33, and he's also now the second-best reliever in the World Series. By his 2017 FIP, he was one

of the 25 most dominant relievers of the past century. There will come a moment in this World Series

when a Dodger starter is teetering in the sixth inning. There will be runners on second and third with

one out, and Morrow will come out of the bullpen to strike out the next two batters. And he'll probably

do it.

Rooting for Brandon Morrow is not like rooting for Standard Oil.

June 20, 2003

It was the College World Series, and Justin Turner was a freshman shortstop. He was trying to lay down

a bunt, but the shadows on the field made it hard to see the ball. As he told Andy McCullough years

later, he "never saw the high fastball." The pitch hit him in the face. While he fell to the ground, his cleat

caught, and he broke his ankle. "Blood smeared his batting gloves." When he reached the hospital,

reports at the time said, his left cheek "grew to the size of a baseball."

The play was so gruesome that, for the rest of the summer, strangers who saw it recognized him and

asked him about it. So Turner did what now seems unthinkable: He dyed his hair. Black.

"I tried to camouflage myself," he said. "It probably didn't look too good. My dad told me he was going

to kick me out of the house if I didn't change it back."

There are any number of days after that when it would have been unimaginable that Turner would

someday be the NLCS MVP and the best right-handed hitter on the best team in the National League.

The Orioles waived him when he was 25; the Mets didn't offer him arbitration when he was 28. After

that, he was unemployed deep into the winter, when, if the stories are to be believed, "then-coach Tim

Wallach saw Turner at a Fullerton alumni game." Come on.

Even the next year, when Turner hit .340 in part-time play and the Dodgers made the postseason, he

was sitting on the bench. He batted only twice.

Rooting for Justin Turner is not like rooting for ExxonMobil.

July 1, 2014

Most of the focus on Rich Hill's career path focuses -- fairly -- on Aug. 2, 2015, when Hill made his first

start for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He made $500 a week and, uhhh,

peed in a bucket?

But for a variety of reasons, I think the furthest Rich Hill ever got from this Dodgers starting rotation

actually came a year earlier, when Hill made his debut as an Angel.

Hill had just been acquired from the Red Sox for cash considerations, and the Angels had been cycling

through unsuccessful relief acquisitions. Hill was called up in the ninth inning with a four-run lead

against the Chicago White Sox that day. He faced three batters: The first singled, and the next two

walked. Ten of his 14 pitches were balls. He was yanked without getting an out.

But that isn't where it gets bleakest. That was the first game of a doubleheader. Hill got called upon

again in the second game, this time in the sixth inning with a one-run deficit. He faced one batter. He

walked him! The final pitch was a wild pitch. Steve Stone, the White Sox color man, said, with far more

significance in retrospect than it might have seemed in the moment: "And that's gonna be it for Hill." As

Mike Scioscia walked to the mound, Hill stared at the ground.

He never threw another pitch for the Angels. That's where his career was at that point: A team with an

absolutely awful bullpen would acquire him, watch him pitch for one day and then give up. The Angels

went out and traded for Joe Thatcher, who is now retired. Hill is the only pitcher in history to pitch for

the Angels without getting an out. He is historically significant to that franchise.

Then the Yankees briefly signed Hill, and then the Nationals briefly signed him, and then the Long Island

Ducks briefly signed him, and then he became one of the 20 best starters in baseball. Normal baseball

things. He's still going strong, so maybe someday he'll go back to the Angels and get some outs and

remove himself from historic significance to that franchise.

In the meantime, though: Rooting for Rich Hill, even as a Dodger, is not like rooting for Microsoft.

Jan. 8, 1994

Joc Pederson has a brother named Tyger and a dad named Stu. A couple years ago, I saw Tyger play 51

games in the independent Pacific Association in Northern California. It's much, much, much farther

down the baseball ladder than Rich Hill's Atlantic League. The Pacific Association has never produced a

major leaguer; it got one guy as high as Double-A -- for two games.

Tyger Pederson was, honestly, one of the worst hitters in that league. The best team in that league

traded him midseason to the worst team in the league, with the worst postgame spreads. He went. And

the next year, he went back, until the worst team apparently released him. I don't know what he was

getting paid, but the average in that league was about $600 a month. I always imagined it must have

been extra hard to be T. Pederson, Pederson with a D, in that league. Everybody knew he was Joc's

brother -- Joc's older brother. He was the one .200 hitter in the Pacific Association for whom everybody

looked up to see him bat. He was a very, very visible .200 hitter.

But he hustled. He played hard. He kept going.

This makes some sense if you know about Stu Pederson. Stu was a minor leaguer -- in the affiliated

minors -- for most of the 1980s and well into the 1990s. He batted almost 5,000 times as a minor

leaguer; he celebrated his 32nd birthday as a minor leaguer. For this, he got five major league plate

appearances as a Dodger, which were followed by seven more years of minor league buses. He made a

nice little career out of it. In Syracuse, where he spent the final four-and-a-half seasons, he ran hard, and

he became a sort of a cult figure. Fans would go "Stuuuuuu" when he batted. The club had megaphones

so kids could go "Stuuuuuu," and there were T-shirts that said "Stuuuuuu." "Stu could be 0-for-4 and get

a swinging bunt hit, and the crowd would go crazy for him," a Blue Jays exec told a reporter. There were

editorials in the local paper when he was finally let go in spring 1993.

That was just a year after Joc was born and a few years after Tyger and their other brother, Champ,

were born. Even with three young sons, Stu kept trying to play. He told reporters that he just loved

playing baseball, but he also told them he still dreamed of getting a chance as a part-timer in the majors.

"Butch Davis, a teammate from Syracuse last season, is older and won a spot with the Texas Rangers this

season," one writer dutifully acknowledged. "He wonders, without bitterness, if at times he was in the

wrong place at the wrong time during his career."

He kept working out, kept hoping for a call. Another year later, a writer caught up with him for a story

about the hardships of minor league life. Even then, Stu Pederson, a month shy of 34 years old, "is

hoping to return somewhere as a player." He never really did; the closest he came was as a replacement

player for the A's in the 1995 spring training.

Has baseball ever been hard for Joc? I don't know. Great prep player, healthy signing bonus, minor

league star, immediate success in the majors. But what we can deduce from his family is that, if it were

hard, he wouldn't quit. Does a person need to be tested, does he need to demonstrate the positive

quality, before the positive quality is in him, or can we give him credit for it whether or not it is ever

required of him? I don't know! That sounds like a philosophy question! But here's what I think I know: I

bet the only person in the world who wants a World Series ring for Joc more than Joc is Stu. And Stu

always was the underdog. Stuuuuuu!

Rooting for Stuuuuuu is not like rooting for the inevitable.

Some particularly painful afternoon circa 1999

You could do this for just about every player on the team.

