Tag: Los Angeles Dodgers

War Hero Lou Brissie And His Most Famous Moment

A few weeks back, on the Baseball Tonight podcast, in advance of our nation’s 250th birthday, Buster Olney and Todd Radom discussed the most “American” moments in baseball history. Olney brought up Lou Brissie.

Leland Victor Brissie was born in South Carolina in 1924. He began his baseball career at the tender age of 16 in a textile league, where he caught the attention of Connie Mack. Brissie’s father insisted he finish his education before becoming a professional baseball player, and so he attended Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina after high school.

At age 18, Brissie enlisted in the United State Army, and soon found himself fighting in World War II. As part of the 88th Infantry Division, he was involved in heavy fighting in Mussolini’s Italy. On December 2, 1944, at just twenty years of age, an artillery shell shattered his left shinbone into 30 pieces. At an Army field hospital Brissie was informed that the leg would need to be amputated. The budding pitcher pleaded with the medics, telling them that he was ballplayer and that he needed his leg to continue his career. He said he was willing to risk his life to save the leg.

Two years and twenty-three surgeries later, with his left leg now shorter than the right, and a metal brace holding everything in place, Brissie was home from the war and able to resume playing. The injury caused lifelong pain in the leg, but that was nothing compared to his desire to pitch in the big leagues. Mack was finally able to sign him in 1946. Brissie began at Double-A Savannah in 1947, and won 25 games. He got “the call” in late September of that year, making his major league debut against the Yankees. He went seven innings, allowing nine hits and five earned runs; he did strike out four in taking the loss.

The next time Brissie took the hill was the second game of the 1948 season against the Red Sox. In the sixth inning, with Dom DiMaggio on second after a double, Ted Williams hit a line shot back up the middle that smashed into Brissie surgically repaired left leg. DiMaggio scored on the play and Williams reached first safely. Everyone quickly crowded around the fallen pitcher. In his memoir, My Turn At Bat, Williams recalled how guilty he felt in the moment, and he rushed over as well.

Williams propensity to hit the ball to the right side of the field was so pronounced that he was often the victim of the “Ted Williams Shift” (originally known as the “Boudreau Shift”). This, of course, was long before analytics and spray charts and Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays and then MLB rules changes banning “the shift.” But on this April day, Williams went back through the box and right into the war hero pitcher.

When Williams reached the mound, Brissie, by all reported accounts, looked up at the slugger and yelled: “For chrissakes, Williams, pull the damn ball!” Brissie shook off the injury and retired 10 of the next 11 batters – including striking out Williams in the ninth – to complete the 4-2 victory for the Athletics.

Brissie’s career would last seven seasons, with him playing the final two-plus years in Cleveland. He finished with a record of 44-48 with a 4.07 ERA and a 102 ERA+. But the stats are secondary to the mere fact that he played major league baseball at all.

And it is quite possible that he is most remembered on the baseball field for the time when two war heroes faced off against one another, one giving it his best shot, the other taking the shot, and then dusting himself off to stay in the fight.

Brissie was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart as well as an American Campaign Medal for his services in World War II. After his retirement, Brissie served as the National Director of American Legion Baseball, and was part of President Kennedy’s Physical Fitness Council. Later on he would scout for the Dodgers and the Braves.

We should never forget the story of Lou Brissie, who defied the odds to live – with two legs, a full heart, and a baseball career – 89 fine years.

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We Don’t Talk Enough About Orel Hershiser

Not enough is written about Orel Hershiser’s career, and, specifically, his 1988 season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Hershiser out of Bowling Green State University in the 17th round in 1979. He made his major league debut four years later, pitching one inning, giving up two hits, and one run to the Montreal Expos.

For the first few years of his career, Hershiser was an enigma:

  • 1984: 11-8, 2.66 ERA
  • 1986: 14-14, 3.85 ERA
  • 1987: 16-16, 3.06 ERA

Smashed in the middle of those middling seasons was 1985, when he went 19-3 with a 2.03 ERA, and came in third in Cy Young voting. So, everyone in baseball knew that greatness lived within him.

