Dodgers fans get apology, show mettle
The roar returned. The building jumped. The fans forgave.
A day after Enrique Hernandez criticized the Dodger Stadium crowd for its lack of energy, hours after he apologized for that critique, Chavez Ravine was filled Tuesday with the noisy joy of amends.
Fans were chanting, “Let’s Go Dod-gers” even before the first pitch. They were oohing every big swing, screaming at every big Dodgers pitch, howling at every Milwaukee Brewers move.
The energy was real. The Dodgers fed on it, were fueled by it, and eventually flew with it, all the way back into this National League
Championship Series with a 2-1 victory in 13 innings.
The Dodgers won it on Cody Bellinger’s single to right field to drive in Manny Machado from second base and tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Somebody will break that tie Wednesday afternoon in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers are thrilled that pitching for them will be Clayton Kershaw.
The Dodgers struggled throughout with the woes of a stumbling offense and the distraction of Machado, who caused the oddest of all sights, a bench-clearing incident in the 10th inning. It happened when first baseman Jesus Aguilar objected to the way Machado seemingly intentionally clipped his leg while running out a groundout. It wasn’t the first time Machado has taken a physical shot at the Brewers this series and benches briefly cleared before the incident ended with no punches thrown.
On this night, the real winners were the fans. They lived out the word on their souvenir towels — “Determined.” They spent most of the game on their feet. At one point, a bass drum player jumped on the Dodgers dugout and the fans clapped to his beat.
When Hernandez came to the plate in the first inning to the sounds of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” they made so much noise — no specific cheer, just raw noise — that Chavez Ravine sounded like a train station. And when their villain, Yasmani Grandal, came to the plate in the 11th inning, one night after he was badly booed, those fans gave him a loud ovation. Of course, they booed him when he struck out again, but can you blame them?
Those fans didn’t deserve to be criticized by Hernandez after Monday night’s deadening Game 2 loss — “The stadium had no energy, the fans had no energy” — and fully deserved his later contrition.
Hernandez apologized to fans in a message posted on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, claiming his quotes were taken out of context and noted, “what I said last night doesn’t portray the way I truly feel about you guys … I love you guys and I’ll never stop being grateful for the way that you have embraced the weirdo that I am!”
Before the game, manager Dave Roberts defended Hernandez, saying, “We all know [Enrique] is very emotional. He cares about winning and his work in the community and his interaction with the fans is unprecedented, is well documented. So I know he feels we’re all in it together as far as players, coaches, fans.”
Roberts, however, also defended the fans’ right to express themselves, saying, “It’s not ideal. I think here at home you’re doing your best, and to get booed is tough. They have a right. The fans have a right to do what they feel and voice their frustration.”
Alas, the Dodgers spent most of the game acting as if they weren’t listening, seemingly stranding runners and blowing opportunities in every inning.
In the eighth, the Dodgers nearly got it done, even against Brewers ace reliever Josh Hader, with Max Muncy leading off with a single up the middle and Bellinger moving him to third base with a single to right field. But, just as Machado struck out earlier in the inning, Matt Kemp ended the inning with a wild strikeout.
Throughout the night, the Dodgers defense and bullpen kept them in the game. The relievers took over from starter Rich Hill in the fifth inning of a 1-1 tie and performed brilliantly, stranding Brewers in scoring position in the seventh, ninth and 10th innings. The defense then dominated late, Chris Taylor making a diving catch in left field in the seventh and Bellinger making a sliding catch in right field the 10th.
With every great Dodgers play there was relief written all over their faces, and if it seems like the Dodgers are feeling the pressure, well, they are.
Before the game, Kershaw admitted to the challenges of attempting to end a 30-year World Series championship drought.
“I think with each postseason and not winning a World Series, I think you tack on a little bit more pressure, a little bit more urgency to win, especially when you’re with the team that we are,” Kershaw said. “I think there becomes a little bit more pressure, for sure, just because we’ve had such a great team. And it’s been a long time since we won one.’’
You think you’re tired of talking about 1988? Try hearing about it.
“No disrespect to 1988, we hear about that a lot,” he said. “And I’ve said it before, but we are sick of it. And it’s up to us to do something about it, obviously. We need to create some of our own history, for sure.”
For better and worse, the creation continues.