Austin Barnes isn't a catcher because that's what he always wanted to do; he's a catcher because, as a

college infielder, he was stuck on the bench and "heard the clock ticking." Kenley Jansen isn't the world's

best closer for any reason other than he came to America to be a catcher and failed. Yu Darvish came to

America with the hype of inevitability, then gave up four runs, walked three and labored through 42

pitches in his very first inning. Lots of inevitables have failed, and for 20 minutes, Yu Darvish might have

been one.

It's incredible how rarely we talk about Yasiel Puig's terrifying journey from Cuba -- it involves the

Mexican cartel Los Zetas, being held captive, a daring nighttime escape and the clause, "If the four didn't

want to die at the hands of Tomasito ..." Yasmani Grandal, we're told, got out of Cuba "the easy way":

by winning a national lottery. Before that, he often went to bed hungry. "Leaving was about giving

Yasmani opportunities," his mom said.

Chris Taylor started the season in the minors, and now he spends a good part of every day answering

the same patronizing question from reporters: "How'd you get good?" Corey Seager was so nervous

when he came up to the majors that he was scared somebody would hit the ball to him.

Curtis Granderson, a universally admired veteran in the productive decline of a great career, got traded

to one of the best teams in history; he fell into the worst slump of his career and watched the team

almost immediately collapse. He has never been farther from World Series glory than he is right now,

this moment, when he's in the World Series. There's nothing inevitable about Curtis Granderson.

Then there's Clayton Kershaw, the high school kid who struck out every batter in a perfect game, the top

draft pick who tore through the minors, who has been better than every batter he has faced (save,

perhaps, one) for at least five years. I tried to find the moment when he was least likely to be a World

Series star. It was, perhaps, when he was 10, and his parents divorced: "I was just so worried. I was so

worried all the time. I had so much anxiety about my own life. I didn't know what to do on my own."

We root for sports narratives such as Hill's, such as Taylor's, such as Granderson's, that are bound up in

the player's identity as a player -- which is odd, given that most of us quit playing when we were 15 and

have almost no way of really, truly relating to those narratives.

Does that anxious, struggling, 10-year-old Kershaw still have a stake in this Kershaw's happiness? I don't

know. There are questions about the permanence of self-identity that I can't answer. But I'd have a hard

time telling that 10-year-old in Texas that a couple decades later, he'll be trying to do his job, and I'll be

rooting against him.

The other important thing is that this is all true of the Astros, too. So root with abandon. They're all

underdogs.

TRUE BLUE LA

Clayton Kershaw & the Dodgers can build a history of their own

By Eric Stephen

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers head into their first World Series in 29 years with a heightened sense of

expectation, a combination of wanting to erase history while carving a new path of their own.

Dodger Stadium is the third-oldest ballpark in the majors, open since 1962, and on Tuesday will host its

21st World Series game and ninth Fall Classic. The Dodgers have won 14 of those 20 games, including

their last five. The last time they lost a World Series game at home was Game 6 in 1978.

It only seems like the elevators at Chavez Ravine are as old as the stadium itself, but they were upgraded

at one point, I believe at the same time the Rolling Stones were on one of their first retirement concert

tours. To start up his day at the ballpark when the Dodgers are home, manager Dave Roberts rides those

elevators to the first floor, and on his way to his office walks through a pair of hallways, both lined with

reminders of the franchise’s past.

There are the individual awards, like the National League MVP won by Kirk Gibson in 1988 or the NL Cy

Young Award won by Orel Hershiser that same year. There are framed Dodgers jerseys, one for every

Hall of Famer like Tommy Lasorda, who managed that 1988 team. There are also team awards, like the

Commissioner’s Trophy the Dodgers received for winning the World Series in 1988.

“I do take moments to look down that long his list of hardware when I get off the elevator,” Roberts

said. “That kind of blows me away.

“So I really try to focus on the moment. But when you look at the history and in that context, yeah, it’s a

little overwhelming to just think that you just want to do your job and be good at your job, and help a

team be good that particular day and win a baseball game.”

Trying to win Game 1, specifically, is Clayton Kershaw, who has been freed from the burden of pitching

on three days rest for the first time in the last five postseasons. Kershaw has improved in each start this

October, allowing four runs in Game 1 of the NLDS, then two runs in Game 1 of the NLCS, then one run

in the pennant-clinching Game 5.

If that pattern holds, Kershaw will allow a half-run on Tuesday, which isn’t technically possible, though I

wouldn’t put it past him.

This is Kershaw’s 10th season with the Dodgers and since getting drafted in 2006, his 12th year in the

organization. He’s well aware of the history, and the 29-year championship drought.

“I grew up a Dodger and got drafted by the Dodgers. I didn’t know a ton of Dodger history at the time,

but coming up it kind of gets ingrained in you, which is a good thing,” Kershaw said. “Not a lot of

organizations that have the type of history that the Dodgers do.

“It’s been a special thing, and I hope after this week is over, they can talk about 2017 a little more and

1988 a lot less.”

World Series - Workout Day - Dodger Stadium

In relative terms, the Dodgers have nothing to complain about here. Their last World Series win was in

1988, but at least they have a World Series win — six of them, in fact. The Astros are the ones with the

bigger drought here, having existed as a franchise since 1962, with no championships in their ledger.

They have gone 55 years without a World Series win, almost double the Dodgers’ dry spell.

But that doesn’t lessen the pressure on the Dodgers, with home field advantage, or Kershaw.

“It’s tough to grasp. I wish I could let it all sink back in,” Kershaw said of the World Series. “But in order

to me to do my job I think I just have to focus on getting the Astros out right now.”

That singular focus has been a strength for Kershaw, who is generally very meticulous about his

pregame routine, following the same, detailed pattern for the most part before every start, as well as

the days in between.

“I think the fans get cheated on not getting the opportunity to see him in between starts,” Roberts said.

“To be behind the scenes and to watch him work so diligently, with detail, every single day, that’s

something that for me I marvel at.”

That work has paid off with three Cy Young Awards, five ERA titles, seven All-Star nods, and now, finally,

a World Series start for Kershaw, a future Hall of Famer who is widely considered the best pitcher of his

generation.

Tuesday is his stage.

“Getting to say you’re going to the World Series is a pretty special thing,” Kershaw said. “We’ve had a

few days now to let that sink in and we’re not satisfied with that now. We got to celebrate and got to

enjoy it, and now it’s real. We have an opponent. We’ve got four more games to win.”

World Series Game 1 info

First pitch: 5:09 p.m.

TV: Fox (coverage starts at 4:30 p.m.)

Announcers: Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci

Online streaming: Fox Sports Go

Local radio: AM 570 (Charley Steiner, Rick Monday)

National radio: ESPN Radio (Dan Shulman, Aaron Boone)

Happy to be back at the World Series, 29 years later

By Eric Stephen

LOS ANGELES — After Tuesday night, I will be able to say I have been at two consecutive Dodgers World

Series games. They just happen to be 10,600 days apart.

