Pitching Rich History: Los Angeles Part 2 1991-2025

                                                    1991. LA entered the second year of the 90’s hoping the 91 season would lead to another playoff spot. Hershiser was returning from his labrum surgery, and they had traded for LH starting pitcher, Bobby Ojeda. Morgan Martinez and Belcher rounded out the rotation. Howell was still the closer at age 35, but they had also added swingman Kevin Gross as a free agent. The pitching staff except for Martinez and a couple of young relievers who got their feet wet, John Wetteland and Steve Wilson, were in their 30’s. The team had also added lead-off man, Brett Butler, who although in his mid-30s, would become a fan favorite. The team was 93-69 finishing second in the division. The big free agent signing was Darryl Strawberry. 

                                                 Martinez led the team with 17 wins, Morgan, 14, Ojeda, 12, and Belcher, 10. Hershiser had 7 in his return from labrum surgery. Howell won 6 and saved 16. Gross won 10 games, lost 11 and had 3 saves. McDowell 7, Crews 6, and Gott, Candelaria, Hartley and Wilson also had saves. Morgan was the only starter who recorded a save. The team had 5 players selected for the All-Star game, Butler, Strawberry, Murray, Juan Samuel, and Morgan. 

                                                 The 1992 Dodgers recorded the most losses by the franchise in their history in Los Angeles going 63-99. As you might guess, the pitching was not pretty. But there were other problems too. Strawberry played in just 43 games and left the team because of substance abuse. Eric Davis, who along with Kip Gross, had been obtained in a trade with the Reds, was nowhere near the player he had been in Cincinnati. The offense was anemic. The only player with 20 homers was the ROY, Eric Karros. Mike Sharperson was the team’s only All-Star. Every starting pitcher except rookie Pedro Astacio, had a losing record. Highlight for the pitching staff was Kevin Gross’s no-hitter against the Giants in August. McDowell, now the closer, saved 18 games. Free agent signee, knuckleballer, Tom Candiotti, led the team with 11 wins. 

                                                92 would start a run of five consecutive rookies of the year. 1993’s was catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza hit .319 with 35 homers and 112 RBI’s. He put up a 7 WAR season. The team still finished in 4th with an 81-81 record. Astacio led the team with 14 wins. Gross, 13, Hershiser, 12, and Marinez, 10. Gott was now the closer and he saved 25 games. The surprise was a 21-year-old pitching out of the pen who won 10 and lost only 5 and had 2 saves. He was Ramon’s little brother, Pedro.  Slim of build, Lasorda would say he did not think he had the build to be a starting pitcher, and even though the kid came into 65 games, they traded him to the Expos because Jody Reed had declined their contract offer, for Delino DeShields. A trade now considered one of the worst in Dodger history.

                                                The Dodgers finished first in the west in 94. But it did not result in a playoff berth, the players went on strike after 114 games played by the Dodgers. The finished with a 58-56 record. It would be Hershiser’s last season in LA; he would leave as a free agent. Todd Worrell was the closer and he saved 11 games. Ramon Martinez was the only Dodger pitcher with double digit wins, getting 12. A kid from Korea, 21-year-old, Chan Ho Park, made his MLB debut becoming the first Korean born player in MLB. The strike started on August 12th and would last until April 2nd of 95, marking 232 days, the longest period in MLB history. The ROY in 94 was young outfielder, Raul Mondesi. 

                                               The 1995 season started late as the two sides did not agree on a settlement. Eventually it went to the supreme court, and both sides were forced to play under the old CBA until a new one could be negotiated. Owners had voted to use replacement players. Although LA did not carry any on their 95 rosters, two had Dodger ties, Matt Herges and Jamie McAndrew.  As a result, the season started three weeks late and each team would play 144 games. Several things happened in 1995, for one, Hideo Nomo was signed as a free agent from Japan. He would be the NL’s 1995 Rookie of the Year. The starting rotation consisted of Martinez, Nomo, second year player, Ismael Valdez, Candiotti, and Kevin Tapani who came over in a 6-player traded with the Twins at the deadline. Highlight was Martinez’s no-hitter of the Marlins in July.  Martinez, 17, Nomo and Valdez, 13, were the only LA pitchers with double digit wins. Worrell saved 32 games. They finished first in the west but lost the LCS to the Reds 3 games to none. 

                                           1996 would be a pivotable year in the team’s history. Long-time manager, Tommy Lasorda was felled by a heart attack in June, and had to hand the team over to coach, Bill Russell. While Lasorda felt he would return, management convinced him to make it permanent and on the 29th of July he did just that. Russell led the team to a 2nd place finish in the west and a playoff spot, but they were dumped by the Braves, 3-0 in the LCS.  Nomo was the Ace, winning 16. He tossed a no-hitter in September at Coors field in Colorado, winning 9-0. Valdez and Martinez each won 15 games, and closer Todd Worrell, saved 44 to lead the league. Todd Hollandsworth became their 5th ROY in a row. Kevin Tapani won 4 games after being acquired in a six-player deal with the Twins at the deadline. Top draft choice, Darren Dreifort made his MLB debut. 

                                        1997 would also portend a major change for LA. Peter O’Malley announced his intention to sell the team, which for many was a gut punch. His father had become a part owner in 1945, and in 1950 took majority control of the team. The family had kept ticket prices reasonable for years. The reason seemed to be that his children had no interest in running the team, plus California’s extremely high estate taxes. The team finished second in the west. Nomo and Park led the team with 14 wins each. Valdez and Martinez had 10 apiece. Todd Worrell finished with 35 saves. Dennys Reyes, a 20-year-old rookie saw his first action. LA would use 16 pitchers over the course of the season.

Mike Piazza

                                      Before the season began in 1998, Peter O’Malley agreed to sell the Dodgers to Rupert Murdock and Fox for 350 million dollars. The sale included Dodger Stadium and the surrounding property and the team. It ended 48 years of the family’s ownership. Fox installed some execs with no baseball experience in the front office. This would cause some problems in a very short time. LA’s most popular and best player, Mike Piazza, was in his walk year. Piazza and his agent had asked the Dodgers before the 97 season for a 6-year-60-million-dollar extension and was turned down. Instead, they accepted arbitration that got a 2-year-15-million-dollar deal, and that left Piazza bitter about the negotiations.  In 98, with Fox now in control, they leaked to the papers a negotiating ploy stating Piazza had turned down 6-years-80-million to the press and that he was demanding 100 million. Piazza went to the press and pleaded his case.  Bill Plaschke of the times didn’t help the situation when he claimed that recently retired Brett Butler had said that ” Piazza was a moody self-centered 90’s player, and that Piazza is the greatest hitter I have ever been around, but you cannot build a team around Piazza because he is not a leader.” Butler later said Plaschke misquoted him, and several teammates came to his defense, but there was more salt in the wound. 

