Playoffs bring out the best
With Dodgers vs. Rays, Series features top 2 teams during shortened season
ARLINGTON, Texas— TheWorld Series matchupbetween the DodgersandRays is a rare meeting of baseball’s best for the title, and a matchup of organizations with AndrewFriedman’s imprint.
Friedman was the Rays director of baseball operations from 2004-05 and then general manager from until he left in October 2014 to become the Dodgers president of baseball operations.
Game 1 is Tuesday night.
Retired first baseman James Loney, a veteran of both organizations, describes the Rays as “feisty.”
“Wewere always fighting. Butwe always did feel like we were the better team,” he said Sunday. “I don’t ever feel like we went out there overmatched. We didn’t care who was pitching. We didn’t care what kind of lineup they had. We were bringing that mentality and I think the Rays team this year has that.”
“Both teams are really committed to winning and trying to find any kind of edge they could,” added Loney, who played for the Dodgers from 2006-11 and the Rays from 2013-15. “The Rays are really known for their analytics and getting in there, trying to find different ways to beat hard teams: Is it a bullpen guy thatwe needto use in maybe an unorthodox situation? And the Dodgers, I feltwe kind of started doing that towards the end ofmy career.”
Despite the shortened schedule and expanded playoffs, the teams with the best record in each league meet in the World Series for just the fourth time since Major League Baseball realigned each league into three divisions in 1995.
Reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger, newcomer Mookie Betts and manager Dave Roberts’ Dodgers went 43-17, the best record in the majors by eight wins. They overcame a 3-1 deficit in the NL Championship Series, beat the Braves 4-3 on Bellinger’s late home run in Game 7 Sunday night and reached theWorld Series for the third time in four years.
Rookie sensation Randy Arozarena and skipper Kevin Cash’s bullpen-rich Rays were 40-20 and topped the American League by four victories. They also won a Game 7, topping the Astros 4-2 in the ALCS and earn the second World Series trip in franchise history.
“Going to be a fun Series,” Bellinger said. Because of their superior record, the Dodgers have“homefield advantage” when the neutral site Series starts in Arlington, Texas, andwill bat last inGames1and2, and then in 6 and 7, if necessary.
“Fromthe momentwe thatwewere able to put a season together, once they figured out that COVID thing, everybody was expecting us to get to theWorld Series. We were expecting to get to theWorld Series,” said Kiké Hernández, who tied Game 7 of the NLCS with a pinch-hit home run in the sixth inning.
About 11,000 fans will be allowed at Globe Life Field, the new home of the Rangers with a retractable roof, for each game.
Corey Seager and AJ Pollock boost the Dodgers offense and Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw head the pitching staff. The Dodgers won their 24th pennant by getting past the Brewers, PadresandBraves, but haven’t won a title since 1988, falling short a seven-game Series loss to the Astros in 2017 and a five-game defeat to the Red Sox the following year.
The Dodgers have won half their pennants since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles after the 1957 season.
The Rays are in the Series for just the second time and is among just six current franchises that have never won, joined by the Rockies, Brewers, Rangers, Padres and Mariners. The Rays lost to the Phillies in five games in 2008.
While the Dodgers topped the major leagues with a $95.6 million prorated payroll as of Aug. 1, the Rays were 28th at $29.3 million, according to figures compiled byMajor League Baseball. Only the Orioles ($23.8 million) and Pirates ($23.6 million were lower).
The Rays offense is much less known to most fans. The Rays’ top hitter during the season was Brandon Lowe with 14 homers and 37 RBIs, but he slumped to .115 (6 for
52) with two RBIs in the playoffs. Arozarena has been the breakout star of the postseason, hitting .382 with seven homers and 10 RBIs.
Pitching has been key, with Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Charlie Morton leading the Rays past the Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros. The Rays also are known for taking an innovative approach to the game, employing a versatile staff and occasionally using a four-man outfield.
Since the postseason doubled to eight teams in 1995, the only World Series between the top regular-season records in each league were the Braves’ victory over the Indians in 1995, the Yankees’ win over the Braves in 1998 and the Red Sox’s triumph over the Cardinals in 2013 — all in six games.
Baseball’s postseason keeps getting bigger, expanding to 10 teams in 2012 and 16 this year, when the novel coronavirus pandemic caused the regular season schedule for each team to be cut from the normal 162 games.
The Rays and Dodgers haven’t played that much over the years, only 17 times overall.
The Dodgers havewon 10 of them. Loney is among a group to have played for both teams that includes Carl Crawford, Jose Cruz, Logan Forsythe, DionerNavarro and J.P. Howell.
And they share a notorious player in common: Manny Ramirez was acquired by the Dodgers from the Red Sox in July 2008 and stayed until August 2010.
Ramirez signed with the Rays for the 2011 season but retired after five games rather than face a 100-game suspension for a positive drug test.
The Rays-Phillies World Series in 2008 remains the second-lowest viewed since television ratings are available dating to 1968.