Coronavirus steals the spotlight in Game 6 of the World Series

Every World Series has its moments. In 1988, it was Kirk Gibson’s home run in Game 1. In 1986, it was Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6. In 2002, it was Troy Glaus’s two-run double in Game 6.

The 2020 World Series was unique for being played in the middle of a pandemic. The pandemic became part of the storyline when Justin Turner was pulled out of the game for testing positive for coronavirus. It was one of the moments that will be remembered in the 2020 World Series. There were a couple more.

The one play that will define the 2020 World Series is the final play of Game 4. The Dodgers were up 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kenley Jansen was called in to close out the game. If the Dodgers won, they would go up 3-1 in the World Series. But the Tampa Rays had other ideas.

With runners on first and second base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jansen gave up a bloop single to pinch hitter Brett Phillips. Dodgers centerfielder Chris Taylor bobbled the ball. Dodgers catcher Will Smith dropped the relay throw. Randy Arozarena stumbled rounding third base on his way to scoring the winning run for the Rays. Jansen didn’t back up Smith at the plate. Arozarena recovered and slid into home plate. The Rays won. The Dodgers were stunned. But losing that game might have been the catalyst for the Dodgers winning the next two games.

It was an embarrassing loss. It was another blown save in the playoffs for Jansen. It was the last time Dodgers manager called on Jansen to close a game. The Dodgers turned into a team that wasn’t going to lose another game. And they didn’t, winning Games 5 and 6 convincingly.

In Game 6, there were plenty of opportunities for the Dodgers to shine. Austin Barnes started the two-run rally in the sixth inning to give the Dodgers the lead. Mookie Betts kept the rally alive, scored the go-ahead run after doubling in the sixth. Corey Seager drove in Betts with a groundout. Betts homered in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

But it was the bullpen that came through for the Dodgers in Game 6. In particular, it was Julio Urias who nailed down the final seven outs of the game. It was a playoff pitching performance worthy of any in Dodgers history. It was on par with any start by Sandy Koufax or Orel Hershisher or Fernando Valenzuela. Urias only recorded seven outs, but they were the most important seven outs in three decades for Dodger fans.

More importantly, Roberts kept Urias in the game in the ninth inning. Surely the temptation was there to bring in Jansen or Blake Treinen or Clayton Kershaw, who made his way to the Dodgers bullpen midway through the game. Instead, Roberts stuck with Urias, just like Roberts did in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves. If there was a hero in Game 6 of the World Series, it was Urias.

But Game 6 of the 2020 World Series will sadly be remembered for Turner’s positive coronavirus test. Turner was taken out of the game in the eighth inning inexplicably. Edwin Rios came into the game to play third base. It was later revealed at the end of the game that Turner tested positive for coronavirus and was ordered to be taken out of the game by MLB. Protocol dictated that Turner should have been quarantined and isolated from the team, staff, fans, anyone who was at the stadium. But he didn’t. He came on to the field for the postgame celebration, for photos with the team, to kiss his wife, hug Kershaw on the infield.

The 2020 World Series ended 32 years of World Series futility for the Dodgers. But it also threw caution to the wind. Turner was an integral part of the Dodgers World Series team. He has been an important part of the Dodgers team for seven years, for all three of its World Series teams. No one will forget the role he played on those teams. He still should not have been on the field after the game. It was a reckless and dangerous way to end the 2020 World Series. Dodger fans didn’t have any time to celebrate before wondering if Turner infected any of his teammates, his coaches, his family. Now the real test begins. Did Turner do any damage to a team that finally broke through in the World Series? The answer to that question will come out in the next few weeks. Until then, the Dodgers have to reserve their celebrating. It will be a long wait.

In the meantime, let’s go Dodgers.

Roberts makes the right moves for the Dodgers in Game 5

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts makes some questionable decisions and in the World Series those decisions are magnified. In Game 5 of the 2020 World Series, he made three decisions that were absolutely perfect. Each one shows how Roberts has learned from his mistakes and adjusted to put the Dodgers in position to win their first World Series since 1988.

The Dodgers won Game 5 of the World Series, 4-2, against the Tampa Rays. The first right decision Roberts made was starting Joc Pederson in left field. Pederson hasn’t been one of the better hitters on the Dodgers. He hit .190 with seven home runs in the regular season. But in the playoffs, Pederson comes up with big hits. In Game 5 of the World Series, he hit a solo home run in the second inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. It proved to be the difference in the game. In the World Series, Pederson is hitting .400, only second on the team to Corey Seager, who is hitting an insane .471.