                                LA would finish in third. Bill Russell was fired, and Glen Hoffman took over in the interim. Fred Claire left, and Lasorda was the interim GM. He made one trade, sending Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes to the Reds for Jeff Shaw. Shaw did a good job as the closer, saving 25 games. Park won 15 to lead the team. Only Valdez who won 11, had more than 8. They used 25 different pitchers that year. Lefty Scott Radinsky saved 9.

                             1999 was another year of change. Kevin Malone took over as the GM and proclaimed, “there is a new sheriff in town”. They hired Davey Johnson as the manager. Malone signed P Kevin Brown to the largest free agent contract for a pitcher at the time, 7 years, 105 million dollars. That made Brown baseball’s first 100-million-dollar man. He signed Devon White, Pedro Borbon and Matt Herges as free agents.  The starting lineup had just 2 players under 30, rookie 3rd baseman, Adrian Beltre, and RF Raul Mondesi. 

                           LA would use 21 pitchers over the course of the year. Brown naturally was the ace winning 18 games. Valdez, Park, Dreifort and Carlos Perez rounded out the rotation. Shaw saved 32 games, but the team finished in 3rd place, 8 games under .500. Onan Masaoka, Eric Gagne, made their MLB debuts. Masaoka would only pitch one more year. Gagne, a starter by trade, would make his mark later out of the pen. 

                         The team improved to 86-76 and finished 2nd in the west in 2000. It would be both Malone and Johnson’s last season with LA. The ace of the staff in 2000 was Park, who won 18 games. Brown had a very good 2.58 ERA to lead the league, but he won just 13. Dreifort won 12, and Gagne, in his first year in the rotation went 4-6. Shaw saved 27 games and Mike Fetters 5. LA used 21 pitchers that year. Luke Prokopec made his MLB debut and Orel Hershiser returned to the team at age 41, pitching in 10 games, starting 6 of them and ending up with a 1-6 record.

                         The new manager in 2001 was Jim Tracy. Former pitching coach, Dave Wallace was the interim GM. Tracy had been Johnson’s bench coach, and he had managed in the minors for several seasons. Wallace, who was credited by Hershiser with helping him develop as a pitcher, took over mid-season when Malone was forced to resign. Tracy led the team to a third-place finish, 86-76. Park led the team with 15 wins. Brown, who was injured, won 10. Terry Adams, who had come over in a trade with the Cubs in 2000, won 12. Prokopec, 8, Gagne 6, and Dreifort 4, rounded out the rotation. Shaw saved 43 games.

                         They finished 3rd again in 02, even though they won 92 games. Hideo Nomo had resigned with them as a free agent and led the team with 16 wins. Perez 15, Omar Daal 11, Kazuhisa Ishii 14, another Japanese import, and Andy Ashby 9, who came over as a free agent, were the starters. Eric Gagne moved into the closer role and saved 52 games. The team had several new players who had come over in trades. Brian Jordan replaced Gary Sheffield after coming over from the Braves. The new center fielder was a guy named Dave Roberts. More on him later. Cesar Izturis took over at SS.  Brown was injured again and pitched in just 17 games. Perez was the youngest pitcher on the team at just 24. Most of the 19 pitchers used during the year were in their 30’s. 

                         Behind the scenes, Fox was looking to sell the team. The team finished second in 03 with a 85-77 record. Dan Evans had taken over as the GM and he had made several off season moves. He traded Karros and Grudzelanek to the Cubs for Hundley. He signed Fred McGriff to replace Karros at first base. His scouting department drafted some very good players in June, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, A.J. Ellis, Adam LaRoche. They even drafted Mark Melancon, but he did not sign. Just prior to the deadline he signed Ricky Henderson as a free agent, he trade for Jeromy Burnitz, and at the deadline he brought in Robin Ventura.

                         Brown rebounded from his injuries and won 14 games with a sparking 2.39 ERA. Nomo won 16 and Perez 12. No one else won more than 9. But the pitching star was Eric Gagne, who saved 55 games and earned the Cy Young award, becoming the second Dodger relief pitcher to do so. LA used 25 pitchers. Rookie Edwin Jackson went 2-1. Gagne did not blow a single save that season. 

                        Before the 2004 season began, Fox completed their sale of the team to Frank McCourt, the Boston parking lot king. He paid 430 million for the team. The sale was financed mostly by debt. His choice for GM was Paul DePodesta. DePodesta at the time of his hiring was Billy Beanes right hand man in Oakland and a true proponent of Moneyball. So, he built the 04 team on that philosophy. Before he took over, LA had traded Kevin Brown to the Yankees for Jeff Weaver and Yhency Brazoban. 

                     He was just 31 when he took over the team in February. His first trade in March sent P Jason Frazier to the Jays for Jason Werth. His next trade sent Franklin Guiterrez to the Indians for Milton Bradley. At the deadline he first traded DeLuca, Juan Encarnacion, and Guillermo Mota to the Marlins for He Seop Choi, Brad Penny and a minor leaguer. He then shipped Reggie Abercrombie, Koyie Hill, and Bill Murphy to the D-Backs for Steve Finley and Brent Mayne.

                   LA won the west, clinching in game 161 against the Giants on a walk-off grand slam by Finley. Adrian Beltre, in his walk year, set a Dodger record with 48 home runs. Weaver, Ishii and free agent signee, Jose Lima, all won 13 games. Gagne, who ran his streak of not blowing a save to 88 games, saved 45. LA used 21 pitchers. In the playoffs for the first time since 1996, LA lost in 4 games to the Cardinals. winning game three on a shutout at Dodger Stadium thrown by Lima, who had become a fan favorite. “It’s Lima time!” McCourt had accomplished something FOX had not done, make it to the playoffs.

                   The euphoria did not last long, they slipped to 4th place, 71-91 in 05. DePodesta would be fired in October after the season was finished. DePodesta did make one signing that would be significant down the road, they signed Kenley Jansen as an amateur free agent after the 04 season. He retooled the roster that winter. He signed Ricky Ledee, Elmer Dessens, Jeff Kent, and JD Drew as free agents. He traded Dodger single season HR leader, Shawn Green, who had hit 49 in 03 to Arizona for C Dioner Navarro and three minor leaguers. Sorry, I considered this a really bad trade. He traded Ishii to the Mets for Jason Phillips.

                            Kent hit 29 homers and drove in 105, by far the best on the team, Drew ended up playing just 72 games. Jeff Weaver was the teams ace, and the only starter with a record better than .500. Derek Lowe, another free agent signing, was 12-15 despite having the lowest ERA of all the starters at 3.61. Penny and Perez each won 7, and D.J. Houlton won 6. Don’t remember him? Neither did I, he came to LA in the minor league draft in 04 from Houston. Brazoban was the closer and he had 22 saves. Duaner Sanchez, 8, and Steve Schmoll, 3, had the rest. Jonathan Broxton and Hung Chi Kuo made their debuts. The photos are Houlton on top, and Schmoll on the bottom. 

                         The two biggest changes in the winter was the hiring of Ned Colletti as the GM, and Grady Little as the new manager. Logan White entered his 5th year as the scouting director. Many of the prospects found and signed by his scouts, would contribute to the team’s success down the road. They finished 2nd in the west and were swept out of the playoffs by the Mets. Some of the moves and signings made by Colletti would also pay off down the road. He traded Bradley and Inf. Antonio Perez to the A’s for Andre Ethier in December.