That greatness was achieved in his magical 1988. He started the year with a three-hit shoutout against the Giants. He then went 8-1/3 innings, giving up one run in a win against Atlanta. Followed by a complete game win against the Braves five days later. Then he threw six innings, allowing just one earned run against the Giants. Next, while facing the Cardinals, he went eight innings and gave up three (!) earned runs.

When the calendar flipped to May, the Pirates touched him up for ten hits, but could only manage two earned runs. With the win, he ran his record to 6-0. The Buccos apparently had his number, as in Pittsburgh a week later he had his first bad game (12 hits, seven earned runs, three walks, and three homers allowed), suffering his first loss of the year. The next week he gave up just one earned run on five hits, but the Dodgers didn’t score, so he took his second loss.

Over the next ten weeks Hershiser went 12-6 with a 2.99 ERA and a 2/1 strikeout to walk ratio, which was just fine, but actually below his season totals to that point: 18-8, 2.84 ERA, 2.25 K/BB ratio. And that is when he decided to turn legend. Well, maybe even a bit before that.

You see, on August 19th, he threw a complete game shutout against the Expos. On August 24th, he threw seven scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the top of the eighth to the Mets, but did not allow them to score in the ninth (the Dodgers lost 2-1). On August 30th, he held the Expos scoreless for four innings, had a two-run blip in the fifth, and then shut them down for the final four innings. Those four innings would be the start of the incredible month to follow. And, to be clear, even before “The Streak” began, Hershiser had allowed no runs in 12 of his previous 14 innings (two runs in each of those two blemished frames).

As we all know, Hershiser went all of September without giving up a run. He went 5-0, threw 55 innings allowing just 30 hits, and struck out 34 while walking only nine batters. Oh, did I mention that – prior to coming out of a tie game in which he pitched ten innings and broke Don Drysdale’s scoreless innings streak — Hershiser had thrown eight consecutive complete games.

In his first playoff start, against the Mets in the NLCS, he went 8-1/3, but got a no-decision when Jay Howell couldn’t hold the lead. Four days later, Hershisher gave up one earned run over six innings in another Dodgers’ loss.

But since six innings was mere child’s play, the ace came in as a relief pitcher in the 12th inning the next day. After Kirk Gibson’s home run in the top half of the inning staked Los Angeles to a 5-4 lead, Tim Leary gave up back-to-back singles before recording the first out of the inning. Jesse Orosco (the former Met) came on to face two lefties, walking Keith Hernandez to load the bases, but then he got Darryl Strawberry to pop out to second. With the right-handed hitting Kevin McReynolds coming up with the bases loaded and the Dodgers facing a potential 3-1 deficit in the series, Tommy Lasorda called on “Bulldog” to get the final out. Three pitches later, he did just that.

It was no shock when he took the mound for Game 7 of the NLCS three days later at home and threw a five-hit shutout, propelling the Dodgers to the pennant.

Even superheroes need a day off, so Hershiser skipped Game 1 of the World Series, but started Game 2 in Los Angeles against the shell-shocked Athletics (try to recall how Game 1 of the 1988 World Series ended). He, of course, threw a three-hit shutout to put the Dodgers up to two games to none. Four days later, he took the hill for Game 5 and threw yet another complete game, yielding two runs on four hits, as the Dodgers won the World Series.

When all was said and done, counting both the regular season and the playoffs, in 1988 Hershiser tossed 309-2/3 innings, threw 18 complete games including ten shutouts, and went a combined 26-8. He won the NLCS MVP, World Series MVP, and Cy Young Award.

Hershiser pitched for 12 more seasons after that historic 1988. For his career, he went 204-150, with a 3.48 ERA and a 3.69 FIP. He appeared in the 1995 World Series with Cleveland after being named the ALCS MVP. He is in the Top-100 of all-time pitcher bWAR, but, unfortunately, is not likely to ever gain induction into the Hall of Fame. No matter, he was still a force of nature.