To think before the season started, Pederson was almost traded to the Los Angeles Angels. The deal fell through and Pederson remained a Dodger. Even though he struggled through the regular season, he is a vital part of the World Series team.

“I couldn’t be happier that he remained a Dodger,” Roberts told the Associated Press after Game 5.

Sometimes the best trades in baseball are the ones that aren’t made.

The second right decision Roberts made was pulling Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw in the sixth inning. The biggest mistake Roberts has made in the past with Kershaw, especially in the World Series, is keeping Kershaw in games too long. Not in Game 5. Even though Kershaw was winning, and retired seven batters in a row, Roberts decided to pull him with two outs in the sixth inning. It was absolutely the right move despite protests from teammates, Justin Turner in particular, and fans in the stands.

"I thought he pitched a heck of a game," Roberts told ESPN. "And to go out there and get two more hitters (in the sixth), we felt that that would be good enough. And at that point in time, once he did that, I thought it was time to take the baseball. And I think he felt good."

Kershaw might have felt good, but Dodger fans were filled with doubt and fear. Thank goodness Dodger fans don’t manage the Dodgers.  

The third right decision Roberts made putting in relief pitcher Blake Treinen to close the game. Instead of calling on Kenley Jansen, who blew the save in Game 4 and has some rocky relief appearances throughout his playoff career, Roberts gave Treinen the ball to get the final three outs of the game. Dodger fans lost confidence in Jansen a while ago. But Roberts has stuck with Jansen despite his shortcomings in high stakes games. Treinen was well aware of the weight of the moment.

“In the playoffs, we forget how hard and locked in people are because it’s do or die,” Treinen told the New York Post. “That meant a lot to me personally because this team has invested a lot in me. It’s gratifying.”

Treinen gave the Dodgers life and put them one step closer to ending 32 years of World Series failures.

Roberts is making the right moves when it matters most. Game 5 was the moment Roberts learned what it takes to get his team over the hump.

Game 6 is Tuesday. Let’s go Dodgers.

It will take some time for Dodger fans to process what happened in Game 4 of the World Series

Dodger fans don’t have to look too hard to find a World Series game that resembled the way Game 4 of the 2020 World Series ended.

The Dodgers, with a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, lost to the Tampa Rays, 8-7 on a wild play with two outs to end the game. Randy Arozarena scored the winning run on a bloop single by pinch-hitter Brett Phillips. But the play was much messier than that. Dodgers centerfielder Chris Taylor bobbled the ball. Catcher Austin Barnes dropped the relay throw. Kenley Jansen didn’t back up home plate. Arozarena stumbled halfway down the third baseline before recovering and sliding home safely. Mistakes were made. Many, many mistakes were made. The biggest mistake might have been bringing Jansen into the game at all. He has not been the most reliable closer for the Dodgers in recent seasons.

Game 4 of the 2020 World Series reminded Dodger fans of Game 5 of the 2017 World Series. The World Series was tied, 2-2. Clayton Kershaw started for the Dodgers. The lying, cheating Astros knocked Kershaw out of the game in the fifth inning, in the middle of one of the craziest World Series games ever played.

The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and extended it to 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning.

The Astros tied the score in the bottom of the fourth, 4-4. The Dodgers took the lead again, 7-4, in the fifth inning, but the Astros scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, knocked Kershaw out of the game and tied the score again, 7-7.

With Kershaw out of the game, the Astros took the lead in the seventh inning. But not before the Dodgers scored a run in the top of the seventh to take an 8-7 lead.

The Dodgers trailed 12-9 in the ninth inning. Yasiel Puig hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to one run. Chris Taylor drove in the tying run with a single. The Dodgers headed into the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied, 12-12.

Jansen came in to pitch the ninth inning. Alex Bregman knocked in the winning run for the Astros with a two-out single. The Astros went up 3-2 and won the World Series in seven games.

Jansen failed the Dodgers. Kershaw added to his disappointing World Series legacy. The Astros, it was later revealed, cheated their way through Game 5 and the entire playoffs by stealing signs, but don’t let that stand in the way of another embarrassing loss for the Dodgers in the playoffs.