                          He signed Rafael Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra as free agents and then added Kenny Lofton as a free agent too. He also signed former Giant, Jason Schmidt. Schmidt as most of us know, would turn out to be a bad signing as he was injured for most of his time in LA. In January, he traded Edwin Jackson and a minor leaguer to Tampa for Danys Baez and Lance Carter. Just two of the players they drafted in June would sign with the team, one of them was Clayton Kershaw, the 7th pick in the first round. Bryan Morris, their other first round pick, would never pitch in the majors for the Dodgers. He did however see time with the Pirates, Marlins and Giants and finished his career with 20 wins and 12 losses and a 3.13 ERA. One of the players who did not sign with LA, was Paul Goldschmidt, who was picked in the 49th round.

                        He made several trades in July. He sent Navarro and Jae Wong Seo to the Rays for Toby Hall, and Mark Hendrickson. He traded Odalis Perez and 2 minor leaguers to the Royals for Dessens. He traded Baez and Aybar to the Braves for Wilson Betemit, then he got Julio Lugo, a SS for 2 minor leaguers and his last trade netted Greg Maddux from the Cubs for Izturis. Lowe and Penny led the team with 16 wins apiece; they were the only starters with double figure wins. Chad Billingsley in his first year in the rotation won 7. Takahashi Saito, signed from Japan was the closer and had 24 saves. Baez added 9 before he was traded.

                      Logan White was replaced by Tim Hallgren in 07. The team slipped to 4th place, just 2 games over .500. Drew had opted out of his contract and was replaced in RF by Ethier. Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez were signed as free agents. Rookie James Loney took over at first base. Russell Martin was in his second year as the starting catcher. Matt Kemp saw some semi-regular playing time in CF and hit .342 with 10 bombs. The team used six pitchers who had 15 starts or more. Brad Penny was the ace, making 33 starts and having a 16-4 record with a 3.03 ERA. He did not have a complete game. Lowe won 12 as did Billingsley. Lowe had 3 complete games and Bills 1. Randy Wolf, a free agent signing won 9. Saito had 39 saves. Jon Meloan, a 2005 5th round draft choice got into 5 games. He is notable because he would be traded in July of 08 with Carlos Santana to the Indians for 3rd baseman, Casey Blake. 

                       The biggest change in the winter of 07 was the hiring of Joe Torre to manage the team. Colletti signed Andruw Jones as a free agent, and then he signed Hiroki Kuroda from Japan in December. They did not make any trades at the winter meetings. The June draft would see the team draft several players who would eventually see time in the majors, Josh Lindblom, Dee Gordon, Nathan Eovaldi, Danny Columbe, Allen Webster, and Jerry Sands. The team was close enough in the race that in July at the deadline they traded for Blake and then made a blockbuster deal with the Red Sox and Pirates. When the dust settled, the Dodgers landed LF Manny Ramirez. Ramirez would have maybe the best 53 game stretch in Dodger history, batting .398 with 17 homers and driving in 53 runs. His OPS+ during that span was 221. Left field became Mannywood and dreadlocks were seen on fans all over the park. 

                   His bat and some solid pitching was enough to push the team to the NL West title, winning by 2 games over the D-Backs. Lowe won 16 games, Billingsley, 14. Kuroda in his first year won 9. The kid, Clayton Kershaw won 5 in his first season. Penny rounded out the rotation with 6 wins. Saito saved 18, Broxton saved 14, and Chan Ho Park, who had returned in a relief role saved 2. For the second time in 3 years, Colletti brought in Greg Maddux late in the season. He went 2-4 in his final stop of his MLB career. But his influence on the pitchers, especially young guys like Kershaw, cannot be denied. The Dodgers swept the Cubs in the LDS. They outscored them in 3 games, 20-6. Manny Ramirez hit .500 in the series with 2 homers. Loney drove in 6 runs. 

                They lost the LCS in 5 games to the Phillies. Kuroda beat Moyer in game 3 for their only win. Cole Hamels beat them twice. Ramirez hit .533 in the LCS. The big question in the off season was would they re-sign Manny. Penny and Saito left as free agents. They released Andruw Jones in January; he had been a huge mistake. They brought Randy Wolf back to help out in the rotation. Jeff Weaver also returned to the team. Orlando Hudson was signed to play second base and Manny finally signed in March.

                 They would win the west by 3 games over surprising Colorado. The only deadline trade brought reliever George Sherill from the Orioles. At the end of August, he brought in Jim Thome and Jon Garland. Ramirez got suspended for PED use and played just 104 games. Ethier and Kemp led the offense, both driving in more than 100 runs. Andre had 31 homers and Kemp, 26. Billingsley led the team with 12 wins, Wolf had 11. Kershaw and Kuroda had 8 each. Broxton saved 36 games and won 7. Ramon Troncoso saved 6. Sherrill, who pitched in 30 games, had an ERA of 0.65. They swept the Cardinals in the LDS with Weaver, Sherrill and Vincente Padilla getting the wins. But the Phillies bested them again, 4-1 in the LCS. The lone win was a 2-1 squeaker in game 2.

                    The 2010 team slipped to 4th place with a 80-82 record. Logan White returned as the scouting director. His June draft would net Joc Pederson, Scott Schebler, Shawn Tolleson and Chad Wallach. Colletti kept adding to the roster over the winter, he traded Pierre for pitchers John Ely and Jon Link. He signed Jamie Carroll as a free agent. He added Jay Gibbons and resigned Padilla. 22-year-old Kershaw became the staff ace with a solid 2.91 ERA. He led the team with 13 wins. Billingsley added 12 and Kuroda 11. Broxton had 22 saves and Kuo 12. Kenley Jansen, in his debut season, won 1 game, saved 4 and had an ERA of 0.67.  Manny was placed on waivers and claimed by the White Sox late in the year.

                     2011 brought more change. Torre retired and was replaced by Don Mattingly. Matt Kemp just missed a 40-40 season by one homer; he also fell short of winning the triple crown. Keshaw won the Cy Young, and he won 21 games. Billingsley 11, Ted Lilly 12, and Kuroda 13, rounded out the starting rotation. Javy Guerra was the new closer and he saved 21 games. Jansen saved 5, Broxton 7 and Padilla 3. They finished in 3rd place.  More important events were happening behind the scenes. MLB took control of the team in April because of McCourt’s financial problems. He was also going through a nasty divorce. Eventually this would lead to McCourt having to sell the team the following year in May. Commissioner Selig had blocked a TV deal in 2011 that would have pumped money into the Dodgers coffers. That forced the team to declare bankruptcy. It took a year of negotiations for them to finally be sold in May. Guggenheim Group paid over 2 billion for the team.