And, like I said, not enough is written about him or his season for the ages.

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Trevor Bauer Made His Bed And Now He Has To Lie In It

Trevor Bauer was selected third overall in the 2011 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of UCLA, and made his MLB debut the following June. He started four games for Arizona in 2012, going 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA.

After clashing with his teammates in the desert, the team traded him (along with Bryan Shaw and Matt Albers) to Cleveland in return for Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald, Tony Sipp, and Lars Anderson. Bauer began 2013 at Triple-A Columbus, starting 22 games and going 6-7 with a 4.15 ERA before being called up to the big club. In four MLB games, Bauer essentially matched his 2012 season, going 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA.

2014 saw him again on the farm, but he was down there for only a short while (2.15 ERA). Once in Cleveland, he started 26 games, going 5-8 with a 4.18 ERA.

Bauer’s 2015 and 2016 seasons were remarkably similar (11-12, 4.55 ERA, 4.33 FIP / 12-8, 4.26 ERA, 3.99 FIP) as he settled in as an everyday pitcher in Terry Francona’s rotation.

In 2017, Bauer took a leap. He went 17-9, threw 176-1/3 innings, and struck out 196 batters while walking only 60. That season was worth 2.9 bWAR.

In 2018, he upped his game even more, going 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA and a 2.44 FIP. He pitched 175-1/3 innings and struck out 221 against just 57 walks. With 6.0 bWAR, he made the All-Star team, finished 6th in Cy Young Award voting, and got MVP consideration. At this point, Bauer was on his way to becoming somewhat of an “ace,” a moniker he had desired since college.

Bauer’s 2019 season started well enough, opening with a 4-1 record through his first seven starts. Then he lost five straight while sprinkling in three no-decisions. He followed that with four straight wins and five out of six. On July 23rd, Bauer pitched 7-2/3 innings, struck out nine while wielding just three hits and no runs. He left the game with a 1-0 lead, just to watch Brad Hand gave up a game-tying homer to Justin Smoak with one out in the bottom of the ninth. And then he had to endure Tyler Olson coming into the game in the bottom of the 10th and going walk, wild pitch, single, and walk-off single (Smoak, again) to give the Blue Jays the 2-1 win.

That was the backdrop as Bauer headed into his next start, a Sunday afternoon game in Kansas City on July 28th.

Staked to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, Bauer started his outing by giving up hits to three of the first four Royals batters, but escaped surrendering just one run.

In the third inning, he gave up a leadoff single, followed by a walk, and then a wild pitch. A ground ball to first should have meant just one run, but first baseman Jake Bauers’ errant throw allowed Hunter Dozier to score to tie the game.

Cleveland retook the lead in the top of the fourth, and Bauer bounced back with a 10-pitch inning in the bottom half. Danny Duffy led off the top of the fifth with a home run, giving Bauer a two-run lead to work with.

Bauer, with a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, gave up a leadoff single to Alex Gordon. Brian Dozier then lofted a fly ball to center field that Óscar Mercado lost in the sun, allowing it to drop on the warning track and bounce over the fence for an automatic double. Jorge Soler then walked on a very close 3-2 pitch (probably overturned in the ABS era) to load the bases. Ryan O’Hearn then hit a dribbler in front of the mound that Bauer couldn’t field, allowing a run to score (it was ruled a hit). Cheslor Cuthbert then hit a duck-fart (60.6-mph off the bat) into right field over the outstretched arm of second baseman Mike Freeman, which knocked in the tying run. After striking out Bubba Starling for the first out of the inning, Nicky Lopez hit a grounder up the middle that Bauer just barely missed fielding; it ended up in center field, scoring two runs. Bauer got a new ball from the umpire, and immediately rejected it by throwing it to the dugout. When he got a second ball, he noticed manager Terry Francona coming to the mound, so Bauer chucked that ball over the center field fence. When Tito got to the obviously frustrated and pouting pitcher, he asked: “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Bauer put his hand on Francona’s shoulder, ostensibly in apology, and headed for the showers.