Prior to 2017, my only World Series experience was attending Game 2 of the 1988 World Series, when

Orel Hershiser won my 12-year-old heart with a shutout of the A’s.

Hershiser that night, only days removed from his 67 consecutive scoreless innings, and in the midst of a

63-day finishing stretch through the postseason that saw him post a 0.65 ERA in 124⅔ innings. He

allowed only three hits to a mighty Oakland lineup, all by Dave Parker, and Hershiser collected three hits

of his own at the plate, which basically made that a no-hitter in my mind.

The Dodgers won that game 6-0, to take a two-game series lead in a World Series they would finish four

days later in Oakland.

I grew up in Palm Springs, which was a good two hours away from Los Angeles, and after factoring in

how slow my mom drove it was more like three hours. Game 2 was a Sunday night game, and my mom

didn’t like to drive at night, which meant after staying the night at my brother Kelly’s house we woke up

early to drive back home.

The early wake-up was well worth it in my mind, if only because on Monday morning at school I got to

answer every, “What did you do this weekend?” with “I WAS AT THE WORLD SERIES LAST NIGHT,”

whipping out my ticket stub as proof.

But that was only half of a rather whirlwind weekend.

I went to Game 2 with Kelly, his wife, and his wife’s mom. He bought a strip of four tickets to every

postseason game that year, only he didn’t go to Game 1. None of us did.

One of our sisters turned 30 that year, though not until November 2. Our other sister organized a

surprise birthday party for her, and to really throw off the scent we had the party 18 days early.

On October 15.

The date of Game 1 of the World Series.

The game Kirk Gibson won.

In Orange County at my sister’s apartment, we celebrated her birthday quite joyously. There was even

silly string involved.

We all watched Game 1 on television, and jumped up and down in celebration after Gibson’s home run,

so much so that later that night a policeman came to visit the second-story apartment after receiving a

noise complaint from the first-floor neighbor.

Kelly sold his tickets to that game to a pair of couples, and to rub salt in the wound both groups left the

game early. Even before Mr. Brake Lights beyond the right field pavilion:

The next day before Game 2, when rosters were introduced, the roar for Gibson was so loud and long

that the cameraman had to pan back to Gibson before moving on to the next player. That was a

deafening moment that gave me goosebumps.

Twenty-nine years later, I expect those goosebumps to return. It’s the World Series, after all, and I’m

glad to be back.

Cody Bellinger wins Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year

By Eric Stephen

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger was named the Sporting News National League

Rookie of the Year on Monday, a harbinger of things to come in November when the BBWAA awards are

announced.

Bellinger received 97 of 102 votes from NL players, joining teammate Corey Seager to give the Dodgers

back-to-back winners of the award.

“Just taking notice of what other players think of you, it’s a cool honor,” Bellinger said.

After beginning the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City, Bellinger was called up to the majors on April 25,

and despite missing the first 20 games of the season still set a National League rookie record with 39

home runs. It was a season that exceeded even his own projections.

Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year voting

Player Team Votes

Cody Bellinger Dodgers 97

Josh Bell Pirates 2

Paul DeJong Cardinals 2

Ian Happ Cubs 1

Source: Sporting News

“Honestly, I thought I was going to be a September call-up, maybe mid to end season. I had no

expectations to get called up at the time I did,” Bellinger said last week. “But when Triple-A season

started, I wanted to do everything I could to have the front office trust me if they were to call me up.”

Bellinger hit .267/.352/.581 and in addition to 83 starts at first base also started 37 games in left field,

three games in center field and three more in right field. His 39 home runs were the third-most in MLB

history by a player in his age-21 season or younger, trailing only Eddie Mathews (47, in 1953) and Mel

Ott (42, in 1929).

The BBWAA awards will be announced in November, and Bellinger is the favorite to win NL Rookie of

the Year, which would give the Dodgers an 18th such award. No other team has more than eight.

DODGER INSIDER

Dodger Stadium World Series food specials

By Rowan Kavner

Dodger Stadium will once again offer new food specials for the World Series, along with some of the

favorites from earlier this postseason.

Take a look at the specials being offered as the Dodgers host the Astros.

CHEET-O-LOTE

Description: Roasted sweet corn on the cob slathered in chipotle-lime mayo, dusted with Flamin’ Hot

Cheetos, cotija cheese & tajin seasoning

Location(s): King’s Hawaiian Grill on Left Field Plaza & LA Taqueria on Reserve levels (section 15)

CHICKEN WAFFLE SAMMY

Description: Belgian Waffle, spicy crispy chicken with candied smoked bacon, maple syrup

Location(s): Chick N’ Tots on Field level (section 8), Lots O’ Tots on Loge (section 136) & Tenders Etc. on

Reserve level (section 14)

VEGAN NOODLE BOWL

Description: Vietnamese bean thread noodle, nappa cabbage, shredded carrots, diced cucumber,

peanuts, diced jalapeño, peanut sauce

Location(s): Base Bowls on Field level (section 45)

SHRIMP SHOOTER

Description: Grilled jumbo shrimp bathed in L.A’s michelada mix with a shot of Don Julio tequila

Location(s): Blue Heaven on Earth Bar on Right Field Plaza & #ITFDB Bar on Left Field Plaza

CHAR SIU BABY BACK RIBS

Description: Smoked baby back ribs slathered in Char Siu style BBQ, served with garlic fries

Location(s): Think Blue BBQ on Reserve level (section 30)

LOBSTER ROLL

Description: New England style lobster mix on a King’s Hawaiian Sweet Roll, served with garlic fries

Location(s): King’s Hawaiian Grill on Left Field Plaza

WAGYU BEEF CHEESEBURGER

Description: Kobe-style American beef ½ lb burger, creamy American cheese, crispy bacon, grilled

onions, herbed mayo on a Brioche bun with kettle chips

Location(s): Elysian Park Grill on Field level (section 22 & 23) & Reserve level (section 31)

SMOKED CHICKEN PLATTER

Description: Smoked chicken leg & thigh with sweet smoky BBQ sauce, served with roasted corn, ramen

slaw & corn bread

Location(s): King’s Hawaiian Grill on Left Field Plaza

“AL PASTOR” NACHOS

Description: Major League Souvenir Helmet includes crispy tortilla chips topped with “Al Pastor” style

pork, refried beans, nacho cheese sauce, pico de gallo & avocado crema

Location(s): LA Taqueria on Field level (section 10) & Reserve level (section 15)

“AL PASTOR” FRIES

Description: Souvenir helmet includes crispy fries topped with topped with “Al Pastor” style pork, pico

de gallo & avocado crema

Location(s): LA Taqueria on Field level (section 10) & Reserve level (section 15)