                   2012 brought a change of ownership, and some hope to fans who had been turned off by McCourt and the team’s performance, especially in the playoffs. Other than the influx of cash for operations though, the change was not immediately visible. The 2012 squad would finish second again. Matt Kemp was on his way to a epic season when he crashed into the center field wall at Coors and injured his shoulder. He tried to comeback to early, and his stats dropped dramatically. He would never really be the same player again. The June draft landed Corey Seager, Paco Rodriguez, Ross Stripling and Darrnell Sweeney. The starting rotation was Kershaw, Chris Capuano, Billingsley and Aaron Harang. Jansen moved into the closer role and saved 25 games. Kersh led the league in ERA with a 2.53 mark. Guerra helped out with 8 saves. In August, new ownership approved what would become known as “The Trade”. LA sent James Loney, Ivan De Jesus, Allen Webster, and 2 players to be named later, Rubby De La Rosa, and Jerry Sands, to the Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, Carl Crawford and cash. LA now had their first Hispanic star since Fernando. 

                   Now armed with the financial wherewithal to sign quality free agents, Colletti set about to meet the new ownership’s commitment to winning championships. They purchased LHP Hyun Jin Ryu from Korea. Zack Greinke was signed as a free agent. Reliever J.P. Howell was signed as a free agent. All of them would play major roles in a revamped pitching staff. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt’s staff would post a 3.25 team ERA. They would eventually win the west easily by 11 games over Arizona. Helping offensively was the addition of a young outfielder from Cuba in May, Yasiel Puig, and then trading for Hanley Ramirez at the deadline. The June draft brought Cody Bellinger and Kyle Farmer. 

                  With Greinke and Kershaw as their 1-2 punch, and Ryu as the #3, they cruised to the title. Kersh won the Cy Young with 16 wins and a 1.83 ERA. Greinke won 15, and Ryu 14. Greinke led the league in winning pct. Nolasco and Capuano rounded out the starters. Jansen saved 25 and Brandon League 14. Beckett was injured and missed most of the season. Kemp only played in 73 games. LA used 27 pitchers. They won the LDS, 3-1 over Atlanta. Kershaw, Capuano and late season addition to the pen, Brian Wilson got the wins. Greinke lost his only start. Ramirez hit .500 in the series and Puig, .473. They would lose the LCS to the Cardinals in 6 games. Kershaw’s loss in game 2, 1-0 was especially painful. He gave up just 2 hits. Ramirez had been injured by a Joe Kelly pitch and had a bad series.

               2014 was another NL West championship. Kershaw won the Cy Young garnering 21 wins, a 1.77 ERA. He also was the league’s MVP, joining Koufax in that club of pitchers who did both in the same season. Greinke won 17, Dan Haren 13, and Ryu 14. Beckett, returning from injury went 6-6. Highlight of the year were a pair of no-hitters. Beckett no-hit the Phillies in May, and Kershaw no-hit the Rockies at Dodger Stadium in June. Kersh’s no-hitter was marred by an error by Ramirez and saved on a great play by rookie, Miguel Rojas, a SS playing 3rd. He struck out 15 Rockies in that game. The time between the no-no’s was the shortest in franchise history, just 24 days. Jansen saved 44 games. They lost the LDS to the Cardinals in 4 games. All of the games were decided by 2 runs or less. The game 4 loss by Kershaw came on a 3-run homer in the 7th inning by Matt Adams. A couple of players who would impact the next several years played in LA for the first time. Free agent signee, Justin Turner, and Joc Pederson had his first taste of the majors. Alex Verdugo was part of the 14-draft class. 

                 They won the West for the third straight year in 2015. The big change was the naming of Andrew Freidman as the President of Baseball Operations. He hired Farhan Zaidi as his general manager. Freidman had a lot different idea of how to build a team than Colletti did.  The first trade came in November sending a couple of minor leaguers, Greg Harris and Jose Dominguez to the Rays for Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore, a couple of relievers. 

               He would not stop there. He traded for reliever, Juan Nicasio, and then in December, he made a couple of huge trades. The first sent Dee Gordon, Miguel Rojas, Dan Haren and cash to Miami for Kike Hernandez, Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, and Andrew Heaney, he then turned Heaney to the Angels the same day for Howie Kendrick. On the 16th, he signed Brandon McCarthy to a four-year deal. Then on the 19th, he made another huge trade with the Padres, sending Matt Kemp, Tim Federowicz and cash to the Padres for Yasmani Grandal, Zach Elfin, and Joe Weiland. The next day he traded Elfin and a minor leaguer to the Phillies for Jimmy Rollins. In a matter of days, he changed the face of the franchise. He signed Brett Anderson to a one-year deal and brought in a bunch of free agent pitchers. 

              His first draft class in June would bring Walker Buehler, who was injured at the time, Josh Sborz, Willie Calhoun, Edwin Rios, Matt Beaty and Kyle Garlick into the organization. They won 92 games, beating defending World champs, the Giants by 8 games. What galled most fans was the Giants had 3 titles in 5 years, and LA had none since 1988. Greinke was the ace in 15. He went 19-3 with a miniscule 1.66 ERA. Kersh won 17 and he struck out 301 batters, the last pitcher to do so.  Anderson had 10. Bolsinger, 6, rookie Carlos Frias 5 and in season addition, Alex Wood won 5. Jansen 36, Hatcher 4 and Peralta 3. They lost the LDS, 3-2 to the Mets. This time it was a solo shot off of Greinke in the 6th inning by Daniel Murphy of the Mets that beat them. The series had one moment which would end up impacting baseball and rules. Chase Utley, who had come to LA in a trade late in the year, slid into second base and broke the Mets SS, Ruben Tejada’s leg. The next season a rule was in place banning players from going out of their way to take out an infielder. It is commonly known as the Utley rule. LA would lose Zack Greinke to free agency after the season. He signed a long-term deal with Arizona. A trade in December brought Micah Johnson, Trayce Thompson and Frankie Montas to the team. 

             2016 brought a managerial change as Freidman picked his own guy, and that guy was Dave Roberts. Roberts beat out Gabe Kapler, who many thought would get the job. They tapped into the Japanese market and signed Kenta Maeda. There was a new SS, Corey Seager, who would be the ROY. Pederson was in his second season as the starting CF and Utley who was re-signed was the starting 2B. Justin Turner took over as the starting third baseman. 

               The starting rotation featured Maeda, Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, another free agent, rookie Ross Stripling and 19-year-old Mexican lefty, Julio Urias. Maeda led the team with 17 winds. Kershaw battled injuries and made just 21 starts winning 12 games. Kazmir won 10. Jansen had 47 saves. No other pitcher recorded one. Joe Blanton had 7 wins out of the pen. They won the LDS beating the Nationals 3 games to 2 and then lost the LCS to the eventual World Champs, the Cubs in 6 games.  The two wins came in games 2 & 3, a pair of shutouts, first by Kershaw, and then by late season pickup, Rich Hill.  They were outscored by Chicago, 29-17. The 2016 draft class had Gavin Lux, Jordan Sheffield, Will Smith, Mitch White, Dustin May, DJ Peters, Luke Raley, Tony Gonsolin, Cody Thomas, Dean Kremer, and Zach McKinstry. In one way or another, all would either contribute or be part of a trade to improve the team. 