Probably the worst part of the Dodgers loss to the Rays in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series was that Jansen gave up the game winning hit to Brett Phillips, probably the worst hitter on the Rays. He hit .196 in 35 regular season games in 2020. He was 0-for-5 in the playoffs before his bloop single to center in the ninth inning of Game 4. If the Rays had an easy out on their roster, Phillips was it.

It wasn’t the first time the worst hitter on a team beat the Dodgers in the playoffs. In the 1985 National League Championship Series, Ozzie Smith hit a game-winning home run off Tom Niedenfuer in Game 5. The score was tied 2-2 in the ninth inning. Smith, who hit 28 home runs in his 19-year career, won the game with the most unlikely of home runs. The Dodgers ended up losing to the Cardinals in six games in the 1985 NLCS.

The Dodgers have found ways to lose playoff games in the most bizarre and painful ways over the years. Game 4 of the 2020 World Series will go down as another one of those games.

The World Series is tied, 2-2. The Dodgers have Kershaw starting Game 5. The Rays, as far as anyone knows, haven’t figured out a way to cheat and steal the signs from the Dodgers. Still, Kershaw has a reputation for shrinking in big moments in the playoffs. Dodgers fans are hoping this is not one of those times.

Let’s go Dodgers.

Barnes catches everyone off guard in Game 3 of the World Series

Add Austin Barnes to the list of Dodger catchers who’ve come through with big games in the playoffs.

Barnes had two big at-bats in Game 3 of the World Series against the Tampa Rays on Friday night. The first came in the fourth inning when he laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Cody Bellinger and give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

Barnes homered in the sixth inning to give the Dodgers a comfortable 6-1 lead. The Rays added a run in the ninth inning for a final score of 6-2. The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the World Series and Barnes emerged as the light-hitting catcher coming through with some clutch at-bats.

In the 1988 National League Championship Series, Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia had a pretty big at-bat. The Dodgers were down 4-2 in the ninth inning against the New York Mets in a pivotal Game 4 of the NLCS. The Dodgers were down, 2-1 in the World Series, and losing in New York. 

John Shelby walked to start the top of the ninth inning and Scioscia hit a two-run home run to tie the score and send the game into extra innings. The Dodgers won Game 4, 5-4, after Kirk Gibson hit a solo home run in the 12^th inning. The World Series was tied, 2-2, and the Dodgers escaped with momentum and a much-needed lift heading into Game 5.

But perhaps the biggest at-bat for a Dodgers catcher came in the 1981 World Series against the New York Yankees. Game 5 turned into a pitchers’ duel between Jerry Reuss for the Dodgers and Ron Guidry for the Yankees. The Yankees had a 1-0 lead until the seventh inning. Pedro Guerrero tied the score with a one-out home run. Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager followed with another solo home run to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. It was the second home run of the World Series for Yeager and helped earn him a share of the World Series MVP. Ron Cey and Guerrero also were selected as co-MVPs of the 1981 World Series.

The Dodgers and Reuss held the 2-1 lead to the end of the game. The Dodgers went up 3-2 in the World Series and went on to win the series in six games.

Barnes isn’t known for his hitting abilities. Sometimes fans like to point out that he is a liability when he is in the lineup. His contributions are more evident behind the plate than when he is at the plate. But in Game 3, his bat did most of the talking and quieted the critics.

It’s been a different hero it seems in every game of the playoffs for the Dodgers so far in 2020. Who’s turn is it tonight?

Let’s go Dodgers.

This is no time for the Dodgers to panic

The Dodgers lost Game 2 of the World Series against the Tampa Rays. The series is tied 1-1. The Dodgers might not have as easy a path to winning the World Series as some of their fans would like, but in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, “Don’t panic.”

Adams wrote “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.” On the cover of that very resourceful and informative book are the words Don’t Panic. Dodger fans should take heed to those words. Yes, the Dodgers dropped Game 2 and were exposed as a team that can go cold at the plate quicker than a penguin on New Year’s Eve.

But there are some positive takeaways from Game 2 for the Dodgers.

For one, the Rays needed a two home run game from Brandon Lowe. The chances of him, or any other Rays hitter, having another game like that are slim. Sure, he hit 14 home runs in 56 games in this COVID-19 shortened season and was on pace to hit 40.5 homers in a regular 162-game season. But his Game 2 performance was an aberration. It won’t happen again. For the sake of the Dodgers, it won’t happen again.