After the game, Bauer apologized for his behavior.

“I want to be clear that my frustrations were with myself and my inability to stop the situation and keep my team in the game. I’m an intense competitor. That fire is what drives me. Today, it completely consumed me and took over…It was unbecoming. It was childish. Unprofessional. There’s no place for it in the game.”

MLB fined the pitcher an undisclosed sum, but did not suspend him. However, Cleveland was done with him. Two days after the incident, they traded the immature 28-year-old to Cincinnati as part of a three-team deal (ironically, Francona would later become the Reds’ manager).

Bauer finished the season in Cincinnati, and pitched there in 2020 as well. Before the 2021 season, the Dodgers signed him to a three-year, $102 million contract. MLB placed Bauer on administrative leave in July of that year following sexual assault allegations. In April, 2022, he was suspended for 324 games (ultimately reduced to 194 games on appeal). Los Angeles released him in January, 2023, but not before they paid him roughly $61 million for 17 games and 107-2/3 innings.

Bauer was never criminally charged for the actions that predicated his suspension, and he actually won a civil judgment against his accuser. And yet, no MLB team wanted his services. Was he “blackballed”? It is hard to say.

Since his release by the Dodgers, Bauer has pitched in Japan, Mexico, and now on Long Island. At 35, he clearly still has skills and could be useful to some big league team in need of pitching. But, is he worth the hassle? Interestingly, after Bauer chucked the ball over the fence that day in Kansas City, Francona said the following to the assembled press: “I don’t want this to be his legacy. This kid’s a good pitcher.” What he didn’t say is as important – if not more important – than what he did say.

When Bauer threw a no-hitter for the Ducks, there was no grand celebration on the mound. Teammates, all the way back to college and possibly before, simply do not like Bauer. And organizations, from Arizona to Cleveland to Los Angeles, tire of his act pretty quickly.

If Bauer is anything, he is true to himself, and will not change for anyone or any amount of money. He has no one else to blame for his lot in life, but he does not seem to have the introspection or care for what others think to evolve in any way. And that has cost him his major league career. Hopefully the $112 million he earned over 13 seasons is enough to buy happiness, because it certainly won’t buy a positive or lasting legacy.

PLAY BALL!!

2026 National League Preview – Reader’s Digest Version

With the 2026 MLB season quickly approaching, it’s a good time to have a little refresher about what transpired during the Hot Stove Season, what moves have been made, and what each time might expect out of the coming campaign.

There is a great deal to get caught up on, so we will try to synthesize each team in a sentence or three.

Today we will look at the National League, with the American League on tap for next Tuesday.

So, without any further ado, in alphabetical order:

Arizona Diamondbacks

Corbin Carroll had hamate surgery, but should be back by Opening Day. However, he may not have the power that we have come to expect.

Nearly 40-year old Carlos Santana will be playing first base. Nolan Arenado waived his no trade clause, came over from St. Louis, and will play third. Merrill Kelly signed for two years, and Zac Gallen and Paul Sewald are back.

Atlanta Braves

Should the Braves run incense around the stadium to rid themselves of their bad luck? Last year, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And this season is off to a rough start. Ha-Seong Kim, signed to play shortstop, slipped on the ice in his native South Korea, which required hand surgery, and now will be out for at least the first two months. Pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep will miss at least two months because of elbow surgeries, and Joey Went tore his ACL. Catcher Sean Murphy is out for the first part of the season as he recovers from hip surgery.

And the biggest story is that after missing half of last season due to a PED suspension, left fielder Jurickson Profar will be gone for all of 2026 after getting popped again. Is this the end of his career (he has one year and $14M remaining on his deal)?

