Long, but imo worth reading…
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Like I said all along, Dodgers in sev.... um, five.
They did it. What else is there to say? They did it. After one of the weirdest seasons in Dodgers history, where every pitcher seemed to get hurt. In a postseason where it looked like they had maybe one reliable starting pitcher. In a season where it looked like their young stud pitcher might never be a great pitcher again. In a season where their first baseman almost lost a son and had to leave the team, then battle the mental hurdles involved in seeing your son paralyzed, then severely sprained his ankle, then had an amazing World Series. In a season where they signed the best two-way player on the planet to a massive contract, only to see him caught up in a gambling scandal he had nothing to do with because of a low-life former friend and interpreter.
A season where their best pitcher of the last 50 years, seemed to be back, until he wasn’t. A season where their All-Star right fielder started the season at shortstop and did ... OK, until his wrist was broken by a pitch, causing him to miss two months. A season where their closer lost his job. A season where they used 40 pitchers. A season where the catcher went into a horrendous slump. A season where ...
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I could go on, but when a great moment like this happens, I look for people to thank. Let’s do that instead.
—Thank you, Dave Roberts, for making almost all the right decisions this postseason. For putting up with the constant criticism on social media. The 20% of Dodgers fans who are constantly calling for you to be fired will have to get used to you, because you will be here for a long time now.
—Thank you, Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes, for making all the right moves at the trade deadline.
—Thank you, Walker Buehler, for reminding everyone that you are Walker “Freakin” Buehler and finding your stuff just when the Dodgers needed it.
—Thank you, Mookie Betts, for playing the game with joy, for being a Gold Glove right fielder and for not pouting when the media started paying all its attention to Shohei Ohtani.
—Thank you, Will Smith, for not carrying your slump on offense behind the plate and instead calling masterful games and stopping everything in the dirt.
—Thank you, Freddie Freeman, for playing baseball on one leg, for getting to the stadium six hours ahead of everyone else so your ankle would be ready, and for erasing cheating Astro George Springer’s name from the record book. The baseball gods reward those who play the game the right way.
—Thank you, Shohei Ohtani, for playing the final three games after your arm had been ripped from its socket. Also, thanks for deferring almost all of you salary so the Dodgers could sign guys such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández. Also for that Game 1 homer against the Padres, that set the tone for the postseason.
—Thank you, Gavin Lux, for not whining when the Dodgers pretty much said you weren’t good enough to play short and moved you to second near the end of spring training. And for being the Dodgers’ best hitter, batting average wise, after the All-Star break.
—Thank you, Clayton Kershaw, and all the other injured Dodgers who stayed with the team during the postseason to cheer them on. This victory is as much yours as theirs.
—Thank you, Teoscar Hernández, for bringing a certain grit and joie de vivre that the team had been missing the last couple of seasons. Let’s hope for a reunion next season.
—Thank you, Kiké Hernández, for bringing your postseason swagger to L.A.
—Thank you, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, for stepping up in the postseason after an injury-filled season. Let’s hope for a full season of your magic in 2025.
—Thank you, Blake Treinen, for emptying the tank and leaving everything you had out on the mound.
—Thank you, Alex Vesia and Anthony Banda, both left-handers, for being the only two relievers to not give up a run in the World Series.
—Thank you, Ben Casparius, Brent Honeywell Jr. and Landon Knack, for eating up innings and occasionally taking punishment to protect the other arms in the pen. They call you low-leverage guys, but the Dodgers don’t win without you.
—Thank you, Ryan Brasier, Brusdar Graterol, Daniel Hudson and Michael Kopech, for being willing to pitch in whatever inning you were needed, even if it didn’t lead you to a save and probably more money. If you were needed to start for an inning, you were there. Needed in the third, you were there. Needed a shutdown seventh, you were there.
—Thank you, Jack Flaherty, for Game 1, which set the stage for the rest of the series and for holding the rotation together down the stretch during the season.
—Thank you, Tommy Edman, for that NLCS MVP, and for doing all the little things that all ballplayers did once upon a time.
—Thank you, Max Muncy, for an outstanding NLCS. Sure, you slumped at the plate in the World Series, but you made several nice defensive plays. The people who say you are overrated are crazy.
—Thank you, Miguel Rojas, for stepping into shortstop again when Betts got hurt. You hit better than ever and played at a Gold Glove level, helping the Dodgers stay afloat during tough times. Thank you for spending hours with Betts at short to help him improve. We hope to see you on the coaching staff one day.
—Thank you, Chris Taylor, for quietly accepting a secondary role. It was a tough season, but you kept battling and people seem to forget you hit .303 after the All Star break.
—Thank you, Austin Barnes, for backing up Will Smith despite broken toes. And thanks for years of solid play.
—Thank you, Dodger defense, for being so outstanding during the postseason. And thank you to the offense for taking advantage of all the Yankee errors.
—Thank you, Evan Phillips, for being the closer most of the season and pitching great in the postseason before hurting your arm.
—Thank you, Joe Kelly, just for being Joe Kelly.
—Thank you James Paxton and Ryan Yarbrough, for pitching effectively and eating up valuable innings before the Dodgers traded you.
—Thank you to all the Dodgers who played this season, whether you pitched only one inning, such as Connor Brogdon, or had only six at-bats, like Taylor Trammell. You all will get a ring.
—Thank you, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and all the other members of the 2020 Dodgers who are no longer on the team. You may not be there physically for the parade Friday, but Dodgers fans will make sure you are there in spirit.
—Thank you, Yankees fans, for being so classless as to almost breaking Mookie Betts’ wrist, or chanting profane things at Freddie Freeman during a Stand Up to Cancer segment. Because of it, no one felt bad for you that your team lost.
—Thank you, Yankees, for a great World Series. You are a great team.
—Thank you, Yogi Berra, for always reminding us that “Nobody likes Manny Machado.”
—Thank you, newsletter readers. This has been the most interesting season of the 10 I have done. I squabbled with a few of you via email who told me this team was finished and had no chance to win this year. I thanked many of you for your kind words. I tell everyone here that I have the best newsletter readers in the country, and I stand by that. When I was a little kid waiting for my bus for elementary school (Hawthorne Christian School in Harbor City), I would sit on my front porch and read the L.A. Times sports section to get Dodgers news. I didn’t always understand everything I read, but I knew that I wanted to write about the Dodgers for the L.A. Times one day. And here I am, doing it. And it’s because you all have responded so well to it that I keep doing it. The newspaper business is in perilous times right now, so I’m glad to have 10 seasons under my belt. Here’s to 10 more.