Familiar faces in Series, more A’s than Giants
For Giants fans, the 116th World Series might be more intriguing if it involved Dusty Baker and Pablo Sandoval.
With a side of Will Smith and Mark Melancon.
Instead, the World Series features the Dodgers for the third time in four years and Rays for the first time since 2008. It’s more fitting than Braves Astros on a national stage because the final teams were the No. 1 seeds in the expanded 16team tournament, the only ones to reach 40 wins in the 60game miniseason.
Game 1 is Tuesday night at the neutral site of Arlington, Texas, where the Pandemic Series will be played in front of
about 11,000 fans at the Rangers’ new retractableroof facility.
The Giants might not have much representation beyond Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who finished his playing career in San Francisco, but a couple of former A’s prospects have developed into key players for both World Series entries.
Joey Wendle, who seemed to morph into Brooks Robinson during the ALCS, was acquired by the A’s in the 2014 Brandon Moss trade and shipped to Tampa Bay three years ago for catcher Jonah Heim, who debuted in Oakland this year.
Max Muncy, a dud with the A’s before they released him 31⁄
2 years ago, has transformed into an elite power hitter who bats cleanup for the Dodgers. Former A’s closer Blake Treinen is in the Dodgers’ bullpen.
The World Series will be unlike other 2020 postseason rounds because traditional off days are included between Games 2 and 3 and, if the series lasts long enough, between Games 5 and 6. The Dodgers are the “home” team and have last licks the first two nights.
While the Rays will seek their first championship in franchise history, the Dodgers will try to win their first since Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser and Co. stunned the mighty 1988 A’s.
Considering their exorbitant spending over the years, the Dodgers have been colossal failures. Again, they’re tops in payroll while the Rays, who outsmart opponents with their creative methods of roster building and game planning, are 28th.
Sometimes the only people the Dodgers outsmart is themselves. Questionable ingame decisions by Roberts, in collaboration with the front office, have backfired in key moments in recent postseasons.
However, Roberts now is on a roll, coming off an expertly managed Game 7 of the NLCS in which he pinch hit Kiké Hernández, whose homer made it 33, and summoned starter Julio Urías in the seventh inning and stuck with him ( instead of shaky closer Kenley Jansen) to finish the 43 clincher.
Coming off their eighth straight division title, the Dodgers are loaded, especially with the addition of Mookie Betts, a former American League MVP who can win games as a threat at the plate, on the bases and in the outfield, where his diving plays and overthewall catches have been on display all month.
The Dodgers have more than one MVP. Cody Bellinger, whose seventhinning homer sunk the Braves, and ace Clayton Kershaw have won league MVPs, and Corey Seager was the NLCS MVP. Justin Turner, AJ Pollock, Joc Pederson and Muncy provide pop throughout the lineup.
Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Urias lead the rotation, but Kershaw remains a mystery in the postseason, still looking to dominate on the biggest stage ( in that Madison Bumgarner kind of way) as he usually does in the regular season. The Dodgers are the favorites with or without Kershaw at his best.
The Rays are a less familiar bunch under manager Kevin Cash, who pulls the strings on a deep bullpen that can finish games as successfully as it can open them.
Because the Rays have a special knack to find players other teams don’t, their star of the postseason, naturally, is a rookie named Randy Arozarena, who was acquired from the Cardinals and seems to hit home runs on a daily basis.
The rotation is strong with Tyler Glasgow, Blake Snell and Charlie Morton, the starter in the ALCS finale, and the bullpen is full of versatility with three relievers earning saves in the ALCS: Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo and Peter Fairbanks.
While the Dodgers roared back from a 31 series deficit to eliminate the Braves, who signed Sandoval after the Giants released him last month and used former Giants Smith and Melancon as lategame relievers, the Rays were up 31 to Houston before requiring a Game 7 to eliminate Baker’s Astros.
The World Series still has local twists including Pederson, a graduate of Palo Alto High School. Rays catcher Mike Zunino’s dad, Greg, played at Cal, and his godfather was renowned scout Gary Hughes, who was a regular at Giants games and died last month.
Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren managed the A’s for four seasons preceding Bob Melvin, and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro was a finalist for the Giants’ managerial job that went to Gabe Kapler.