Chicago Cubs

Alex Bregman will be the Cubs’ everyday third baseman after signing a five-year/$175M contract. Shota Imanaga is back. Pete Crow-Armstrong needs to be more like his first half self (.265/.302/.544, 21 homers, 71 RBI, 27 stolen bases) than his second half self (.216/.262/.372, 6 homers, 24 RBI, eight stolen bases).

Anything less than a division title will feel like a lost season to the fans on the North Side.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds lost out on getting Ohio native Kyle Schwarber to leave Philadelphia to hit a ton of dingers at Great American Ballpark. So, they brought back former Red Eugenio Suarez (he played there from 2015-2021), who hit 49 homers last season.

Any team with Elly De La Cruz in the lineup is worth watching. But, watch out for the final diagnosis on ace Hunter Greene, who is seeing a specialist about stiffness in his right (throwing) elbow.

Colorado Rockies

A new front office is in place to bring the team into the 21st century. After a decade working for the Cleveland Browns, Paul DePodesta will be running the show, and after more than a decade working for the Dodgers, Josh Byrnes was hired as general manager. Regardless of their pedigree, it will take at least a few years for them to implement enough meaningful change for this team to be anything other than woeful.

Los Angeles Dodgers

When you have won back-to-back World Series titles, what do you do for an encore? You go out and get the two best free agents on the market. To do so, you simply outbid the wealthiest owner in the game, and give Edwin Díaz $69M and Kyle Tucker $60M per year(!) for four years. And to keep the fanbase happy, you re-sign Kiké Hernández.

Miami Marlins

In: pitcher Pete Fairbanks, utility guy Christopher Morel, and potential future outfield star Owen Caissie.

Out: Right-handed fireballer Edward Cabrera.

If everything breaks right, and other teams falter, the Marlins will vie with the Braves for fourth place in the division.

Milwaukee Brewers

This is a team that keeps losing players (and a star manager) and just keeps on winning. The Brewers won the NL Central last year, and are predicted to win it again in 2026.

Freddy Peralta is gone (traded to the Mets). Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb Durbin is gone (traded to the Red Sox). Fourth place Rookie of the Year finisher Isaac Collins is gone (traded to the Royals). Jose Quintana and Rhys Hoskins are gone as free agents.

But, Brandon Woodruff should be back, Jacob Misiorowski should only get better, and Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester round out a strong pitching staff.

Come October, don’t be shocked to see this motley Brew Crew back in the playoffs.

New York Mets

The off-season got off to a rough start for a team that missed the playoffs by one game, on the last day of the 2025 season. First they traded fan-favorite Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien. Then they lost Edwin Díaz to the Dodgers. Then they allowed franchise home run king Pete Alonso to sign with the Orioles without even making him an offer. Then they traded fan-favorite Jeff McNeil to the A’s for really nothing more than salary relief. Then they lost out on Kyle Tucker (to the Dodgers, again).

But, they signed Bo Bichette to play third base, Devin Williams to close, and traded for the oft-injured but amazing-when-healthy center fielder Luis Robert Jr. Will that be enough to get Steve Cohen the ring he so desperately covets?

Philadelphia Phillies

Will this be the year that age catches up to the Phils (their starting lineup will average 33 years old)? Will this be the year that this group of stars finishes the goal of winning their first World Series since 2008? With both Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto back, and with Ranger Suarez and Nick Castellanos gone, it is time to put up or get split up.

Pittsburgh Pirates

With the second-best pitcher on the planet, Paul Skenes, with phenom Bubba Chandler coming up the mound right behind him, with Marcell Ozuna as the everyday DH, with Ryan O’Hearn and Brandon Lowe covering the right side of the infield, this is a team that should be playing meaningful baseball in September, and has an outside shot of playing in October. That is something Yinzers can get excited about.

And keep an eye on potential Rookie of the Year Konnor Griffin, who may make his big league debut at shortstop as a teenager.