Secondly, Rays starter Blake Snell took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. He was in command for those first five innings. The Dodgers looked like a bunch of Little Leaguers against him. Snell has moments of brilliance, won a Cy Young award, and can be a dominant force in any baseball game. But he lost his command in the fifth inning. After shutting the Dodgers down, Chris Taylor hit a two-run home run that essentially knocked Snell out the game. The best pitcher on the Rays showed his vulnerable side. If he gets another chance to start a World Series game, the Dodgers will expose him again.

Despite being no-hit for almost five innings and trailing 5-0 at one point, the Dodgers still made it close, eventually losing 6-4. Give the Rays credit for holding on and tying the World Series. But this is no time for the Dodgers and their fans to panic.

Let’s go Dodgers.

Give the Dodgers a high five for winning Game 7

Playoff games always have unforgettable moments. Game 7 of the 2020 National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Braves had at least five. Here is a look back at the defining moments of Game 7, the one the Dodgers won 4-3 to advance to their third World Series in four years.

The start: Dustin May couldn’t throw a strike to the first two batters he faced. He walked them both. Ronald Acuna came around to score the first run of the game and take a 1-0 lead. Call it jitters. Call it nerves. It was revealed May found out he was starting the game only a few hours before it started. It was almost a disaster. The Dodgers were lucky to escape with a 1-0 deficit.

The tag: With the score tied 2-2 in the fourth inning, the Braves rallied to break the tie. Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson walked to start the inning. Austin Riley drove in Albies to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Blake Treinen, pitching in relief for the Dodgers, threw a wild pitch and put runners on second and third with no outs. That’s when Nick Markakis hit a ground ball to third baseman Justin Turner. The Dodgers had Swanson in a rundown between third base and home plate. Turner tagged him out diving down the third baseline, recovered and fired to third base to tag out Riley trying to advance for a double play. The Dodgers got out of the inning, giving up only one run and keeping the score close.

The catch: Mookie Betts, the Dodgers right fielder, made a habit of making great catches in the NLCS. In the fifth inning, he made the most important one. Freddie Freeman hit a long drive to right field. Betts raced to the warning track and to the wall, leaped over the 7-foot-fence, and robbed Freeman of a home run. It would have given the Braves a 4-2 lead. It would have given the Braves confidence going into the final innings of the game. It would have crushed the Dodger and put more pressure on them to create some offense. The catch was as big as hitting a home run for Betts. It kept it a one-run game and gave the Dodgers within striking distance.

The home run: The Dodgers hit two big home runs in the final three innings of the game. Kike Hernandez hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning to tie the score 3-3. But it was Cody Bellinger’s solo home run in the eighth inning that will be remembered. Bellinger hit a no-doubt 400-foot home run to right field on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. He fouled off three pitches in a row before knocking the eighth pitch of the at-bat out of the park and give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

The relief: With all the pitching problems the Dodgers had in Game 7, reliever Julio Urias kept the Braves at bay for the last three innings of the game. He pitched three perfect innings. He didn’t record a strike out. But he recorded six flyouts and three groundouts to keep the Braves off base. It harkened to some of the great relief pitching performances in Dodgers playoff history. It was reminiscent of Steve Howe’s performance in Game 6 of the 1981 World Series when he pitched 3 2/3 shutout innings in relief to close out the deciding game against the Yankees. Urias joined the ranks of legendary Dodgers pitchers after Game 7.

The Dodgers move on to face the Tampa Rays in the World Series. Let’s go Dodgers.

Revisiting the Game 7s of Dodgers past

 

The last time the Dodgers were in a Game 7 of the playoffs was in the 2017 World Series. It is the game Dodger fans wanted to run Yu Darvish out of town. It is the series that added to Clayton Kershaw’s embarrassing playoff legacy. And it is the series that exposed the lying cheating Astros as, well, liars and cheaters.

The Dodgers are in another Game 7 against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. A trip to the World Series is on the line. It would be the Dodgers third trip in four years. It would give Dodger fans another chance to celebrate one of the greatest Dodger teams ever assembled. It would give Dodger nation a chance at redemption and revenge.