SHORT RIB WAFFLE FRIES

Description: Braised short ribs, red wine reduction sauce over waffle fries topped with crispy cheese

curds

Location(s): Bud & Burgers on Field level (section 47) & Top Deck Dogs Too on Top Deck (section 4)

VEGAN NACHOS

Description: Crispy tortilla chips topped with Vegan cheese, pico de gallo, jalapeños & salsa verde

Location(s): LA Taqueria on Field level (section 10)

COCTEL DE CAMARON

Description: Shrimp cocktail includes tomato, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, avocado, jalapeño in

shrimp broth & lime juice

Location(s): Marketplace on Field level (section 5), Loge level (section 137) & Reserve level (section 5)

THIS TEAM! DOG

Description: 1/3 lb. all-beef dog topped with chili, cheese sauce, pastrami, drizzled spicy mustard &

pickles

Location(s): Extreme Loaded Dog on Field level (section 48), Loge level (section 135) & Reserve level

(section 2)

BLUE HEAVEN ICE CREAM DONUT SANDWICH

Description: Blue vanilla ice cream in a blue glazed donut with blue & white sprinkles.

Location(s): Trolley Dodger Treats on Field level (section 46)

SPECIALTY APPLES

Description: Caramel apples with Crushed Oreos, S’mores or Chamoy

Location(s): Trolley Dodger Treats on Field level (section 46) & Marketplace on Loge level (section 137),

Reserve level (section 5)

CHURRO SUNDAE

Description: Cinnamon sugar churro complements soft-serve ice cream topped with whipped cream,

chocolate syrup & blue sprinkles in a helmet

Location(s): Trolley Dodger Treats on Field level (section 46) & LA Taqueria on Reserve level (section 15)

SOUVENIR MOSCOW MULE

Description: Ketel One Vodka, lime juice, ginger beer, lime wedge in a souvenir LA Ketel One mug

Location(s): Blue Heaven on Earth Bar on Right Field Plaza, #ITFDB Bar on Left Field Plaza

BLUE SLUGGER COCKTAIL

Description: Vodka, Blue Caracao, Pineapple juice, fresh lemon sour mix with a splash of Sprite.

Location(s): Think Blue Bar on Field level (section 1) & Reserve level (section 13), Blue Heaven on Earth

Bar on Right Field Plaza, #ITFDB Bar on Left Field Plaza, Hite Bar on Loge level (section 107), Rita Cabana

Bar on Loge level (section 161) & Top Deck Buds on Top Deck (section 5)

BLUE CRUSH COCKTAIL

Description: Ciroc Vodka, Blue Caracao, Sprite, Lemonade & sweet & sour

Location(s): Think Blue Bar on Field level (section 1) & Reserve level (section 13), Blue Heaven on Earth

Bar on Right Field Plaza, #ITFDB Bar on Left Field Plaza, Hite Bar on Loge level (section 107), Rita Cabana

Bar on Loge level (section 161) & Top Deck Buds on Top Deck (section 5)

Drysdale HOF broadcasting candidate

By Mark Langill

The inclusion of former Brooklyn and Los Angeles icon Don Drysdale as a candidate for the Ford C. Frick

Award highlights the Hall of Fame pitcher’s work as a broadcaster from 1970 until his passing of a heart

attack at age 56 during a Dodger road trip in 1993.

Drysdale was part of the L.A. broadcasting team for six seasons, including the 1988 championship

season. His call of Kirk Gibson’s World Series pinch-hit home run is one of the best-kept secrets in

broadcasting history. The Dodgers used Vin Scully’s call from NBC for the highlight films and other

promotional materials. Broadcaster Jack Buck’s “I don’t believe what I just saw!” exclamation of

Gibson’s heroics was originally heard on CBS Radio.

Drysdale was behind the microphone for the Dodgers’ local radio affiliate. When Gibson stepped to the

plate, Drysdale began a “Casey at the Bat” description of the situation as the Dodgers’ “Mighty Casey”

stepped to the plate with a runner on first and two out with the Dodgers trailing 4–3.

When Gibson stroked a full-count backdoor slider from Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley into the Right

Field Pavilion, Drysdale’s voice uncharacteristically jumped a few octives as he exclaimed … “Way back

…. It’s gone!!”

After a prolonged ovation, Drysdale returned to the air and didn’t forget his original storyline. “… And

this time, Mighty Casey did not strike out!”

Two years later when Gibson was rehabbing a knee injury, he told Drysdale his recording of the 1988

home run often served as inspiration.

“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when he told me,” Drysdale said in a 1992 interview. “I

didn’t even know he had a copy of my broadcast.”

In addition to Drysdale, Dodger legend Pee Wee Reese is also a finalist for the award, which is one of the

highest honors in baseball broadcasting.

Notebook: Seager recovery, Dodger rotation, Bellinger honor

By Rowan Kavner

When Kiké Hernández smashed his grand slam in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series,

Corey Seager could only watch from his room, screaming in celebration.

If all stays according to plan, Seager will no longer have to be a spectator once the World Series arrives.

Seager took part in Sunday’s workout with the Dodgers, who hope to have their All-Star shortstop back

from his back injury for the World Series.

“We’re very confident,” manager Dave Roberts said Sunday afternoon. “He’s going to participate like

any of our other players and take the at-bats off the pitchers as well, so that will be another test for him.

After the workload yesterday, he came in today he said he felt as good as he has in weeks, so that was

encouraging. As it stands right now, we’re pretty confident.”

Seager’s back tightened up on a slide at the end of the National League Division Series, forcing him out

of the National League Championship Series. Seager said he didn’t travel with the team to Chicago

because he didn’t want to be a distraction, and he wanted to get the 1-on-1 attention he needed

without taking up one of the team’s trainers on the road.

“It was the right move to stay back, as much as it sucked,” Seager said. “It made me feel a lot better, got

to do what I needed to do.”

Seager said he had to test everything, from hitting, to running, to throwing, to catching. The last step

was seeing live pitching, which he did Sunday.

As difficult as it was for Seager not to be a part of the celebration, he said there was a three-day period

where the time off allowed his mobility to come back and the tightness to begin to disappear.

“It’s fun being back out here with the team,” Seager said. “It’s fun just being a part of it. It’s exciting,

obviously. It’s a really exciting time. It feels great, obviously. I haven’t smiled in a while, so it’s nice to

smile again.”

Roberts said as of Sunday the team hadn’t decided on a corresponding roster move to get Seager back

on the roster. The World Series adds the additional possibility of using Seager as a designated hitter,

should the Dodgers choose to do so.

“In a perfect world, he would play shortstop and hit second for us,” Roberts said. “We have two more

days to kind of look at it. If all goes well after the first two games of the series, we can kind of reassess at

that point in time.”