St. Louis Cardinals

This is the first year since 2006 that John Mozeliak has not been at the helm of the team. Chaim Bloom is now in charge after taking a year to learn every facet of the organization. He immediately traded first baseman Willson Contreras and pitcher Sonny Gray to Boston, and then ate $31M to send Nolan Arenado to Arizona.

JJ Wetherholt could be the Rookie of the Year at second base, and Masyn Winn could win his first Gold Glove at short.

The Cardinals need to do something to improve attendance, which had the largest fall off last season, down 22% (more than 7,700 fans per game).

San Diego Padres

After the death of principal Peter Seidler, the team is now for sale. But, to provide stability, president of baseball operations AJ Preller signed an extension through at least 2028.

The club lost Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez and Luis Arraez. They added Nick Castellanos (for the MLB minimum after the Phillies waived him). The lineup still boasts Fernando Tatís Jr. (who could be an MVP if he did not play in a league with Shohei Ohtani), Manny Machado (who continues to burnish his Hall of Fame credentials), Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill (looking to bounce back from a sophomore slump), and Jake Cronenworth.

It may not be enough to overtake the Dodgers, but it may be enough to play baseball in October.

San Francisco Giants

The gutsiest move of the off-season was Buster Posey hiring University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello as the team’s manager, the first time anyone has ever gone from the college ranks to MLB skipper with no stops in between.

Maybe the second gutsiest move of the off-season was paying Luis Arraez $12M to be their second baseman when he ranked 299th out of 311 defenders in Fielding Run Value in 2023, the last time he played there consistently.

Harrison Bader should help solidify their outfield defense and provide some occasional pop.

Washington Nationals

Unlike the Phillies, youth is the talk of the nation’s capital. New manager Blake Butera is 33 years old; new general manager Anirudh Kilambi is 31; and new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is just 35. And no one in the projected starting lineup is older than 27.

James Wood projects to have another incredible season. Will Dylan Crews finally show the promise that made him the number two pick in the 2023 draft, right behind his LSU teammate, Paul Skenes?

Regardless of who does what, the Nationals still appear to be amongst the worst teams in baseball, with FanGraphs projecting just 69 wins.

Note: The American League review/summary will be available next week.

PLAY BALL!!

Somehow Andy Pages, A Little-Known Second-Year Player, Became a Main Character In 2025

Last month the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series. They were led by four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, who, for the first time in the National League, worked his magic with his bat and his arm.

They also fielded former MVPs Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The team was anchored by sluggers Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández, and stalwart catcher Will Smith. The pitching staff included (in addition to Ohtani) Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki.

But there was one other player who found himself at the center of attention multiple times during the season. A player who failed so badly towards the end of the playoffs that he was benched. And yet, years from now, when we watch videos about the 2025 season, this guy may be the main character. I am talking, of course, about Andy Pages.

Pages made his major league debut in 2024, and he was a perfectly average. He played in 116 games, slashed .248/.305/.407, for an exact 100 OPS+. In 2025 the Dodgers named him their Opening Day center fielder, and he rewarded their faith by slashing .285/.325/.479 with 17 homers in the first half. His second half was more pedestrian (.252/.293/.435). But, no matter, he played 155 games, and jogged out to center field when the playoffs began.

Through Game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers, the 24-year-old from Cuba was 1-for-27 with six strikeouts and no walks. He did manage a single in each of Games 2 and 3 of the NLCS, before going 0-fer in Game 4 and Game 1 of the World Series. An eighth inning single in Game 2 of the fall classic off Louis Varland would be the sum total of the offense that Pages would provide before Los Angeles celebrated their Game 7 victory at Rogers Centre.

But none of that ineptitude mattered. Here is why – and here is why Andy Pages was the Dodgers main character (non-Shohei Ohtani division) for this remarkable year.

When the story of 2025 is written, there will be four main plot points: (1) Cal Raleigh doing things no catcher and no switch-hitter has ever done before; (2) Shohei Ohtani continuing to do things no player has ever done before (including pitching six scoreless innings while hitting three home runs in the same game, which just happened to be the pennant winner); (3) the Dodgers being the first team to win back-to-back World Series this century; and (4) the betting scandal that ensnared Guardians’ pitchers Emanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz.

