Dodgers win!
Trophy goes home to LA for first time in 32 years
Based on a highly unscientific Taos News Facebook poll, Taos County is a Dodgers town. Or at least that’s their pick in this World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays.
More than 20 posted their good wishes and “Go Dodgers” Tuesday (Oct. 27) before Game 6 of the World Series, played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
“I’m a Dodgers fan because my 12-year-old grandson Daniel is a Little League all-star player and he is a big Dodgers fan,” said Arroyo Hondo resident Linda Trujillo. “So I support him in everything that has to do with baseball. Plus they haven’t won a World Series since 1988. So we’ve been rooting for the Dodgers.”
They celebrated the Dodgers’ win over the Rays in Game 6 of the Series, which put Los Angeles up 3-1 to take the trophy. It was the Dodgers’ first World Series title in 32 years. So Trujillo’s grandson wasn’t even a thought yet the last time his team won the Series.
The only shadow over the Dodgers’ win was when third baseman Justin Turner tested positive for COVID-19 in the middle of their Series-winning game and had to leave the field. He returned later for a team photo but missed on their jubilant celebration immediately after the game.
Gina Trujillo doesn’t live in Taos, but her mother was born and raised in the valley and she grew up in Albuquerque. “We regularly attended the Dukes baseball games growing up; they were the farm team for the Dodgers then, so always a Dukes and Dodgers fan!!”
Sid Barrett, an umpire, mediator, DJ at KNCE radio and a Braves fan, still cheered on the Dodgers. “It’s the Dodgers’ turn – and (Clayton) Kershaw needs a ring,” he posted before the winning game.
“I admire (Clayton) Kershaw and would like to see him win the World Series. The Dodgers are the 21st-century equivalent of the Braves teams of the ‘90s – sustained excellence, lots of division titles, but two trips to the Series and nothing to show.”
That all changed Tuesday night. As a student of the game, Barrett gave his perspective on what went wrong for the Rays, who entered the game with a strong showing in the 3-2 series and a chance to tie it up. “The Rays’ manager (Kevin Cash) cost his team the game and possibly the Series by pulling his starting pitcher (Blake Snell), who was dominating the Dodgers hitters,” Barrett noted about the decision to pull Snell in the sixth inning.
“I’ve played a little ball, and let me tell you, the mood on the Dodgers bench went from depressed to ecstatic when they
saw Snell walk off the mound. ( Television closeup of Snell showed him mouthing an [expletive] when he saw his manager coming.) Last night may be the high-water mark of managing by computer printout.
“Instead of asking his pitcher, ‘Whaddaya got in the tank?’ or
asking the catcher, ‘Can he get this guy out?’ like the old days, he just looked at a bunch of printouts and calculated that a relief pitcher would have a statistically better chance of success. The Dodgers proceeded to beat that relief pitcher like a rented mule, and that was the ballgame.
“That said ... Dodgers pitching was deadly, and their hitters didn’t miss a mistake,” Barrett added. “They won it fair and square.”
Turner tweeted after the game that he felt fine and was showing no symptoms.