                By 2017, Freidman was putting his fingerprint on the Dodgers organization from top to bottom. The team had not reached the ultimate prize yet, the World Series, but they were dominating the west and getting closer to the goal. He never seemed to stand pat. In November of 16, several key players became free agents, among them, Jansen, Turner, and Rich Hill. Hill and Turner resigned in December; Jansen inked his new deal in January. Having traded Kendrick away in November, he swung a trade for Logan Forsythe to be the new 2nd baseman in January. 

              As per usual, he kept adding free agent pitchers to the mix. Brandon Morrow, signed in January would be a key part during the second half. In April they signed an infielder who had been released by the A’s. Although he would not impact the 2017 team, going forward he would become an important piece of the offense. He was Max Muncy. By the end of April, they were 14-12 2 games out of first place. By the end of May, they were 33-21 one half game in front. Adrian Gonzalez was injured, so they brought up Cody Bellinger to take his place. Bellinger would go on to win the ROY smashing Piazza’s rookie record for homers with 39. The offense was a juggernaut with 6 players hitting 20 or more. Turner hit .322. 

              The pitching was led by Kershaw who won 18, finished 2nd in the Cy Young race and earned another ERA title with a 2.31 mark. Alex Wood had the best winning percentage in the league going 16-3. Maeda 13, and Hill 12, also won double digit games. Ryu, 5 and McCarthy, 6, had injury issues. Jansen was 5-0 with a league leading 41 saves. Morrow was 6-0 with 2 saves, and even more amazingly, he did not allow a single homer. Baez, Fields, Avilan and Stripling did the heavy lifting in the pen, all appearing in 49 games or more. Avilan, Jansen and Baez all appeared in more than 60. Morrow had 45 appearances. Young Walker Buehler would make his debut and pitch in 9 games. Team had a 3.38 ERA. To Bolster the starting rotation with Ryu and McCarthy out, AF traded for Yu Darvish at the deadline. Darvish was 4-3 in regular season play.

           They swept the D-Backs in the LDS with Kershaw, Maeda and Darvish posting wins, Darvish beat Greinke, 3-1 in the deciding game. They then took on the Cubs in a rematch of the 16 LCS. This time the series lasted just 5 games. The only loss was a 3-2 game in game 4. Wood took the loss. Kershaw got the win in the deciding game 5 with an 11-1 blowout. Kike Hernandez hit 3 homers and drove in 7 runs in that game. Maeda, Jansen, and Darvish won the other 3. 

            In the World Series for the first time since 88, they faced the Houston Astros. We all know and remember the outcome. A lot of the blame initially was placed on Yu Darvish since he lost both of his starts in game 3 and game 7. What did not come out until well after the series was over was the fact that the Astros were stealing signs electronically. In the aftermath, several were suspended, and the Astros themselves were fined. That did not satisfy most fans who felt then, and some still do, that the win should have been nullified and a season with no champion declared. This did not happen, and many still blame Manfred for not imposing harsher penalties on those involved. Suffice it to say, the defeat left a really bad taste in the fans mouth.

         In 2018, LA was in a dogfight for the division for the first time in a while. The challenger, Colorado was a surprise. They would end up tied after 162 games, and in game 163, Buehler, who had become part of the rotation spun a gem, winning 5-2 at Dodger Stadium. LA used 6 starting pitchers with Rich Hill, 11, the only one in double digits. Kershaw 9, Wood 9, Buehler 8, Maeda and Stripling 8. Jansen was 1-5 with 38 saves. Fields, Alexander, and Ferguson with 3, 2 and 2 saves respectively. Ryu managed to win 7 of his 15 starts in his return from injury. The big trade at the deadline landed Machado from the Orioles to play SS for injured Seager. Matt Kemp, who had come over in a salary dump trade with the Braves in the off season, carried the offense the first half. In May of that year, they played the Padres in Mexico City. Buehler, Cingrani, Garcia and Liberatore pitched the last no-hitter the team has had, and it was the first combined no-hitter in team history.

        They beat the Braves in the LDS 3-1, then played a 7-game series against the Brewers winning 4-3. With their second pennant in a row, they advanced to play the Red Sox in the 2018 series, and were quite simply, outclassed and beaten, 4-1. Their only win came in an 18-inning affair in game 3 at Dodger Stadium, won on a walk off homer by Max Muncy, who had come on the scene early in 2018 and supplied some major power with 35 homers. LA had 7 players that year who hit more than 20. 

        2019 would be a historic season. Grandal, Machado were free agents. The team did sign Ryu back. Seager was back, Muncy took over at first with Bellinger moving to the outfield. They signed AJ Pollock as a free agent. Kike was at second, Pederson moved to left. Austin Barnes became the #1 catcher; he would get some help when Will Smith got called up in May. Bellinger went on a tear finishing with 47 homers, a .305 BA winning the MVP award. Muncy and Pederson had 35 and 36 homers respectively. Seager led the league with 44 doubles.

       The pitching was solid, Ryu led in ERA, 2.32, He and Buehler had 14 wins. Buehler only lost 4 and led in winning percentage with a .778 mark. Kershaw won 16 games losing 8 and Hill won just 4, but he was injured much of the year. Maeda added 10 wins. Jansen saved 33. Urias, also coming back from surgery and an injury saved 4. Baez led a busy bullpen with 71 appearances. The team won 106 games, beating by 1 the record of the 1953 team. So, it was a huge shock when they lost the LDS in 5 games to the Washington Nationals. Many fans questioned Dave Roberts pitching choices in the series, especially his pitching decisions in game 5. Sending Kershaw back out for the for the 8th inning when he allowed back-to-back homers to Rendon and Soto, tying the game. And sending Joe Kelly back out in the top of the 10 where he got lit up for 4 runs on Howie Kendrick’s grand slam. Side note, the winning pitcher was Daniel Hudson, who would later contribute to a Dodger series win. 

                   2020 started off normally, then all of a sudden, everything was turned upside down. LA had traded for Mookie Betts and David Price just prior to the season, they also had signed Betts to a 12-year deal locking him up. Spring training started on time, but then the pandemic hit, and everything ground to a halt. After sending 3 players to the Sox for Betts, they traded Maeda a minor leaguer and cash to the Twins for Brusdar Graterol, and Luke Raley. Spring training was halted on March 12th.  Finally, it was decided that play would resume on July 23rd. Teams would play a 60-game season with no fans in attendance. There was a separation protocol with 6 feet between each individual and masks were to be worn. They still held the draft in June, but it was cut to just a few rounds. The Dodgers made just four selections, Bobby Miller, Clayton Beeter, Landon Knack, and Gavin Stone. Teams would also only play teams in their own divisions and the AL teams in the same division. Big news for the pitchers was the retirement of Rick Honeycutt and the hiring of Mark Prior to take his place. 