The Dodgers history in Game 7s isn’t great though. It’s not horrible. It’s really a 50-50 proposition historically for the Dodgers in Game 7s. Dodger fans old enough to remember can find comfort in Game 7 against the New York Mets in the 1988 National League Championship Series. It took a shutout from Orel Hershiser and a three-hit, two-RBI game from Steve Sax to finally dispose of those pesky Mets. The Dodgers won that game 6-0 to advance to the World Series against the Oakland A’s. Dodger fans everywhere know how that World Series ended, how Game 1 of that World Series ended and how Kirk Gibson became one of the most beloved athletes in L.A. sports history.

Fast forward to the 2017 World Series. The Dodgers played the Astros. The Dodgers had Cody Bellinger, the National League Rookie of the Year, and Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young award winner. The Astros had, as it turned out, a bunch of cheaters who figured out how to tip each other off about what pitches Kershaw and Darvish and Kenley Jansen were throwing. It’s been three years since that fateful Game 7 and the bitter taste in the mouths of Dodger fans hasn’t gone away. They try to spit it out but it lingers like a jalapeno that’s been sitting on a pile of nachos for three innings.

Darvish started that Game 7 against the Astros. The game was over before the late arriving fans to Dodger Stadium were able to find their seats. The Astros scored two runs in the first inning, three more in the second inning, and Darvish was out of the game trailing 5-0.

That was all the offense the Astros needed. They used five pitchers and cruised to a Game 7 lying, cheating win, 5-1.

As the Dodgers prepare for another Game 7, and another step in the direction of baseball greatness, let’s hope they channel the spirits of the 1988 Dodgers and can put the ghosts of 2017 to rest.

Let’s go Dodgers.

The Dodgers need some Game 6 magic

 

The Dodgers play the Atlanta Braves in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series today. A lot is riding on the game for the Dodgers. If they lose, they are out of the playoffs and end another disappointing season that started out with such promise and confidence.

If the Dodgers win, they force a Game 7. The winner of that game goes to the World Series. But the Dodgers have to win Game 6 before they can start thinking about the World Series.

The last time a Game 6 in the playoffs turned out well for the Dodgers was in 1959. It was the first time the Los Angeles Dodgers were in the World Series. Dodger Stadium wasn’t even built yet. The Dodgers were playing in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Expectations were not very high for the Dodgers in 1959 either. They moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958 and most thought it would take some time before the Dodgers were a force in the National League again.

The Dodgers were up 3-2 against the Chicago White Sox in the 1959 World Series. In a bit of a role reversal compared to the 2020 National League Championship Series, the Dodgers had the advantage, one win away from winning the series. The White Sox were fighting to stay alive, winning Ga
me 5 and trying to extend the World Series to seven games.

Johnny Podres started for the Dodgers against Early Wynn for the White Sox. But it was reliever Larry Sherry who was the hero in Game 6 of the World Series.

The Dodgers scored six runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead in the game. Wally Moon hit a two-run home run in the fourth. It looked like Podres could cruise the rest of the game.

But Podres ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth inning. The White Sox scored three runs on his and Podres was pulled. Sherry came in the game in relief and pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings. The Dodgers won the game 9-3 and the World Series in six games.

The Dodgers need some of that 1959 Game 6 World Series magic today. Let’s go Dodgers.

Dodgers on the verge of one of the greatest comebacks in L.A. sports history, or not

When it comes to great comebacks in sports history, the teams from Los Angeles don’t have many. The Lakers pretty much dominate whenever they make the playoffs. There have been some close games in Lakers playoff history, but nothing of the great comeback variety. The Kings have a few bright playoff comeback moments. The Miracle on Manchester, when the Kings, down 5-0 after two periods to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1982, scored five goals in the third period to tie the score and won the game in overtime, 6-5. The Kings went on to win the five-game series and knock out Wayne Gretzky’s dynasty Oilers, only to lose to the Vancouver Canucks in the second round. And that isn’t even the greatest comeback in Kings’ playoff history.

The top three greatest playoff comebacks in Los Angeles sports history belong to the Dodgers and the Kings. The 2020 Dodgers are down 3-1 in the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves. If the Dodgers can somehow find a way to win this series, it might crack the top three comebacks in L.A. sports history. But after losing Game 4, 10-2, it doesn’t look good for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have been down this road before. The Los Angeles Dodgers have been down 0-2 twice in the World Series. The first time it happened was in 1965 against the mighty Minnesota Twins. It is the third greatest comeback in L.A. sports history.