Let’s start with the last one. Not that anyone reading this needs a primer, but if you do, Clase and Ortiz are accused of intentionally throwing pitches out of the strike zone so that people could bet (and win) that a specific pitch would be a ball. They are alleged to have done this on numerous occasions, all to successful outcomes. Except…

On May 28th, Clase came in to the pitch the ninth inning against the Dodgers, and he faced Pages to start things off. His first offering was a slider that bounced two feet in front of the plate – very much a ball. But Pages swung anyway. That swing cost some bettor $4,000. The entire story (including Pages’ four-figure flail) did not come out until after the World Series, so Dodger fans could not use this to ridicule the slumping outfielder, but the video of that at-bat is probably the second-most watched of his career.

The most watched at-bat happened in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Phillies. The Dodgers led two games to one, and were on the verge of losing their second straight game and having to head back to Philadelphia to try to win a deciding Game 5. In the bottom of the eleventh inning of a 1-1 tie, they loaded the bases with two outs against Orion Kerkering. At that moment, Pages was 1-for-18 in the post-season. True to form, he hit a soft grounder back to the mound. Kerkering fumbled the ball off the bat, and rather than throwing to first base (where catcher JT Realmuto was pointing) to record the final out and push the game to the 12th inning, he got flustered and threw the ball to the backstop, allowing Hyeseong Kim to score from third with the game and series-winning run. All because of Pages’ weak contact. The video of that at-bat may have been removed from YouTube in the City of Brotherly Love, but it still has been watched thousands of times at this point.

And there will be no re-telling of the Dodgers World Series victory without the story of Andy Pages and Kiké Hernández in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7. Just to set the stage: After replacing Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto hits Alejandro Kirk with his second pitch, loading the bases with one out of a 4-4 game. With the bases now loaded, and the World Series-winning run 90 feet away, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts replaces Tommy Edman in center field with the recently-benched Pages, who has a better throwing arm (98th percentile per Statcast). After Daulton Varsho’s ground ball to second resulted in an out at home (very close!), the bases remained loaded with two outs. On the next pitch, the light-hitting Ernie Clement hit a ball 101-mph and 364 feet to left-center. Hernández, playing a little shallow (as he had done the night before to great effect) turned and dashed towards the wall. He was either going to make a Willie Mays-type catch or the World Series would end – those were the only two options. That is, until Pages came out of nowhere – he covered 121 feet at 29.2 feet/second – to bulldoze Hernández and make the catch at the wall to push the game into extra innings.

A few feet to the left of where Pages made that catch Joe Carter once hit a World Series walk-off home run, and the announcer, Tom Cheek, proclaimed: “You will never hit a bigger home run in your life.” Well, Pages will never make a bigger catch in his life.

The 2025 World Series will go down as one of the greatest ever. And the Dodgers 2025 season will be remembered for a long time. It is incredible that on multiple occasions, with all of their stars and all of that star power, it was a little-known second-year player who found himself in the spotlight time and again.

PLAY BALL!!

Dodger Stadium Has Hosted Many Of Clayton Kershaw’s Greatest Moments

Last Monday night, Clayton Kershaw entered Game 3 of this year’s World Series in the 12th inning, with the score still tied, with two outs, and with the bases loaded. According to him – and later confirmed – it was the first and only time he had pitched in extra innings in his illustrious 18-year career. Kershaw cannot recall ever pitching in extra innings at any point in his life.

And yet, when the bullpen gate opened in left field at Dodger Stadium, the three-time Cy Young winner, eleven-time All-Star, two-time World Series winner (now three-time), one-time MVP, and soon-to-be first-ballot Hall of Famer, strode to the mound in the biggest moment of his team’s 2025 season.