Hill, then Darvish

Roberts said the rotation will look the same to start the World Series as it has the first two rounds of the

playoffs, with Rich Hill and Yu Darvish following Clayton Kershaw in Games 2 and 3, respectively.

“There was a little bit of the ballpark factor I guess, whether it be Yankee Stadium or Minute Maid,”

Roberts said. “But ultimately we defaulted to, it’s been working and the guys can stay on their

schedules, their routines, and we feel good about it.”

Friendly Faces

For Kiké Hernández, whose Major League career began in Houston, he’ll be seeing plenty of familiar

faces as the Dodgers take on the Astros in the World Series.

As the Dodgers waited to see which team they’d face before the American League Championship Series

wrapped up, either team that came out of it would’ve had a connection to Hernández.

“I thought about it once we beat the Cubs,” Hernández said. “I was thinking about how special the

World Series would be, regardless of the opponent. Houston was the team that drafted me and who I

made my big league debut with, and then the Yankees, who I grew up idolizing. I was pretty much a die-

hard Yankee fan. Jorge Posada grew up with my dad, and his dad is my godfather. It was kind of like, I

didn’t have an option there.”

Hernández and 23-year-old Houston phenom Carlos Correa are both from Puerto Rico, have known each

other for years and played together at this year’s World Baseball Classic. Hernández said once he steps

onto the field, though, all his friendships with his World Series opponents disappear.

He also said this moment has been the goal all along, so it doesn’t feel strange that the Dodgers are here

now.

“I don’t think there was one time in Spring Training or in April, May, June, July, where I pictured myself

during vacation this time of the year,” Hernández said. “Whenever I would think about the postseason

and the future, I always thought about the Dodgers in the World Series.”

Bellinger named Sporting News Rookie of the Year

Cody Bellinger was named the Sporting News 2017 National League Rookie of the Year, as selected by a

panel of 102 NL players. Bellinger received 97 of the 102 votes.

Despite not getting called up to the Majors until April 25, Bellinger still set the NL rookie record for

home runs in a season (39) and led all NL rookies this year with 97 RBI and 87 runs while leading the

Dodgers with a .581 slugging percentage.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

The Astros and Dodgers Exemplify Contemporary Baseball. Now, They Meet in the World Series.

By Tom Verducci

In 1894, long before the amphitheater that is Dodger Stadium was carved into the hills below, surveyors

climbed almost 6,000 feet to a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains they had identified as the highest in

the area. Alas, when they crested the summit they found a point a half mile to the east that reached 167

feet higher. Thus did Mount Disappointment get its name.

Every year 29 baseball teams wind up, like erring 19th-century surveyors, climbing their own Mount

Disappointment. This was the Dodgers’ destination for the past 28 years, their longest unrequited run

since relocating from Brooklyn in 1958. Even longer in wait are the Astros, who have never won. Their

55-year drought is exceeded only by those of the Indians (69 years) and the Rangers (57).

With this year’s opponents (83 combined years in vain), like those last fall (a record 176 years) and in

2015 (59 years), the baseball gods are showing a soft spot for teams that haven’t won in a generation or

three. But the real revelation lies in what Los Angeles and Houston, like the Cubs and the Indians in

2016, did to summit the Series.

While playoff teams are built before the season, pennants now are won in the summer through bold

acquisitions. Both the Dodgers and the Astros were cruising to division titles when, like the Cubs (Aroldis

Chapman) and the Indians (Andrew Miller) of a year ago, they decided very good wasn’t good enough.

L.A. and Houston swung megadeals to make this Series happen. The Dodgers, scalding hot, were

wrapping a 20–3 July when they acquired starter Yu Darvish from Texas. The Astros enjoyed an 11 1⁄2-

game lead at the end of August when they traded for Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

“With the two wild cards, it’s easier to get to the postseason,” Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow

said last Saturday night after his team knocked the Yankees out by allowing one run total in Games 6

and 7 of the ALCS. “But it also means it’s easier to lose in the postseason once you get there. You need a

dominant bullpen and two dominant starters. If you don’t have that, you better go get it.”

Just as Darvish complemented three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, Verlander gave

Houston a starter to ride shotgun with 2015 Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, who also played

closer when he called an uncertain Verlander 10 minutes before the Astros would have run out of time

to complete the deal.

“No,” Luhnow corrected himself, after watching Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers combine on a

three-hit ALCS Game 7 shutout that was a festival of curveballs. “We have four dominant starters now.

We’re peaking at the right time.”

Entering the Series, Verlander and Darvish had combined to pitch six games this postseason and won

them all, with a 1.25 ERA. “Thirty-five is a game-changer,” says Houston third baseman Alex Bregman,

referring to Verlander by his uniform number. “When he walked in here, we immediately were a

different team. It’s his presence. He’s Justin Verlander! When we got him it was like, O.K., now we know

we can win this thing. Man, I’m getting chills just talking about it.”

Says manager A.J. Hinch, “He brought us to the next level. The expectations in this clubhouse went up.

As a player you can’t fake it. As a manager you can’t demand it. He made it happen.”

****

Half the teams in baseball have reached the World Series in the past 12 years. But there is a growing

chasm between the haves and have-nots. The dramatic rebuilds practiced by teams like the Cubs and

the Astros—tear it all the way down to build it back up—has become the preferred practice to throwing

cash at mediocre rosters on the lottery-ticket chance of winning 87 games and a wild-card spot.

As more teams go off the competitive grid, those still in pursuit of a title have an even better chance to

pile up wins. This boom-or-bust bifurcation helps explain why for the first time since 1970, the World

Series has teams with triple-digit victories in L.A. (104) and Houston (101).

The arc of the Dodgers’ moves under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman reflects the

growing importance of upgrading for the playoffs. He went from adding Alex Wood (a good starter) in

2015 to Rich Hill (a better one) in ’16 to Darvish (the best). All of them now provide cover for Kershaw,

who after 10 seasons made it to his first Fall Classic because he no longer has to deliver wins on short

rest—or, with his straggly beard and weary frown, have the look of a guy bearing the weight of a whole

team.

After L.A. blitzed an outmanned Cubs team in five games, manager Dave Roberts said, “The first thing

that comes to mind is Clayton and how long he’s been a Dodger and how much he’s wanted this

opportunity.”

The Dodgers’ acquisition of Darvish was completed in the last minute before the July 31 trade deadline,

with L.A. sending three prospects to Texas. (The Dodgers pursued Darvish rather than Verlander because

they did not want to take on his future salary; Darvish is a free agent after this season.) The Dodgers

immediately indoctrinated Darvish into their analytics-based pitching culture, giving him more rest

between starts to save bullets for October, reducing his fastball use to less than 50.0% and, because of

their formidable bullpen, cutting his average pitches per start from 100.5 to 90.7. Darvish responded

well. In 11 starts, seven of them L.A. wins, he went 6–3 with a 3.09 ERA while his strikeout rate shot up

from 9.7 per nine innings to 11.1.