               LA went 43-17, winning the west by 6 games over San Diego. They used 6 starters and 21 pitchers overall. It was also at this point that some teams, notably the Rays, began to use openers. Both leagues also were using the DH for the first time together. Kersh led the team with 6 wins. Stripling, Urias, and rookie Dustin May had 3 each. Gonsolin had 2 and Buehler, who got a late start just 1. Jansen was 3-1 with 11 saves. Baez 2, Kolarek, and Treinen also recorded saves. LH Jake McGee, a late signing won 3 out of the pen. To win the World Series, a team would have to win three playoff series before even getting there. The eventual champ would wind up with 13 post season wins, the most ever in history. 

            LA beat Milwaukee 2-0 in the Wild Card series. Urias and Kershaw getting the wins. That series was played at Dodger Stadium. Then they beat San Diego 3-0 in the LDS. That series was played at Globe Life Field in Texas, where all of the rest of the playoffs would be played. May won game one, Kershaw won game 2, and Urias won game 3 which was a blowout and featured a record-breaking performance by Will Smith who became the first Dodger ever to record 5 hits in a playoff game. Those first two series were played without fans in attendance.   

           MLB decided to allow 10,000 fans to attend the LCS games. The Dodgers were facing the Braves. Atlanta won game one, 5-1 and game 2, 8-7 with Treinen and Gonsolin getting the loss. LA, now the visiting team, hung 11 runs on the Braves in the first inning, with Max Muncy’s grand slam the big blow and won 15-3 behind Urias. They lost game four, 10-2, Kershaw getting the loss. With their backs to the wall, facing elimination, they won game five, 7-3 with Treinen getting the win in relief. They scored 3 in the first inning of game six, and Buehler pitched a gem with LA winning 3-1. Jansen got the save. In game seven, the Braves jumped out to a 2-0 lead. But for a huge blunder by Ozuna on the basepaths, it could have been worse. LA tied it in the 3rd when Smithe singled in Muncy and Turner. Atlanta took a 3-2 lead with a run in the 4th off of Gonsolin. Treinen relived him and finished the inning without any damage. In the bottom of the sixth, Kike Hernandez hit a pinch-hit homer to tie the game. In the bottom of the 7th, Cody Bellinger crushed a 2-out homer to right off of Chris Martin to put LA up 4-3. Julio Urias pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief, not allowing a thing, and LA was headed to the World Series. Urias got the win, his 4th of the playoffs. Corey Seager was named the series MVP.

        Again, the games were played in Texas.  LA was the home team the first two games. The Tampa Rays were the opponent. Kersh won game one, 8-3 getting his 3rd win of the post-season. They lost game 2, 6-4, with Gonsolin getting the loss. They became road team in game 3. Buehler earned his second post season win in a 6-2 victory. The Rays got a walk off 8-7 win in a wild game four. Jansen took the loss in relief, blowing a save in the process. Kershaw came back to win his second game of the series, besting Tyler Glasnow for the second time, 4-2. Treinen got the save. Game six was started for the Rays by lefty, Blake Snell. The Rays scored in the top of the first on a homer by Randy Arozarena off of Gonsolin. Snell meanwhile mowed down the Dodger hitters for 5 innings, striking out 9. He got one out in the fifth, and then Austin Barnes got the second hit off of Snell, Chris Taylor had the first. With 1 out and Barnes on base, manager Kevin Cash made a much-discussed controversial decision to remove Snell from the game although he had thrown just 73 pitches.

            He brought in Nick Anderson who immediately gave up a double to Mookie Betts before throwing a wild pitch to Seager allowing Barnes to score tying the game. Betts then scored on a grounder to first that was scored a fielder’s choice. LA led 2-1. Betts then homered in the 8th for the final run in a 3-1 Series clinching win. Victor Gonzalez got the win, and Urias, got the save with 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 4, including the last hitter, Willy Adames. LA had finally ended the 30 plus years without a championship. There would be a lot of talk that this was not a legitimate win. But every team played under the same rules. And LA did have to win more postseason games than any other team in history to become the champion. 

               The league and the country returned to some form of normalcy in 21. But for the first time since 2013, the Dodgers would not win the west. Huh? They won 106 games again. But the hated Giants won 107. The big off-season signing was NL Cy Young winner from 2020, Trevor Bauer. Julio Urias was the staff ace, winning 20 games. Buehler won 16, and Kershaw 10 in another year marred by injury. Bauer won 8 before he was placed on the restricted list for shall we say, some bad behavior. Gonsolin, also injured for much of the year won 4. Needing a SS in case Seager walked after the season, and a starting pitcher, they traded Josiah Gray, Kiebert Ruiz and two minor leaguers to the Nats for Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. They also traded for Danny Duffy from the Royals who would never make a pitch for LA. The June draft netted Nick Nastrini, Ben Casparius, Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski.

            Scherzer went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 11 starts for the Dodgers. Included was a 7-inning perfect game against the Padres when he recorded his 3000th strikeout in September. He allowed just 1 hit in his 8 innings as LA shut out SD, 8-0. Turner would win the batting title and bring a lot of excitement on the bases. Jansen would save 38 games. Treinen appeared in 72 games out of the pen. LA would use an astounding 39 players as pitchers that year, with Justin Turner and Andy Burns pitching in relief. The bad news was that they lost Muncy for the playoffs when he was injured in the last game of the year against the Brewers. 

          LA had to play a one game playoff with the Cardinals to get into the playoffs. They won 3-1 on a walk off homer by Chris Taylor. They then faced the Giants in the LDS. They split the first two games with Buehler taking the loss in a 4-0 shutout by Webb in game 1, and Urias beating Gausman 9-2 in game 2. In LA for game 3, they fell 1-0 in a wind-blown game lost by Scherzer who allowed just 3 hits, but a game winner to Evan Longoria in the 5th. LA came back to win game 4, 7-2. Buehler started and went 4.1 innings. He allowed just 1 run on 3 hits. The Dodgers had a 4-0 lead when he left the game. Betts 2-run homer in the 4th put them up by that score. The Giants managed single runs in the 5th and 8th innings. LA answered with a run in the 5th and 2 in the bottom of the 8th on a Will Smith homer. Kelly got the win in relief.

          Game 5 was a bullpen game for LA. SF countered with Webb. Knebel started for LA and was replaced by Graterol. Urias then entered the game as the bulk man. He would pitch 4 innings allowing a run in the 6th on a Darin Ruf homer. That tied the game after Betts had scored on a Seager single in the top of the inning. Webb left after 7 innings. Treinen and Jansen threw clean innings in the 7th and 8th. Doval relieved Rogers with 2 outs in the 8th and finished the inning. In the 9th, Doval retired the first hitter and then hit Justin Turner. Lux singled moving JT to second. Bellinger then hit a seeing eye single up the middle to score Turner with the go ahead run. Gausman relieved Doval and got the last 2 outs. Scherzer came in to pitch the bottom of the 9th. He would strike out two, including Flores to end the game and send LA to the LCS against Atlanta.

