Small crowds, masked umps part of this Series
A World Series like no other opens tonight with Clayton Kershaw’s Dodgers pursuing redemption, Kevin Kiermaier’s Tampa Bay Rays seeking acclaim and Major League Baseball relieved just to reach the championship of the pandemic-delayed season.
Buzz figures to be dampened, with attendance down to about 11,000 in the smallest crowd for a Series game since roughly 1909.
The entire Series will be played on artificial turf for the first time since 1993, at new $1.2 billion Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, home of a Texas Rangers team eliminated on Sept. 20. Traditional postgame victory celebrations are barred. But surroundings are largely irrelevant to the favored Dodgers and underthe-radar Rays.
Los Angeles, baseball’s biggest spender, is back in the Series for the third time in four years as it seeks its first title since 1988.
Plate umpire Laz Diaz will be masked — along with the rest of the crew.
“I don’t know if you watched Game 7 last night but it sure felt like postseason to me,” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said Monday, after the Dodgers rallied to beat Atlanta 4-3 at Globe Life for the NL pennant. “The back and forth, the momentum shifts, big plays, big swings, big pitches — that was as much of a playoff feel as I’ve ever experienced.”
Tampa Bay, among the major leagues’ poorest draws and lowest-salaried rosters, made it this far only once before and lost to Philadelphia in 2008. Perennially unable to get a new ballpark built, the Rays have said they are exploring splitting future seasons between St. Petersburg, Florida, and Montreal.
While the Rays beat Houston for the AL pennant on Saturday night in San Diego, they had to wait until Monday to travel, allowing the Braves to vacate space in the Dallas at Las Colinas - Four Seasons, where the Dodgers have been bivouacked since before the Division Series started Oct. 6. Los Angeles had an optional early afternoon workout with the stadium roof closed, and the Rays had a full practice in the evening under autumn twilight.
“We’ll be able to get out there tonight, get a feel for the surroundings of the field and how the ball bounces,” Rays outfielder Austin Meadows said. “I’m excited for there to be fans. It’s been a long time coming.”
The winner will give its city a 2-1 advantage in major U.S. sports league titles during the novel coronavirus pandemic following championships by the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 28 and the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 11.
PLAYERS’ UNION TO START ANNUAL CURT FLOOD AWARD
>> The baseball players’ association is starting an annual Curt Flood Award.
Part of the annual Players Choice Awards, the Flood honor will be given to a player “who in the image of Flood demonstrated a selfless, longtime devotion to the players’ association and advancement of players’ rights.”
Flood died in 1997. He was a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion who unsuccessfully sued to strike down baseball’s reserve clause, a case he lost at the Supreme Court in a 5-3 vote in 1972. His case helped unite the union behind executive director Marvin Miller, and the reserve clause was struck down by arbitrator Peter Seitz in the Andy Messersmith-Dave McNally grievance in December 1975.
The inaugural Flood award will be announced Thursday.
NATIONALS KIRE KIC EY AS
PITCKINGCOACK>> The Nationals hired Jim Hickey on Monday as their pitching coach.
Hickey is entering his 38th season in pro baseball after spending the past two with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant for player development. He has 15 years’ experience as a pitching coach in the majors.
Hickey succeeds Paul Menhart, who was not brought back after his contract expired.
RALL WILL RUN REDS BASE
BALL OPERATIONS >> Cincinnati Reds general manager Nick Krall has been named director of baseball operations for the team.
The Reds announced Monday that Krall was being promoted to replace Dick Williams, who resigned Oct. 7 to assume a larger role in his family’s development business.