The 1965 World Series started in Minnesota. Don Drysdale started for the Dodgers against Mudcat Grant for the Twins. Drysdale gave up six runs in the third inning, eerily similar to Clayton Kershaw’s disastrous sixth inning against the Braves in Game 4 of the NLCS, and the Dodgers lost 8-2. Grant pitched a complete game, scattering 10 hits and striking out five. Ron Fairly hit a solo home run for the Dodgers in the second inning, the Edwin Rios of his time. Drysdale only lasted three innings and gave up two home runs.

In Game 2 of the 1965 World Series, Sandy Koufax started for the Dodgers against Jim Kaat for the Twins. This one had a little more drama. Koufax and Kaat were in a pitchers’ duel for five innings before the Twins broke the scoreless tie with two runs in the sixth. The Twins chased Koufax out of the game after that inning. Kaat pitched a complete game, the Twins tacked on three more runs and won Game 2, 5-1. The Dodgers were down 2-0 in the World Series and their two best pitchers took the losses.

In Game 3, back in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium, Claude Osteen took the mound for the Dodgers against Camilo Pascual for the Twins. Osteen gave the Dodgers just what they needed, a complete game shutout. Osteen wasn’t exactly dominant – he gave up five hits, walked two and struck out two – but it was enough to keep the Twins from scoring any runs. John Roseboro knocked in two runs and Sweet Lou Johnson was 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI for the Dodgers.

In Game 4, Drysdale returned to the mound to start for the Dodgers in a rematch of Game 1 against Grant. This time, Drysdale was in command. He pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts. Wes Parker and Johnson hit home runs, both solo shots, and the Dodgers won 7-2. The World Series was tied, 2-2, and Game 5 was in Dodger Stadium with Koufax scheduled to start.

Koufax didn’t disappoint. He tossed a four-hit shutout and struck out 10. Jim Gilliam knocked in two runs and the Dodgers won 7-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the World Series.

The World Series went seven games. Koufax came back in Game 7 and shut out the Twins again, this time 2-0. Johnson hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his second home run of the World Series completing the third best playoff comeback in L.A. sports history.

The 1981 World Series started much like the 1965 World Series. Only this time it was the Dodgers against the Yankees. The Dodgers went down 2-0, losing the first two games of the World Series in New York.

Enter Fernando Valenzuela. The Dodger rookie made his first World Series start in Game 3 of the 1981 World Series. It wasn’t pretty but it was enough for the Dodgers. Valenzuela pitched a complete game, walking seven batters and giving up four runs on nine hits. But the Dodgers kept it close. They scored three runs in the first inning and added two more in the fifth to win the game, 5-4. It wasn’t easy, but it was the spark the Dodgers needed.

The Dodgers won Game 4 in another ugly effort. Dodgers starter Bob Welch couldn’t get an out in the first inning. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk and put the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole. Yankees starter Rick Reuschel wasn’t much better. He lasted only three innings, giving up two runs on six hits and left the game with a 4-2 lead.

The score was tied 6-6 in the seventh inning. Steve Yeager hit a sacrifice fly for the Dodgers to break the tie. Steve Howe pitched the final three innings in relief for the win and the Dodgers held on for an 8-7 victory.

Game 5 was a little closer. Jerry Reuss started for the Dodgers and pitched a complete game. Pedro Guerrero and Yeager hit solo home runs in the seventh inning and the Dodgers won, 2-1, to take a 3-2 lead in the World Series.

The Dodgers left little doubt in Game 6. Guerrero drove in five runs, hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, added a two-run triple and the Dodgers won easily 9-2, completing the comeback, the second greatest in Los Angeles sports history.

The Kings, a year removed from their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, were down 3-0 to the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. Game 3 of that series was particularly painful. The Kings lost 4-3 in overtime.

Game 4 proved to be the start of the greatest comeback in L.A. sports history.

The Kings won Game 4, 6-3. Justin Williams scored two goals in the second period. Tyler Toffoli added another goal and Dustin Brown capped off the game with his first goal of the playoffs in the third period.

Game 5 was a textbook Jonathan Quick game. The Kings goalie made 30 saves and shut out the Sharks, 3-0. Toffoli, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored the goals for the Kings. The series was now 3-2 in favor of the Sharks.

Game 6 was the Williams show again. He scored two goals. The Kings scored three goals in the third period and won the game 4-1. The series was tied and the Kings forced a Game 7.