           LA would again fall behind 3 games to 1. They lost each of the first two games in Atlanta by 1 run. Back in LA, they won game 36-5 behind Gonsolin. Smyly beat Urias 9-2 in game 4. Game 5 was a 11-2 LA win with Chris Taylor homering 3 times, and AJ Pollock twice. Evan Phillips got the win in a bullpen game started by Kelly. Phillips had been picked up off waivers from the Orioles. It was moot though, Buehler lost game 6, 4-2 giving up a 3-run homer to series MVP Eddie Rosario in the 4th inning. LA could muster only 5 hits and 2 runs off of the Braves pitchers.

           2022 would see LA challenge the all-time wins record and fall 5 short with 111 wins. There were some changes to the rotation. Bauer was suspended for the season. They signed a couple of lefties in Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney. Trea Turner took over at SS because Seager left in free agency. Kike Hernandez also departed. JT became the main DH for the year and Muncy, returning from his injury, played 3rd most of the time. Freddie Freeman joined LA as a free agent. Kenley Jansen also left as a free agent.

               Urias won 17 games and the ERA title again. Anderson had 15 wins and Gonsolin had his best season with a 16-1 mark, leading the league in winning percentage. Kershaw battling nagging injuries went 12-2. Heaney won 4 games and Buehler, who also was injured, 6. They traded for Craig Kimbrel at the end of spring, and he was the closer. He saved 22 games, but because he was inconsistent, they had 11 other pitchers who recorded saves. Danile Hudson had 5, second on the team and Graterol had 4. Treinen went down to injury early in the year. They used 31 pitchers. Phillips led in appearances with 64. 

             The LDS to say the least was extremely disappointing. They lost to the Padres in four games, winning only game one, 5-2 behind Urias. After that game, Padre pitching shut them down pretty well. Darvish won game two, Snell got a 2-1 win in game 3. Tim Hill won in relief in game 4 when the bullpen coughed up a 3-run lead allowing 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th. The winningest team in Dodger history went home embarrassed. 

               2023 LA would win the division again. 10th time in 11 years. They won 100 games for the fourth time in five years. They still had the shadow of Bauer hanging over the team, that was resolved when MLB reinstated him, and LA immediately released him. They signed Noah Syndergaard as a free agent, hoping to recapture some of his prior work. The signed JD Martinez to be the DH, brought Jason Heyward and David Peralta in as free agents. Rookie James Outman won the CF job with a nice spring training. Rookie Bobby Miller pitched his way into the starting rotation.

              Kershaw was the teams wins leader with 13. He only pitched in 24 games due to lingering injurie issues. Urias and Miller won 11 games. Gonsolin won 8 in an injury plagued season. May and Buehler were out for the year. Phillips was the closer saving 24 games. Graterol and Ferguson led the team with 68 appearances. Because of injury, they were forced to trade for a starter, Lancy Lynn, and a reliever, Joe Kelly, at the deadline. They also brought Kike Hernandez back. JT had signed with Boston as a free agent that winter. They used 398 pitchers that year. Again, the playoffs were disappointing, getting swept by a team they had won the season series against, Arizona. The D-Backs would eventually go to the World Series where they would be beaten by Texas, and former Dodger, Corey Seager would win his second series MVP award. Kershaw did not make it out of the first inning in game one, Miller lost game two, 4-2. Lynn allowed 4 solo homers in the same inning for a 4-2 loss in game 3.

            In my mind, I think ownership said enough is enough and really opened the pocketbook prior to the 24 season. They were determined to make a big splash, and they did. The reeled in the biggest fish, Shohei Ohtani on December 11th with a 700-million-dollar 10-year deal. The kicker was that 680 million was deferred. Next up, they traded for Tyler Glasnow from the Rays and signed him to a 5-year deal. Then they signed Japanese star, Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year 300 mil plus deal on December 27th. They were not finished, in January, they signed Teoscar Hernandez to a one-year contract.  They would make trades at the deadline to shore up the pitching and add a utility player in Tommy Edman. Jack Flaherty was the pitcher they got from Detroit.

            Every one of those moves would pay off. They would start the season in Korea against the Padres. Glasnow won the first game, and Yamamoto was lit up by the Padres in the second. They started the season at home taking 3 of 4 from St. Louis. Amazingly, with all this high-priced talent, the winningest pitcher was rookie, Gavin Stone who won 11. Glasnow won 9, free agent signee, James Paxton won 8 before he was traded. Yamamoto won 7. Kershaw was out most of the year. He did manage to pitch in 7 games and had 2 wins. Flaherty won 6 games after the trade. Freeman was injured on a play at first in the final series with the Padres. So, he had that to deal with during the playoffs. He twisted his ankle really badly. 

           Phillips was 5-1 with 18 saves. Hudson saved 10. Vesia led all relievers with 67 appearances. LA used 38 pitchers during the year. A rookie, River Ryan made a huge impression in his 4 appearances, winning one before he went down needing TJ surgery. Ohtani was not able to pitch, but he nonetheless had a historic year becoming the first ever 50-50 player. 54 homers and 59 stolen bases. He was the unanimous MVP. Mookie Betts moved to SS because of Lux’s fielding issues. He was having a nice year until his hand was broken in June in a game with the Royals. He did not return until August. Muncy missed significant time also. Freddie Freeman had to leave the team for a while when his son, Max, had a serious illness. So, the team dealt with a lot of injuries. 

          They went into the playoffs with Betts now back in RF, and Miguel Rojas doing most of the work at SS, but sharing time with Kike, Taylor and Edman. They played the Padres in the LDS. The won game one, 7-5 coming from being down 5-3. Yamamoto gave up all the runs in his 3 innings of work. Ohtani hit a game tying 3-run shot off of Dylan Cease in the third. LA scored 3 in the bottom of the 4th and another in the 5th for the win. Brasier got the win, and Treinen the save. Padres won game 2 behind Darvish. Padres scored 10 runs, LA just 2. Flaherty got the loss. 

           Game 3 was a close one, 6-5 with King getting the win, and Buehler, who gave up 6 runs in the second taking the loss. LA was now on the verge of going home in the first round again. Roberts employed a bullpen game for game 4 in San Diego. Brasier was the first of eight pitchers for the night. Cease got the start on just a couple of days rest. Bad decision. LA chased him in the second inning having scored 1 in the first and 2 in the second. They scored 2 more in the third off of Hoenig, and 3 more in the 7th to tie the series with an 8-0 shutout. Banda, Kopech, another mid-season pickup, Vesia, Phillips, Hudson, Treinen and Knack finished up allowing 7 hits, 2 walks and racking up 8 Ks among them. 

         The series shifted back to LA for game 5. Darvish against Yamamoto. Yoshi was a different pitcher this time out. He went 5 scoreless innings allowing just 2 hits and a walk. Darvish gave up a solo homer to Kike in the second, but after that he was on cruise control. Phillips and Vesia held SD hitless in the 6th and 7th. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, the other Hernandez, Teo, hit a shot deep into the LF pavilion off of Darvish, knocking him out of the game. Kopech and Treinen shut the Pads down in the 8th and 9th with Tatis grounding out for the final out. LA exorcised some demons and moved on to the LCS. 

