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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2020)
SPORTS 6A — BAKER CITY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 Dodgers win first World Series title since 1988 Clayton Kershaw and sitting front-and-center for a team ARLINGTON, Texas — No photo next to manager Dave large dog pile, no champagne Roberts with his mask pulled and a mask on nearly every down under his bushy beard. face — the Los Angeles Dodg- The 35-year-old Turner has ers celebrated their fi rst World been a staple in the Dodgers’ Series title since 1988 in a lineup for seven of their eight manner no one could have consecutive NL West titles. imagined prior to the corona- A late-blooming slugger who virus pandemic. helped reshape the game by They started the party with- succeeding with an upper-cut out Justin Turner, too, after Dirk Shadd / Los Angeles Times-TNS swing, Turner is LA’s career their red-headed star received The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts reacts after leader with 12 postseason word of a positive COVID-19 scoring in the sixth inning on Tuesday night. home runs, including a pair test in the middle of their in this Series, in which he hit clinching victory. registering Major League earned during a most unusual .364 and also played stellar Turner was removed from Baseball’s fi rst positive test season. defense. Los Angeles’ 3-1 win over the in 59 days. He wasn’t on the He returned to the diamond “It’s gut-wrenching,” World Tampa Bay Rays in Game fi eld initially as the Dodgers about an hour after the game, Series MVP Corey Seager 6 on Tuesday night after enjoyed the spoils of a title hugging longtime teammate said. “If I could switch places By Stephen Hawkins AP Baseball Writer with him right now, I would. That’s just not right.” “We’re not excluding him from anything,” teammate Mookie Betts said. Commissioner Rob Manfred confi rmed Turner’s positive test moments after presenting the World Series trophy to Los Angeles — a jarring reminder of all that’s been different in this season where the peren- nially favored Dodgers fi nally broke through. It was the end of a frustrat- ing championship drought for LA — and perhaps just the start for Betts and the Dodgers, whose seventh World Series title was their sixth since leaving Brooklyn for the West Coast in 1958. “I had a crazy feeling that came to fruition,” Roberts said. “It’s just a special group of players, organization, all that we’ve kind of overcome.” Betts bolted from third for the go-ahead run on Seager’s grounder in the sixth, even with the infi eld playing in, then had a punctuating homer leading off the eighth. “It was absolutely phenom- enal. This team was incred- ible,” said Seager, also the NLCS MVP who set franchise records with his eight homers and 20 RBIs this postseason. “We were ready to go as soon as the bell was called. Once it did, we kept rolling.” Fans and frustration: the ugly side of rooting for our teams The World Series ended Tues- day night with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning their fi rst title since 1988. Looking back at the Series, it’s safe to say that Game 4 between the Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays will be the game to remember. The Dodgers were leading going into the 9th inning, 7-6. With runners on fi rst and second, Rays’ journeyman Brett Phillips came to the plate to face Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. Battling at the plate, Phillips made contact on a pitch, and ridiculousness ensued. As the ball reached outfi elder Chris Taylor, he made an error when he attempted to secure the ball. One runner scored, and Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena was running with a purpose. When he rounded third, the ball was thrown home and it looked like he was going to get caught in a I understand the passion that runs deeply through the veins of each fanbase in every sport. Fans want to COREY see their team labeled the best team KIRK in the league. I can’t help but be em- pathetic toward Dodgers fans after Game 4. This was their third World rundown. However, the ball got past Series in the past four years. And the the catcher and Arozarena slid home. last two times they were in the World The Rays managed to grab the lead Series they were up against two and never looked back, and managed teams (Houston Astros and Boston to tie the Series. Red Sox) that were proven to have Games like this make the typical cheated in the sign-stealing scandal. baseball fan ask themselves: How can But to wish so much harm to one you not be romantic about baseball? man is something I can’t fathom. However, what came after the game I know that people struggle to was ugly, not romantic. be empathetic toward professional Fans went to social media to athletes for how many commas and express their frustrations, and some zeros they may have in their bank even went to Jansen’s Instagram accounts. However, at the end of the page to show their dismay. Littered day they make their money playing throughout were negative comments, a game. ill wishes toward his loved ones, even As fans I feel like we lose sight of death threats. Why? that word. Sports are a game. Even the biggest events — the World Series, Super Bowl and the NBA Finals — they are still just playing a game. When the last out is made or when the clock ticks down to zero, we go back to our regular day-to-day rou- tines, and refl ect back on the victory or what could have been. So where do we draw the line? Often in big games, it is easy to fi nd a scapegoat when things go wrong. But to put sole blame on Jansen in this scenario isn’t fair. Taylor did bobble the ball on what would have been a routine single. And even after the er- rors, the Dodgers were only down by one run with another chance at the plate. They could have tied or won the game. Let’s stick to venting our frustra- tion during the game. Frustration comes with the territory when it comes to rooting for a team. However, to wish harm to a player’s children is ruthless and proves that some people overlook that professional athletes aren’t so different from the rest of us once they take off their uniforms and head home. They are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. Kenley Jansen may throw the ball for a living, but at the end of the day he probably enjoys being a father to his daughter and two sons a whole lot more. As fans, we enjoy the fulfi llment that each sport we love gives to our daily lives. Though it can cause a wide range of negative emotions, to wish harm to a professional athlete is disappointing. Will those wishes cease to exist? No, I don’t think so. But let’s continue to enjoy the sports we love and root for the teams we love without resorting to nasty personal comments after the game. P SPA LAY IT REMEM CE A SAF BE ND E WI R TO WEA TH R YO A LIT UR TLE MAS K! ! n e p O w o N AT FA FAMILY PACKAGE $ MON–THU 45 Prices Price subject to change. 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