Dodgers need to be bold when retooling roster
Team’s clutch hitter and clubhouse leader retires after 11 big league seasons.
Dodger Stadium was a vortex of rage last week. The boos directed at manager Dave Roberts had a particularly angry edge. The Dodgers were on the verge of another postseason elimination and the fans realized they had been taken for suckers again. They believed this season would deliver a long-awaited championship, only to discover the ending would be painfully familiar. Roberts became the symbol of their misplaced faith and they unleashed their fury on him.
The Dodgers have become legendary teases. Their seven consecutive playoff appearances comprise the third-longest streak of its kind in baseball history, but they don’t have a World Series title to show for it.
Consistency has a price. To ensure a place in the postseason every October, the Dodgers have refrained from taking the gambles necessary to win a championship.
Their thinking is that the playoffs are essentially a spin of the roulette wheel, which just so happens to be a convenient explanation for their failures. They insist they are more likely to win a World Series if they win their division annually rather than go all-in in any one season, which sounds like an excuse for avoiding tough decisions.
Bound to their future, the Dodgers won’t maximize their present. Seduced by the possibilities of tomorrow, they won’t sacrifice today.
As a result, they are now 31 years removed from the last time they hoisted the
During the final weekend of the regular season, David Freese knew he was playing the last games of his major league career. He had decided this season would be his last before reporting to spring training in February. He was sure. He was at peace.
He thought he would retire after last season, after the Dodgers lost in the World Series to the Bos- ton Red Sox, but was persuaded to stick around another year after loving his first two months in Los Angeles. So he signed a one-year, $4.5million contract to help the Dodgers end their championship drought.
The Dodgers fell short again, losing in Game 5 of the National League Division Series to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. It marked a disappointing end to their season. It also marked the end of Freese’s accomplished career.
Freese, 36, made it official Saturday, announcing his retirement on Twitter after playing for four teams across 11 seasons. He will go down as one of the most clutch performers of his generation, a distinction he cemented with his first postseason appearance in 2011 when he was named most valuable player of both the NL Championship Series and the World Series for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals. He also was named an All-Star in 2012.
He finishes his career with a .277 batting average and 113 home runs during the regular season. He consistently elevated his performance in the postseason, hitting .299 with 10 home runs and a .919 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 69 career playoff games. He batted .315 with 11 home runs in 162 at-bats this season for the Dodgers. He was four for eight in the NLDS.
Freese spent parts of five seasons with the Cardinals to begin his career. He became a legend in St. Louis for his heroics in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series against the Texas Rangers, when he cracked a game-tying, two-run triple over right fielder Nelson Cruz’s head with the Cardinals down to their last strike. Two innings later, he clubbed a walk-off home run to force a Game 7, and the Cardinals went on to win the World Series. Freese batted .397 with five home runs and a 1.258 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 18 playoff games that October.
He reached the playoffs five more times; twice with the Cardinals, once with the Angels and twice with the Dodgers to finish his career.
He concluded his career in fitting fashion, with another productive postseason. In Game 3 of the NLDS, he became the fourth player in postseason history to collect three hits off the bench. He went three for three with a double in the Dodgers’ victory before adding another hit in Game 4.
The Dodgers acquired Freese in 2018, in a last-minute acquisition before the waiver trade deadline, to serve as a first baseman against left-handed pitching. He spent just two months with the team, but left an impression on the club.
He performed on the field — he batted .385 in 19 regular-season games and .364 in 14 playoff games — and was beloved in the clubhouse. Freese became a quiet leader, offering advice and pointers. Teammates respected him knowing not only his on-field success, but also the depression and alcohol abuse he had battled off the field.
“There’s something about his voice,” utility player Enrique Hernandez said. “He doesn’t talk much but when he does talk, you want to listen, and he’s got a lot of good input . ... It’s nice to have one of those voices that’s been around for a while.”
Freese was set on retiring a year ago. He was about to become a free agent and figured the market wouldn’t be kind to a corner infielder in his mid-30s. But he changed his mind after teammates vouched for his return to team officials.
He spoke with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and the two quickly agreed on a new contract.
“I’m a lot like all these guys in here,” Freese said in late September. “I’m a lot like all these guys in this organization. From a personality standpoint, I just fit in with these guys. It still feels surreal that I’m here even a year later. I’m just really grateful.”
Freese was dead-set on retiring even after excelling in his platoon role this season. His body was just too worn down. It was time. So he spent the summer trying to appreciate his final days on the field and with his teammates, savoring the moments.
“It’s kind of been a feeling all year,” Freese said. “You go to stadiums, you understand that you might not be putting a uniform on in this park or that park ever again.
“You know, being in the NL Central for so many years, those parks have a different feeling than other parks. It’s been crazy, man. I think things have slowed down a little bit, understanding where I’m at personally with all this.”