Dodgers receive World Series rings
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers received their World Series rings Friday in front of the loyal hometown fans who didn’t get to witness their 2020 championship run in person.
Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts and the Dodgers collected their jewelry before Los Angeles’ home opener. The team also raised a championship banner behind center field to the roars of a Chavez Ravine crowd that made up for its pandemic-limited numbers with joyous noise.
Those fans never got into Dodger Stadium to witness their team’s run to its first championship in 32 years. The Dodgers were well aware their ring ceremony was a cathartic moment for both the players and their millions of fans who were forced to enjoy a title run from afar.
“We’ve had a year that we could have never imagined,” said Dodgers owner Mark Walter, who hoped the championship season could “serve as an inspiration to finish this fight against the terrible pandemic, and to continue the fight for justice and equality for everyone.”
The Dodgers introduced each player with a congratulatory video from one of his baseball heroes. Will Clark congratulated Kershaw, who idolized the Rangers first baseman growing up in the Dallas area, while Betts — who only joined the Dodgers last year — got congratulations from Jimmy Rollins before receiving his first-ever ovation from Los Angeles’ fans.
Dodgers fans also roared particularly loudly for veteran Justin Turner and for Julio Urías, who got the final ring. The Dodgers’ homegrown Mexican left-hander smoothly recorded the final seven outs of the World Series clincher over Tampa Bay.
Left-hander David Price got a World Series ring despite opting out of his first season with Los Angeles due to the pandemic, but the veteran announced he is auctioning the ring to benefit The Players Alliance and its social justice causes.
The Dodgers also took a moment to honor Tommy Lasorda, the beloved former manager who died in January, just over two months after he witnessed Los Angeles’ championship-clinching victory in Texas.
Lasorda’s daughter, Laurel, spoke briefly to the crowd.
“Rest assured he’s smiling today and his spirit is with each and every one of us,” she said.
She introduced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who pointed skyward on his way to receive his ring.
Dodgers owner Magic Johnson and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — who was booed — raised the 2020 championship banner on a flagpole beyond center field.
Kershaw and several teammates put on their rings immediately after receiving the box, triumphantly flashing them for the cameras. The rings are stacked with hundreds of diamonds and sapphires totaling 11 karats.
Enrique Hernández and Joc Pederson missed the ceremony after leaving the Dodgers during the offseason.
Dodgers’ Roberts thinks Bauer being ‘singled out’ by umps
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he believes righthander Trevor Bauer is being “singled out” by Major League Baseball after umpires in Oakland collected several baseballs he threw in his last start, apparently to examine for foreign substances.
Roberts also acknowledged Friday that he has noticed umpires collecting sample balls from every pitcher as part of the sport’s crackdown this season on pitchers tampering with balls.
But the World Series-winning manager openly wondered why only Bauer’s name appeared as an apparent target of MLB’s investigation in a report by The Athletic on Thursday.
“I just hope that our player is not singled out,” Roberts said. “That’s the one thing I want to guard against.”
When asked directly if he felt Bauer is being singled out, Roberts replied: “At this point, yeah . ... I don’t know (why). That’s the only name I’ve heard floated around.”
In his pregame news conference before the Dodgers received their World Series rings in their home opener at Dodger Stadium, Roberts wondered why Bauer was specifically mentioned in The Athletic’s report, which was based on unnamed sources.
“I’ve noticed every game so far, they’ve taken balls out of play” from every pitcher, Roberts said.
Bauer reacted to the report on Twitter on Thursday, writing: “wonder where the articles about balls from every other pitcher being taken out of play in literally every other game this season are? Also lol to (at) MLB who already has ‘sources’ talking to gossip bloggers about a supposedly confidential process a week into the season.”
Baseballs loaded with foreign substances such as pine tar typically have higher spin rates when thrown properly, improving the movement of both fastballs and breaking pitches.
MLB disciplinarian Mike Hill sent a memorandum to all 30 teams in late March announcing an increase in the monitoring of baseballs. Statcast data is also being reviewed by the commissioner’s office to analyze spin rate changes among pitchers and comparing game data with career norms.
Bauer’s spin rates have gone up and down during his career, and he has spoken openly about the efficacy of using foreign substances to improve pitches, saying in 2018 that the competitive advantage created is significant, and that cheating is likely impossible to police.
Bauer’s spin rates rose significantly last season when he won the NL Cy Young award with Cincinnati, but he is far from the only pitcher with improvement in that area.
Bauer pitched 6.2 innings of three-hit ball against the Athletics on Wednesday in his second straight strong start for his new team.
After posting an NL-leading 1.73 ERA and 100 strikeouts to win his first Cy Young award with the Reds last season, Bauer returned to his native Southern California with a threeyear, $102 million contract with the defending champion Dodgers in February.