As L.A. snapped up Darvish, Luhnow tried but couldn’t get Verlander from the Tigers in July. “They

wanted the kitchen sink,” Houston owner Jim Crane says. The Astros, mopey after a big addition didn’t

come, fell into a 10–17 swoon. On Aug. 26, Hurricane Harvey, the wettest recorded atmospheric event

in mainland U.S. history, swamped Houston and the surrounding area. The combination of the Astros’

lackluster play and the city’s suffering spurred Luhnow and Crane to get something done before Sept. 1,

the deadline for traded players to be eligible for postseason play.

“The problem was that we didn’t know if Verlander was going to waive his no-trade clause,” Crane says.

At 10 minutes before the midnight deadline, Verlander’s phone rang. It was Keuchel, saying, “If you

come here I guarantee you won’t regret it.”

Verlander knew Houston was rich in young talent and was just opening a window to compete for years.

With two seconds to go he completed the paperwork to waive his no-trade provision, and three

prospects went to Detroit.

Verlander would soon discover an added benefit to the trade: The Astros were cutting-edge in their use

of analytical tools and processes. A 2014 conversation with Tigers manager Brad Ausmus had opened his

eyes to the world of information available. He began seeking out pitch data, keeping his own

handwritten statistics and notes, and visiting a pitching guru of modern data-based mechanics to learn

about spin rates, release points and arm health.

In Houston, Verlander found another tool to improve and modernize his game: a super-high-speed

camera that films bullpen sessions. It revealed that after heaving so many high fastballs, in which he

pulls his elbow down to launch the pitch higher, his elbow had also dropped slightly when he threw his

slider, robbing him of needed tilt.

He fixed the flaw, and the batting average against his slider promptly dropped from .238 with the Tigers

to .157 with the Astros. Against New York in Game 2, Verlander threw a career-high 39 sliders among his

124 deliveries. A 2–1 winner, Verlander became the first pitcher in 10,826 consecutive regular-season

and postseason starts to throw a complete game with so many pitches. (The last pitcher to do it, in

September 2015? Kershaw.)

Verlander’s next start came under more dire circumstances. Houston had lost the middle three games at

Yankee Stadium in the manner of the nervous out-of-town tourist with black socks pulled to the knee,

craning at skyscrapers. One game from another Mount Disappointment, Verlander took the ball at

Minute Maid Park. “This,” he said, “is why I came here.”

Anxiety continued to ooze from the Astros’ at bats in Game 6. They chased 10 pitches out of the zone in

four scoreless innings against righty Luis Severino. Finally, in the fifth, Bregman recalibrated the majors’

highest-scoring offense with a leadoff walk. Beginning with that patient at bat, Houston did not swing

out of the strike zone at any of Severino’s final 26 pitches. The walk triggered not only three runs, but

also a landslide of momentum. The Astros outscored New York 11–1 in the series’ final 14 innings.

Verlander completed seven shutout innings for a franchise that had been 2–10 when facing elimination.

No pitcher has ever been better with a team’s season on the line. Verlander has thrown 24 consecutive

scoreless innings in elimination games, has the lowest career ERA in such pressure cookers (1.21) and is

tied with Curt Schilling for the most wins in those spots (four).

Verlander is 34, yet he is pitching with a young man’s tools. He was one of only seven qualified pitchers

that old during the regular season, the rest of whom all threw with below-average velocity (93 mph).

Verlander rushed his four-seamer up to the plate at 95.7 mph, the angriest it has been since he won the

Cy Young and MVP in 2011. In the ALCS he found even more menace, boosting his average fastball to

96.1 mph. His spin rate on the pitch jumped from 2,541 rpm during the regular season to 2,635 against

the Yankees.

“There are still going to be times when I struggle with my mechanics,” says Verlander. “The difference

now is here I have the tools and resources with this team to figure out what’s wrong and fix it much

quicker.”

****

This World Series is not just verification of the second phase of team-building—building for October—

but also how metrics have affected baseball, especially pitching. Since the season ended the three oldest

managers—the Mets’ Terry Collins, 68; the Nationals’ Dusty Baker, also 68; and the Phillies’ Pete

Mackanin, 66—have been let go. Roberts, 45, and Hinch, 43, are in the vanguard of young skippers who

implement the data-based strategies of the front office rather than perpetuate the oral traditions about

“the Book” and playing the game “the right way.”

Two years ago no team threw fewer than 50% fastballs. This year five did, including the Astros. The rise

of the breaking ball is a key to the pitching revolution, a trend encouraged by the recent collection of

data on spin rate, spin axis and how hitters handle specific pitches. This World Series is Spin City.

Houston led the AL in throwing breaking balls (34.0%), while L.A. was third in the NL (30.0%). If hitters

bat .272 off fastballs and .217 off breaking balls, as they did this year, why wouldn’t you throw more

breaking pitches?

The World Series also features six of the top 18 breaking-ball pitchers in the game, as ranked by

percentage usage among those who threw at least 2,000 pitches: Kershaw (first, at 50.6%), Hill and

Kenta Maeda for the Dodgers, and McCullers, Brad Peacock and Verlander for the Astros, all of whom

spin it more than 37% of the time. Among pitchers who threw 500 curveballs, there are also four of the

top five in spin rate: Morton, McCullers, Verlander and Hill.

Houston closed out the series by accentuating what it does best: feeding the Yankees 46.0% breaking

balls in Games 6 and 7, and holding them to a .111 average on those pitches.

Last Saturday’s display belonged in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao of contemporary pitching, an

unmistakable triumph of technological and artistic modernity. No team had ever thrown a Game 7

shutout with so few hits (three) and so many strikeouts (11). The Astros did so using only Morton, a 33-

year-old journeyman they signed in part because of the high spin rate on his curveball (which they then

encouraged him to use more often), and -McCullers, a 24-year-old who can throw 98 mph but would

rather spin it. Morton and McCullers combined for just 108 pitches—65 of which were curveballs. The

Yankees went 1 for 17 against their hooks. McCullers ended the game by throwing 23 consecutive

curves.

There’s a bulletin board on a wall next to the wide entrance to Houston’s clubhouse. It is where Hinch

posts his lineup each day, in addition to any other important club news. The story of Game 7 remained

up as the team celebrated its outcome. Next to the lineup card were two side-by-side pictures of

Yankees starter CC Sabathia from Game 3 in New York, one throwing his fastball and one throwing his

slider. Sabathia had bedeviled them in Game 3 with six shutout innings built on 38 sliders. But the Astros

decoded something in the pitch in Game 7. He tried 27 sliders, but this time he couldn’t get them to

chase it (they swung at only three out the zone, one of which Evan Gattis blasted for a homer) or miss it

(not once).