The Sharks drew first blood in Game 7. Matt Irwin gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with a goal in the second period. The Kings answered with five unanswered goals. Drew Doughty tied the score with a goal in the second period. Kopitar gave the Kings the lead with a goal at the end of the second period.

Toffoli, Brown and Tanner Pearson scored goals for the Kings in the third period. Pearson scored his first goal of the playoffs, the last goal for the Kings in the series, and wrote the last chapter of the greatest comeback in L.A. sports history.

If the Dodgers manage to crawl out of 3-1 hole in the 2020 NLCS, they will find a place in the L.A. playoff comeback storybook. Let’s go Dodgers.

The Dodgers have been here before

When I was in the sixth grade, the Dodgers were in the World Series against the Yankees. It was 1981.  My sixth grade history teacher, Mrs. Dunn, was from New York. She was a Yankees fan.

One of her assignments was to create a timeline for the school year. We were supposed to bring in significant currents events to put on the timeline, a series of notecards posted around the room. By the end of the year it was supposed to chronicle all the important events from September 1981 to June 1982.

Being a kid from Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley specifically, I was a Dodgers fan. I played Little League. I wasn’t a very good baseball player, but I was a very good baseball fan.

It was the year of Fernando-mania. Fernando Valenzuela was a rookie pitcher for the Dodgers. He was a pudgy little Mexican kid, a lot like me, the token Mexican kid going to a private school in Van Nuys. The Yankees had Reggie Jackson, Mr. October, who crushed the Dodgers in the World Series in 1977 and 1978. The Dodgers-Yankees rivalry was as intense as it had ever been. Mrs. Dunn did not hide that she was a Yankees fan. And of course, I was not shy about being a Dodgers fan.

The Yankees won the first game of the World Series. Mrs. Dunn was so excited she brought in her own card that read: Yankees win the World Series.

Not exactly. The Yankees only won the first game of the World Series. They needed to win four games to win the whole World Series. I couldn’t believe Mrs. Dunn, being such a passionate Yankees fan, did not know this. I couldn’t resist pointing it out to her when she put up her card on the timeline.

“That’s not right,” I told her. “The Yankees have to win three more games.”

“They absolutely don’t,” she said. “The Yankees are World Series champions.”

“Game 2 is tonight,” I said. “The series is far from over.”

But Mrs. Dunn didn’t believe me. She insisted on keeping her card on the timeline and refused to admit the Yankees did not win the World Series yet.

The next day, after the Yankees won Game 2, I brought to school a newspaper with the stories about how the Dodgers were down 2-0 in the World Series. All the Los Angeles newspapers were writing about how the Dodgers were going to lose to the Yankees again. I tried to ignore the doom and gloom surrounding the Dodgers. All I needed was evidence that the World Series was, in fact, far from over and the Yankees had to win two more games to win the World Series.

I showed the newspaper stories to Mrs. Dunn. Then I made a deal with her. If the Dodgers won the World Series, I would add one card to the timeline and not have to add any more for the rest of the school year. If the Yankees won, Mrs. Dunn could keep her Yankees win the World Series card on the timeline and I would never mention her original mistake again.

The first two games were in New York. The Yankees took full advantage of being the home team. But the next three games were at Dodger Stadium. It was the Dodgers turn to be the home team. They won the next three games and were heading back to New York, up 3-2 in the World Series and needing one more win to take the championship. More importantly, the Dodgers were one game away from helping me get out of a tedious, year-long history assignment. Mrs. Dunn would probably never want to talk to me again either, but that was a price I was willing to pay.

The Dodgers won Game 6, won the World Series, 4-2, won four games in a row and I turned in my last card to the timeline before Halloween.

The 2020 Dodgers find themselves down 2-0 to the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. It doesn’t look good for the Dodgers. It is probably a good time for some sixth-graders to make deal with their teachers to get out of some pointless homework.

Susie Swish

“Susie Swish,” the first book by author Tim Haddock, an award-winning newspaper journalist and sportswriter from Los Angeles, is available on Amazon and Kindle. It is the story of two girls who join their high school boys basketball team when their girls team is cut. Susie is tall and talented, but doubts her abilities and strengths. Carla is short and feisty, never backs down from a fight and is full of confidence. Follow them on their journey through a basketball season that takes unexpected turns and presents unforeseen challenges.