             They would meet the Mets in the LCS. They won game one in LA behind Flaherty, a 9-0 shutout setting a MLB record for the most continuous scoreless innings in a playoff. Mets won game 2, 7-3 behind Shawn Manea. They went to NY for the next 3 games, and had another shutout, 8-0 thrown by Buehler and 4 relievers with Kopech getting the win. They allowed just 4 hits to the Mets but walked 4 also. Kike, Shohei and Max went deep. It was Max’s second of the series. Game 4 was another romp, 10-2. Yamamoto got the start but went just 4.1 innings allowing both Mets runs. Phillips, Treinen and Henriquez followed him with Phillips getting the win. Ohtani hit his 3rd playoff homer and Betts did the same. Alex Vesia missed the series due to injury. 

          The Mets pounded Flaherty in game five, winning 12-6. Flaherty gave up 8 runs in his 3 innings pitched. Brent Honeywell, mopping up gave up the other 4. Andy Pages hit 2 homers and Betts had another his 5th of the playoffs. Back in LA for game six, LA jumped out to a 6-1 lead by the third inning and never looked back. They would win 10-5 with rookie Ben Casparius getting the win. Edman doubled and homered and was named LCS MVP. Will Smith also homered. LA waited for the New York Yankees to arrive for game one of the World Series, their first meeting since 1981.

            Flaherty faced Cole in game one. Both hurlers were at the top of their game. LA scored first in the bottom of the 5th. Stanton then hit a massive 2-run shot in the 6th, putting NY up 2-1. That chased Flaherty and Banda came in to relieve. He allowed 2 hits but got the Yankees out without any more damage. Cole left after 6. Holmes pitched 2/3rds of an inning in the 7th and was replaced by Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle would be charged with the Dodgers run in the 8th, but Luke Weaver, gave up the sac fly by Betts that scored Ohtani. In the top of the 9th, Treinen allowed a run on a single by Volpe putting NY up, 3-2. Jake Cousins came in to pitch for the Yankees. He allowed a hit and a walk. With Ohtani coming up, the Yankees brought in Nestor Cortes. Cortes got Ohtani to foul out to Verdugo down the left field line, but Verdugo fell into the stands allowing the runners on first and second to advance one base. Cortes walked Betts intentionally to losa the base, bringing up, Freddie Freeman.

          Freeman already had one hit in the game, a triple. The at bat lasted one pitch, Freddie hit a long drive into the right field pavilion and bedlam broke out. It was a walk-off grand slam.  The first in World Series history, and probably the second most famous walk off homer in Dodger history. LA then won game 2 at home, 4-2 with Yamamoto limiting the Yankees to 1 hit in his 6.1 innings of work. On the strength of a second inning homer by Edman, and a 2-run shot by Teo followed by a solo shot from Freeman, LA won 4-2. The series shifted to New York. LA won game 3, 4-2. Freeman homered in his third straight game. Buehler went 5 innings and got the win. In game 4, the Yankees bats finally awoke out of their slumber. They got a grand slam by Volpe off of Hudson in the third. Wells homered in the Knack in the 6th and Torres hit a 3-run shot off of Honeywell in the 8th. LA had taken the lead, 2-0 in the first when Freeman hit his 4th homer of the series. But it was all Yankees after that. Hudson got the loss in a bullpen game, Holmes the win in relief of Gil. 

         The Yankees had their ace going in game five, Gerritt Cole. LA countered with Flaherty. Jack could not repeat his game one performance and gave up 4 runs, two of them on a solo homer by Judge and a 2-run shot by Chisholm. Brasier gave up a solo shot to Stanton in the third and Cole cruised through the first 4 innings without allowing a hit. Then things got ugly for the Yankees. Kike got LA’s first hit leading off the fifth. Edman then hit a drive to center that Judge dropped. Smith hit a slow roller to Volpe who tried to force Kike at third, but Chisholm could not handle the ball. Lux struck out. Mookie hit a slow roller to first that Rizzo handled, but Cole was not covering the bag and Mookie beat Rizzo to the bag scoring Kike. Freeman then singled in 2 runs, making it 5-3. Teo then hit a long drive to left center that Judge could not catch up to, 2 runs scored tying the game. The Yankees had 2 physical errors and one really bad mental error in the inning. 

     4 of the 5 runs off of Cole were earned. He pitched into the 7th without any more damage. Meanwhile the Yankees retook the lead in the 6th, getting a run off of Graterol. He would be relieved by Treinen who had 2.1 innings of scoreless relief but had a very stressful inning in the 8th. LA had scored 2 in the top of the 8th for a 7-6 lead. weaver blew the save. Lux and then Betts hit sac-fly’s scoring Smith and Edman. Treinen struck out Rizzo with the two on to end the 8th. Walker Buehler came in to pitch the 9th after LA went down 1-2-3 in the inning. He faced Volpe and got him on a ground out. He then struck out Wells. Verdugo, the Yankees last chance went down on 3 pitches and LA had won its 8th World Series. 

      The Dodgers had battled through injuries to key players all year. The same thing happened in the World Series. Phillips was unavailable due to an injury which would carry over to spring training this year. Ohtani dislocated his shoulder on a slide at second in game two and although he played, he was a diminished player. For the first time since 1988, LA would get its parade. A full season Championship erased a lot of the stigma of winning the short season championship in 2020.

           After spending so much in the winter of 23, no one really expected LA to splurge again in 24. But they did. They signed Blake Snell, Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, re-signed Teo for three years, added Michael Conforto to the outfield mix, and just for extra credit, they signed highly sought after Japanese pitcher, Roki Sasaki, and Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, to multi-year deals. May, Gonsolin and Kershaw have all returned from injury, but the bug bit Glasnow again, and he only just returned. Snell had been out since April. Gonsolin is back on the IL as is Kopech, Treinen, and Graterol. Emmet Sheehan also returned from the IL and has pitched well. Casparius had pitched out of the pen and as a starter. Ohtani has made his long-awaited return to the mound and has been impressive in his very short outings. Muncy was injured again in the game where Kershaw recorded his 3000th K. Teo and Freddie have been hobbled at times, Freeman cooling off after a really hot start to the season. Edman has been nursing a bad ankle and a broken toe. Mookie has not been the Mookie we know and love. Some say his transitioning to full time SS is the reason. 

         The team also suffered through a 7-game losing streak just before the All-Star game, but they won 2 against the Giants to end it. Despite all of that, they are still in first place with a 5-game lead on the Padres. Will they make a major move at the deadline? Remains to be seen. Scott has saved 19 games, but he also leads the league with 7 blown saves. Yates has had his problems too. They did get younger by DFAing two longtime players in Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes, bringing up Kim to replace Taylor and Daulton Rushing to replace Barnes. Barnes is now with the Giants system at AAA and Taylor is on the IL for the Angels. What I do know is that Freidman and Gomes will check all of their options at the deadline. They will not overpay in prospect capital. 2025’s final story is yet to be told.