Next to the still pictures of Sabathia was a printout that had been posted before the game with the

header World Series Itinerary, complete with reporting times and flight information for the trip to Los

Angeles. This is the trip for which the Astros planned for six years, dating to when Crane bought a 106-

loss team and people in restaurants would stop not to congratulate him but to console him. It was the

trip for which Luhnow planned when he handed Crane a 22-page blueprint for rebuilding. It was the trip

they had in mind when they turned the curveball from a side dish into their entrée. More than anything,

it was the trip they envisioned when they got Verlander.

The World Series returned to Dodger Stadium for the first time since 1988, a very different game back in

a timeless and picturesque setting. The sky color-washed in pastels as dusk creeps over the San Gabriels,

the tableau is a plein air landscape come to life. About 20 miles beyond centerfield stands Mount

Disappointment, a terminus the Dodgers and the Astros know too well. This time, though, one of them

will have made the midseason move to take them higher. One of them will go the last 167 feet.

Enemy Lines: A Rival Scout Breaks Down the Dodgers Ahead of the World Series

By Emma Span

Every year before the MLB season begins, SI asks rival scouts to size up and break down each team's

rosters anonymously and freely. This year, we did the same for the two World Series teams. Here's one

scout's take on the strengths and weaknesses of the Dodgers as they seek their first World Series title

since 1988.

OVERVIEW

The big difference for the Dodgers is their bullpen is knockdown and Houston’s is not. That, to me, is

going to be the difference in the series. I think the Dodgers are going to win this and they could win this

going away ... It’s a question of depth. The Dodgers have proved in the playoffs how deep their lineup is.

And they open at home, which is a huge benefit for them. Dave Roberts has done a great job; he

communicates extremely well. Guys obviously love playing for him. He’s loyal to the right guys but he

can get away with making moves that may not be terribly popular. You can always measure a manager

by how they use their bullpen. Solid? Wow, they’ve been unbelievable. The power that’s in bullpens

now is incredible. The Dodgers just kill you.

THE STARTING PITCHERS

Clayton Kershaw, if he can command his fastball to both sides, and if he has an upper-level velocity

fastball, which for him now is 92–93 mph—you combine that with his breaking ball command, both

curve and slider, and he’s a package. Boy, he’s tough. He’s the best pitcher in baseball. I would take

Kershaw 10 out of 10 times versus Max Scherzer. Previous years in the playoffs, he was worn down. He’s

had plenty of rest this time. But that back still bothers him, there’s no question about that. It’s going to

be an issue forever. If he thinks he’s the old Kershaw that can go nine innings, then it will affect him. But

what he has to realize is that the Dodgers’ bullpen is unbelievable right now. Kershaw needs to accept

the idea of pitching six innings, mentally, because he’s a nine-inning guy by nature. He’s like Justin

Verlander in that way. If he commands that dominating curveball and has any kind of fastball command,

it’s lights out for Houston … Rich Hill doesn’t throw that hard; in fact, his stuff is softer than Dallas

Keuchel’s. But if he commands it, he can get away with it. This is a guy who was practically out of

baseball and has come back and learned how to command that curveball to both sides of the plate. He

uses his curveball like a fastball.

Alex Wood is like a miniaturized Chris Sale, he’s got a funky delivery. When he first came up, he didn’t

throw that hard, then he got velocity. If the Dodgers are up 3–0 or 2–1, he’ll pitch that game. But if

they’re down, Kershaw will ... Their best stuff pitcher is Yu Darvish. He’s benefited from that big ballpark,

he trusts the defense behind him, and like all three of L.A.’s key starters he knows he only has to go five

or six innings. Darvish is a power guy who can run his four-seamer up there in the high 90s. And he has

learned to add and subtract on his fastball. I saw him in Japan years ago and he had 100 pitches—he

threw everything, six or seven different pitches. When he can subtract pitches out of the program, he’s

much better off. Darvish will go through the first 20 pitches or so finding out what’s working for him and

what isn’t. As long as the catcher will keep him on point, he’s fine.

THE STARTING LINEUP

They’re going to get their shortstop back, Corey Seager, who is arguably their best player, or one of

them. If he comes back healthy, that’s a very deep, long Dodgers lineup. He’s just a good hitter, a

capable defender and he works well with Justin Turner on the left side of the infield. It’s going to be

interesting to see how healthy he is. I assume Houston will test him early to find out. The key will be

how he reacts to breaking stuff ... I would catch Austin Barnes every game. I’m not a Yasmani Grandal

fan at all. Barnes catches everything, and he can throw. Grandal became a regular catcher when the

computer guys came up with this pitch-framing bulls---. They said “Oh, he’s a great pitch framer.” So

what? The best catcher in the league is in Kansas City and he can’t frame worth a damn, but he’s still the

best. That’s such a bogus stat for me. It’s just one of a lot of different measurement tools. It’s like teams

that use a stopwatch for running speed; well, that’s a tool, that’s all it is. Pitch framing is a tool. Austin

Barnes can catch. Grandal is in there for offense, period. Other than Keuchel, the Astros don’t have any

lefties, which helps the Dodgers, because what Grandal can do is he can hit the ball out of the ballpark.

He can hit, he’s just not a very good catcher.

Turner is an absolute different animal now than he was with the Mets. He’s completely remade his

stride, his timing is impeccable now. He was always a good high-ball and inner-half hitter, now he covers

everything pretty well. He still looks for certain pitches, but he squares up baseballs extremely well and

he’s a clutch performer. Some of the analytics stuff is very useful and for him, this launch angle stuff, it

works. Certain styles work for certain players, and Turner has found something that works for him. Don’t

try to emulate Turner, because you can’t. He has always been an excellent fastball hitter. Verlander and

Keuchel will try to get him out with breaking stuff down and away, and force him to try to hook it versus

hit it hard. I think he will adjust to it—he’ll get his hits. But I don’t know if he’s going to adjust to hit for

power.

Cody Bellinger is one of the kings of launch angle. He has crafted his swing much like Turner crafted his

swing on the other side. Is Bellinger easy to pitch to if you’ve got stuff? Yes, he is. But if you throw it

thigh-down, he’s another guy who’s going to take it out of the ballpark on you. Bellinger is a dead low-

ball hitter and he’s got big power. If you can command a fastball up in the zone to him, you can get him.

But you better have it up there and it better be hard … Logan Forsythe has been quiet, but he’s a solid

professional type of hitter. He hits certain guys. He’ll struggle with power stuff, both fastball and

breaking ball.