The series was tied at one game apiece. The score was tied at 5, and had been that way since Shohei Ohtani’s second home run of the game evened everything up in the seventh inning. With two outs, the visiting Blue Jays had loaded the bases against Emmit Sheehan on two walks and an 85-foot slow roller to third. Manager Dave Roberts walked to the mound, took the ball from Sheehan, and motioned for the lefty who had been loose for at least four innings. In fairness, Kershaw has come out of the ’pen in years past, but never in a moment as fraught as this one, and never against a team that simply refuses to swing and miss.

Nathan Lukes dug in for a lefty-on-lefty match-up. Kershaw went with a slider, and threw it in the dirt for ball one. He tried it again and got strike one. He tried it again and barely missed the inside corner for ball two. He tried it again and Lukes watched strike two fly by. A fifth straight slider was in the dirt, running the count full. The old expression, “they sell you the whole seat, but you only need the edge,” was true for the more than 52,000 fans in attendance. Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, stood in the second deck behind home plate with her hands either in front of her face or on her head as she watched her beloved try to wiggle out of yet another post-season jam. The sixth pitch was yet another slider, slightly below the zone, but Lukes, taking nothing for granted, fouled it off. According to Statcast, on the seventh pitch of this at-bat, Kershaw threw his hardest fastball of the season – and that was just 91.9-mph – but up enough in the zone to induce Lukes to swing and foul it away. For his final pitch ever at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw went back to the slider, and it was not a particularly good one – low and away – but the left fielder offered at it and hit a slow roller to second. Tommy Edman charged in and flipped the ball to Freddie Freeman with his glove to end the inning, end the rally, and end Kershaw’s career at the only ballpark he has ever called “home.”

The one-batter, three-act, epic in the 12th inning of Game 3 of this year’s World Series is another in the long list of memorable moments for the lanky lefty at Dodger Stadium. It joins the annals of (in chronological order):

May 25, 2008: Clayton Kershaw, age 20, wearing #54, makes his major league debut, going six innings against the Cardinals, allowing two runs on five hits, with a walk and seven strikeouts.

April 1, 2013: As the Opening Day starter against the rival Giants, Kershaw twirls a four-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and no walks. The only run of the game: Kershaw’s first and last career homer in the 8th inning.

June 18, 2014: Kershaw throws his one and only no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. But for a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez, it would have been a perfect game.

May 15, 2015: Kershaw goes 6-2/3 innings, gives up three runs and four hits while striking out ten Rockies to notch his 100th career win.

October 4, 2015: On the final day of the season, Kershaw faces just 13 batters, allowing two hits, and striking out seven. The sixth K gives him 300 for the season, which is one of just nine such seasons in the 21st century.

August 1, 2019: En route to his 10th win of the year, with a strikeout of Austin Hedges in the 6th inning, he passes Sandy Koufax for the most strikeouts for a left-handed pitcher in Dodger history.

April 30, 2022: After passing Koufax and Don Drysdale, Kershaw passes Don Sutton to become the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader when he fans Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson in the 4th inning.

July 2, 2025: While strikeouts have become increasingly more difficult for Kershaw over the past few seasons, he entered this game needing only three to become the 20th player to join the 3,000 K Club. A slider on his 100th pitch of the game with two outs in the sixth inning froze the Rockies Vinny Capra, allowing history to be made.

And, of course, as referenced above, there was the eight pitch battle on October 27, 2025, that left the bases full of Blue Jays, allowed five more scoreless innings to proceed, and paved the way for Freddie Freeman to play World Series hero once again.

There may be no player in modern baseball history who has provided more highlights, made more memories, and achieved more milestones, in front of his home crowd than Clayton Kershaw. One day there will be a statue of the lefty outside Dodger Stadium, and the only question is which moment in Dodger Blue it will depict. The great news for Los Angelenos and baseball fans the world over, we can relive those highlights again and again, as we most certainly will on warm Sunday afternoon in upstate New York in the summer of 2031, when Clayton Edward Kershaw is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Until then, there is always YouTube (see below).

PLAY BALL!!