Series co-MVPs repaying Dodgers for opportunity
Turner, Taylor got careers restarted with Los Angeles.
CHICAGO — Justin Turner and Chris Taylor shared MVP honors in the NL Championship Series, repaying a Dodgers organization willing to roll the dice on players whose big league careers were stalled.
In Turner’s case, it was then-bench coach Tim Wallach who rediscovered him playing in a Cal State-Fullerton alumni baseball game four years ago, after his career appeared all but over.
In Taylor’s case, it was Los Angeles’ willingness to gamble that an offseason of grueling workouts would enable the young utilityman to rebuild his swing in a matter of months.
The co-MVPs turned up in the interview room together after the Dodgers eliminated the reigning World Series champion Cubs 11-1 in Game 5. They were champagne-soaked with hats turned backward, goggles still perched on Turner’s head. Fittingly, they doused each other with praise.
“He’s a dynamic player and a table setter,” said Turner, who hit .333 for the series, with two home runs and seven RBIs. “When he goes, we usually go as a team.”
“I talk to him as much as I can. He’s one of the reasons I decided to make the changes I did,” said Taylor, who finished at .316 with two homers and three RBIs.
“Guys that have gone out on a ledge and made big changes and had success with it,” Taylor added, “I saw those guys and the success they had, and that’s kind of what encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone.”
Before Los Angeles punched its first World Series ticket since 1988, manager Dave Roberts said Taylor had been a “fringy, 4-A player” with his old swing — good enough to play comfortably in Triple A, but often overmatched in the major leagues.
With a new look at the plate, the 27-year-old was part of the most valuable duo on the field throughout this series.
“To really try to shoot the moon as far as committing to a swing change, he did that,” Roberts said. “And it really paid off.”
Turner, meanwhile, had already established himself in three previous playoff appearances as one of the most dangerous hitters in the postseason. Then he served notice in Game 2 that he’d be a similar force against the Cubs.
His walk-off home run in that one was the Dodgers’ first in the postseason since Kirk Gibson’s in 1988, a feat he remembered watching as a 4-year-old at his grandmother’s house in Southern California.
Taylor’s highlights included momentum-swinging home runs in Games 1 and 3. The first came when reliever Hector Rondon tried to throw a 97 mph fastball and watched Taylor deposit it over the wall in right-center for a 3-2 lead.
The second came when Kyle Hendricks tried to sneak an 88 mph sinker past him. Taylor drove that one into the seats as well, tying it 1-1 and helping L.A.’s offense get on track in a 6-1 win.
The most inspirational part of Turner’s story stretches much further back.
He joined the big leagues with Baltimore at the end of the 2009 season but was designated for reassignment. The Mets claimed Turner but let him go in 2013. Wallach saw Turner in the college alumni game, and the organization signed him to a minor league deal. His versatility earned playing time after injuries, and the third baseman has been tough to keep out of the lineup since.