Fenway a monster of an advantage
Adjustments await Dodgers before Kershaw faces Sale
BOSTON — Hooting and hollering, Chris Taylor and a few other Dodgers took aim at the Green Monster. With their arms, not bats.
Standing in left field, they kept throwing balls at a small, square space in the scoreboard, shouting every time a miss clanged off the metal letters.
“I’ve got good aim!” Taylor shouted after he finally tossed one through, ending the contest Monday.
A lot of fun for the Dodgers, frolicking at Fenway Park during a World Series workout.
Might not look, sound or feel so friendly come Game 1 on Tuesday night.
“It’s a completely different atmosphere,” Red Sox reliever Heath Hembree cautioned. “Are they going to feel the Monster breathing down on them?”
Goes beyond the ballpark too.
“I think the biggest challenge for a team coming in here is you’re playing the Boston Red Sox,” pitcher Nathan Eovaldi said.
That’s the part Clayton Kershaw will focus on when he starts Game 1, trying to contain Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez and a team that blitzed to a teamrecord 108 wins, then breezed through the AL playoffs.
A three-time NL Cy Young Award winner, Kershaw has never pitched at Fenway. But he went through a drill in the bullpen Sunday night, going through his entire routine on the mound — even going to his mouth and wiping his hand before taking the ball out of his glove — without throwing a single pitch. On The Dodgers familiarize themselves with Fenway Park as they work out Monday for Game 1 of the World Series. Monday, he loosened up in a T-shirt and ski cap.
“Check this one off as far as pitching tomorrow, but I don’t really think about the history part of it too much, honestly,” he said.
The view from the other dugout certainly is more inviting.
“It’s a lot better wearing the white uniforms,” said Chris Sale, who will start the opener for the Red Sox. “It’s not an easy place to play as a visitor.
“This ballpark definitely brings its challenges in terms of it’s different. It’s not your standard wall out in center field, just kind of a half oval. We have nooks and crannies and some sharp edges and some different things going on out there. I could definitely see how this could raise some challenges for a team that doesn’t play here a lot.”
Fans saw that earlier in the playoffs.
A relative stranger to the 37-foot-high wall, Yankees left fielder Andrew McCutchen, misplayed a carom in the AL Division Series. Shortstop Didi Gregorius wandered far into the outfield, retrieved the carom and made a long relay — and wound up hurting his elbow, an injury that required Tommy John surgery.
During the AL Championship Series, Astros left fielder Marwin Gonzalez got lost and banged hard into the scoreboard, which isn’t padded. He was down for several minutes.
“Crazy bounces, all the odd angles,” said Dodgers starter Rich Hill, who previ- ously pitched for the Red Sox. “Off the scoreboard, off the numbers. Or you hook one down the line toward Pesky’s Pole, it’s probably less than 200 feet down there. There’s not a park like this.”
Taylor made a sensational catch in left-center field Saturday night as the Dodgers beat the Brewers in Game 7 and won the NLCS. He has played at Fenway, though it was several years ago with the Mariners. “I’ll feel it out,” he said. The Red Sox and Dodgers are meeting in the World Series for the first time since 1916. The Dodgers haven’t played an interleague game at Fenway since 2010, meaning Yasiel Puig, Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy will be getting their first looks at the field. Rookie Walker Buehler, who has been tabbed to start Game 3, visited a couple of times while he played in the summer amateur Cape Cod League.
Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman appreciates the oldest park in the majors, which opened about a week after the Titanic sank in 1912.
“There are some unique features here,” he said. “The triangle in center field. The wall, of course.
“I’ve never been in the visitors’ clubhouse, but I hear it’s tiny. That’s OK by me; I’m on the other side.”
At least the weather is supposed to decent enough — for late October in the Northeast, anyway.
Afternoon rain is possible, but it’s supposed to
Dodgers (Kershaw) at Red Sox (Sale) 8:09 p.m. Tuesday
Dodgers (Ryu) at Red Sox (Price) 8:09 p.m. Wednesday
Red Sox (TBD) at Dodgers (Buehler) 8:09 p.m. Friday G4: Red Sox at Dodgers, 8:09 p.m. Saturday
Red Sox at Dodgers, 8:15 p.m. Sunday G6: Dodgers at Red Sox, 8:09 p.m. Oct. 30 G7: Dodgers at Red Sox, 8:09 p.m. Oct. 31 On FOX; Games 5-7 if necessary dissipate, and the temperature is expected to be about 50 degrees for Sale’s first pitch before dropping into the upper 40s. Then it will be a little cooler for Game 2 on Wednesday night when David Price starts for the Red Sox against Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Before that, Dodgers infielder Brian Dozier intends to speak to his teammates, sharing the knowledge he learned over seven seasons with the Twins.
“We actually have a long meeting coming up, and I’m going to touch on that with a few different things,” he said. “How to play the wall that I learned even as a shortstop my rookie year. I’m going to touch on that to make sure.
“There’s no park similar to this. Balls down the line hit the stands. Fly balls can get lost. I guess my message is don’t let yourself be surprised by anything that happens here.”
Dodgers reliever Ryan Madson said he isn’t too worried about the ballpark oddities. Easy for him to say — he was part of bullpens that won World Series championships in Philadelphia and Kansas City.