This is the best I’ve ever seen Yasiel Puig. First of all, he’s under better personal control. He’s not chasing

all over the place, he’s not trying to hit the glamorous home run anymore. He’s maturing—he’s probably

up to an 18-year-old now. You can still get him into swing mode, but it’s harder. He used to come up to

the plate in swing mode. He’s a much more professional hitter now. I think that trip to the minors did

more for him than anything … I saw Chris Taylor as an infielder in Seattle. That’s one of the storylines of

this series: the remake of players. Turner, Puig, Taylor. These guys are all much different players than

they were when they first came to the big leagues. To their credit. In Seattle, Taylor was supposed to be

a make contact, move runners along, hit-and-run type, and now he’s a power hitter. He’s another guy

who’s gotten on the idea of 'where do I want the barrel to be in the strike zone on contact?' And for him

to make that conversion from an infielder to an outfielder and be that successful at it and get those

kinds of reads—that catch he made in centerfield the other day was great.

THE BULLPEN

Kenta Maeda can really pitch. He trusts his fastball and he knows that he doesn’t have to pace himself—

he’s only going to be out there for an inning or two, so he can let it all hang out. It’ll be interesting to see

what they do with him next year. He certainly has starter stuff … Brandon Morrow is on a hot streak

right now, and he’s always had a great arm. He’s throwing harder, he’s commanding his fastball, he’s

commanding his emotions. He’s a guy who used to make mistakes in the strike zone. He doesn’t make

many any more ... Of course, the guy at the end, Kenley Jansen, is the best in the business. He can also

go two innings, and do it a lot. He’s a bull. He’s strong. He’s built like a catcher, which is what he was.

THE BENCH

Chase Utley, for his career, is one of the best low-ball hitters ever. But he’s 100 years old, he just doesn’t

have the ability to get to it any more. He’s a real professional, though. He knows how to win. He

contributes a great deal to that team. ... I’m happy for Andre Ethier. He’s a professional, he knows his

role, like Utley. They’re key members on the Dodgers' bench because they’ve been through it, they’re

content in their roles and they’re both incredible team players ... Joc Pederson is an easy guy to pitch to

and he shouldn’t see the field in this Series ... it’s a good bench and it’s a professional bench. Charlie

Culberson has been in the right place, right time, coming through. He’s a good athlete. This team has a

lot of good athletes. In fact, this is one of the most athletic World Series in a while.

THE CONCLUSION

If Grandal catches, I’d run on him like crazy. But other than that, I think the Dodgers don’t have holes.

They’re the most complete team I’ve seen in the World Series in a while. Their pitching staff is deep,

their lineup is deep. For Houston to have a shot, they have to win one of the first two games in Dodger

Stadium.

YAHOO! SPORTS

We quizzed Dodgers players about 1988, the year of their last World Series win

By Mike Oz

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t won the World Series since

1988. Heck, they haven’t even been to the World Series since ’88.

Twenty-nine years later, the Dodgers are back in the World Series, which starts Tuesday in L.A. against

the Houston Astros. It’s not exactly the 108 years the Cubs had to wait between World Series wins, but

for the Dodgers and L.A. fans, it’s a long-awaited return to baseball’s biggest stage.

Since the Dodgers are a pretty young team, we thought it would be fun to ask some of their players

what they knew about 1988. So we asked a handful of players the following:

• What was the No. 1 movie of 1988?

• Who won the NBA championship in 1988?

• How much did gas cost in 1988?

• What was the No. 1 song of 1988?

• Who won the 1988 presidential election?

We asked Chris Taylor (born in 1990), Alex Wood (1991), Joc Pederson (1992), Austin Barnes (1989) and

one of the team’s elder statesmen — Curtis Granderson, born in 1981 — to see if he could do any better

than the younger players.

If you don’t know much about 1988, just know that John F. Kennedy did NOT win the ’88 election. Sorry,

Joc Pederson.

NEW YORK POST

Dodgers somehow getting even better before World Series

By Kevin Kernan

LOS ANGELES — Corey Seager is ready to go at shortstop for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series

against the Astros on Tuesday night. He insisted his back woes are behind him.

The question is whether he will be able to do as well as backup Charlie Culberson, who hit .455 in the

NLCS.

“It was really hard watching the NLCS,’’ Seager said Monday at Dodger Stadium. “You wish you could

have been there with your team and just be a part of it. But it was the right move to stay behind. It was

unbelievable what [Culberson] did do, just step in there like that. He was phenomenal. To get thrown in

the fire like that is not easy.’’

As for his back, Seager said, “I feel really good. I look forward to getting out there.’’

Seager could DH in Houston to give his back a rest. Seager has never faced Houston Game 1 starter

Dallas Keuchel but batted .325 vs. left-handers this season.

At 40, Carlos Beltran is older than all of his Astros teammates (and all of the Dodgers, too). But he shares

something, or rather the lack of something, with all of them: He doesn’t have a World Series ring.

“It’s unbelievable, because a guy that talented, and for his career to expand that long, you would think

that he’d have at least one,” Astros Game 1 starter Dallas Keuchel said. “He’s had a good shot, but when

he signed and he came over in spring training, that was one of the first things I thought about, was guys

who haven’t gotten postseason experience. And he’s had a lot of postseason experience. But [Brian]

McCann hadn’t gone past the Division Series, as well. And that makes you, as a teammate … want to

elevate your game, as well.”

“That’s great. I take it as a compliment,” Beltran said. “I take a lot of pride in being a good teammate,

trying to help my guys.Trying to help my teammates in a positive way. … It’s great that they feel like

that, but at the end of the day, let’s try to do it for all of us.”

The Dodgers bullpen has been incredible and closer Kenley Jansen was quick to credit Brandon Morrow

with the pen’s overall success.

“He is the reason we have the best bullpen,’’ said Jansen, who has allowed only two hits and zero

earned runs over eight innings. As a setup man Morrow owns a 1.08 ERA this postseason over seven

games.

Ex-Met Curtis Granderson, who has worked many years with hitting coach Kevin Long with the Mets and

Yankees was asked by The Post his thoughts on the Mets not selecting Long as manager, instead going

with Mickey Callaway.

“It was interesting, the organization decided what they felt was best for them at this time,’’ Granderson

said. “That doesn’t mean K-Long still won’t get a managerial job. I know he talked to me about it over

the course of the season, if the opportunity presented itself it would be something he would consider.

Everybody understands what he can do from a hitting standpoint.’’

Third baseman Justin Turner was asked how tired is he of hearing about 1988 Dodger world

championship team.

“I’m used to it,’’ Turner said. “I played for the Mets for four years and all we heard about was ’86, so I’m

definitely used to it and I have pretty good relationships with a lot of those guys.’’

One of those guys Kirk Gibson (of World Series walk-off HR fame) texted Turner after Turner’s walk-off

home run in Game 2 of the NLCS.

“I don’t think it’s tiring hearing about it. It’s enjoyable embracing their stories and wanting to get the city

back there and hopefully we can share our stories with future Dodgers.”

Over the last five years only the Royals have had repeat World Series appearances.