Dodgers dugout: How Bob Costas told Mickey Hatcher he wasn't the 1988 World Series MVP

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Hello and welcome to the Dodgers dugout. My name is Houston MitchellI hope that you are all safe from the wildfires and that those who suffer from asthma and other respiratory conditions are able to breathe properly.

Before moving on to the answer Mickey HatcherIt was good to see how well it went. Yoshinobu Yamamoto He’s back in the starting rotation after missing a few months with a torn rotator cuff, and if he continues to stay healthy (and get strong enough to pitch six innings), the Dodgers will have two strong postseason starters in him and Jack Flaherty.

So, who will join them? Landon Knack? Tyler Glasnow? Clayton Kershaw? Walker Buehler?Other people?Apparently not. Bobby MillerThat’s for sure.

Mickey Hatcher answers your questions

Mickey Hatcher He was a key player and fan favorite for the Dodgers when they won the World Series in 1988, hitting two home runs against Oakland while filling in for injured players. Kirk GibsonHe later coached the Angels. Mike Scioscia He has answered a few selected questions submitted by readers over the course of several seasons. If multiple people submit the same question, the first person to ask will receive credit. Thanks to Mickey for taking the time to answer our questions. Here we go!

By Teresa Sherman of VictorvilleDuring your time as a pitcher, pitchers seemed to be able to complete games and avoid the injuries we see today. Do you have any thoughts on the causes of these injuries?

HatcherCompared to when I was playing, pitchers have definitely gotten stronger and more powerful. There was no weight room, and pitchers were not built like tanks. Pitchers back then would go to the training room to warm up their arms, go outside to loosen up, go into the bullpen to pitch, and then play in the game. I think there is a big factor in this. The training programs for pitchers these days are incredible. How many pitches do pitchers throw before they go on the mound and before they play in the game? It’s amazing. When I talk to people of my generation who watch the games, this topic comes up a lot. It was interesting when the Dodgers general manager said, “We may need to reevaluate our pre-game training.”

In our day, we pitched through sore arms and injuries. Now everybody is resting. So it’s a different time. Back then, most players didn’t have multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts. There were a lot of guys who would pitch through injuries, but they kept pitching through injuries. I’m not saying today’s players are wimps. But they’re more protected because they’re getting paid more. That’s the way baseball is now.

From Dino Goldstein: Please leave a comment Jesse Orozco To prank Kirk Gibson During spring training in 1988? Were you there then?

Hatcher: Yeah, we were all doing pregame warmup on the left field line. I was way down the track doing sprints and stuff, and I looked across and I heard Gibson go out and walk to the locker room and say he wasn’t going to play today. So I said, “What happened?” And some of the players were laughing. I won’t say his name, but he had his hat off and they said he had a black bruise on his head. We never found out who did it or what happened until it blew up the next day.

Matt Ferrero of Orange: You played with a lot of intensity and fun, how did you mentally prepare for such an important moment, especially in the 1988 World Series?

HatcherI was always passionate. I was a football player. And I spent my whole career, Pete Rose Energy and playing hard. I think that’s just what I’ve always been. And then Kirk Gibson came in and was a player like that on the ’88 team, and I think that just made me try harder. ’88 was a great year, and there was a lot of magic going on. Very few of us can name every single guy on that team. Orel Hershiser And then Kirk Gibson and those guys. We had three great starting pitchers. Tim Leary and Tim Belcher And Aurel.

They really carried us through the season and we had a lot of guys in the bullpen. Tim Crews and Brian Holtonthey couldn’t break windows when they pitched, but they knew how to pitch. Alejandro Pena and Jay Howell. Tommy Lasorda “We did a great job that year of pulling the team together and making the plays we needed to make. We didn’t have a lot of power, so we played a lot of hit-and-run plays. We played a lot of bunting. We played the baseball that we needed to play to win. And that’s how we beat those guys.”

Comment from Mitchell: Yeah, I was looking into it the other day, and it seems teams don’t bunt anymore. Hatcher: Never. No, no. But I think it’s slowly picking up steam. When Houston won the World Series. Dusty Baker We’re managing them. We’ve seen bunts and hit-and-runs. And that’s good for the game. Look at what the Dodgers are doing a little bit right now. They have guys like Austin Burnshe moves the runners, and we’re starting to see that happen again in games.

Mitchell Namark of Severna Park, MarylandWhat was going through your mind as you rounded the bases in record time after hitting a home run in the World Series?

HatcherI’ve never been the type of guy to pitch the ball up and get an out. The ball I hit in Game 1 was a line drive. So my intention when I left the plate was, if it hits the wall, it’s a double. I want to hit a double or a triple. And I got to first base, looked up, and nobody was moving. I think I was just as shocked as everybody else in the stands watching the game. And I just couldn’t stop myself because I had so much energy. I wasn’t supposed to be a starter, and now I’m a starter in the World Series. So I was definitely excited and full of energy.

Anthony Rogers, Los Angeles: There were rumors going around that you were going to be named World Series MVP, but at the last minute it was changed to Aurel. Is that true?

HatcherOh yeah, it was funny. They called me in my hotel room before the game and said that if we won the game, either me or Orel Hershiser could be the MVP, and that someone from Disney would contact you when you got to the stadium (to record a “We’re going to Disneyland” commercial) and explain what to do if that happened.

So I got to the ballpark. Nobody talked to me. Of course, Orel pitched a great game that night. After the game, I went to the locker room and I was being interviewed. And this guy from Disney came up and said, “Hey, come on stage. You’re the MVP.” I was like, “What me?” So I started walking up to the stage and I see somebody talking to Bob Costas. Costas says, “No, Orel Hershiser is the MVP.” And my Disney rep said, “Oh, you’re not the MVP anymore.” So I ended up going back and doing my job.

It really wasn’t (disappointing) considering what Orrell did that year, especially during the postseason. It couldn’t have ended any better for him as MVP. I mean, the way he came out of the bullpen against the Mets and especially that last game shutting out Oakland. To me, he was 100% the MVP.

David Robertson, New York CityWere you surprised when the Minnesota Twins released you just before the 1987 season?

HatcherNo, I really didn’t. I was in the bubble there the whole spring training. In fact, my family was in Orlando and I was going to ask them, “Should I send them to Minnesota or should I have them wait here and go home with me?” I knew I was in the bubble and they ultimately said, “No, go to Minnesota, you stayed with the team.” And then at the last moment they made the trade and I went out and Dan Gladdenso I got out. My family was already halfway to Minnesota and I had to pick them up and drive them home. But that trade helped them win the World Series in ’87.

Follow-up question from Mitchell: Did you hear from the Dodgers right away?

Hatcher: No, that was a surprising story to me, because I’d been home for about a week and nobody was interested in me. My agent was out trying to get a deal done. It was so hot in Arizona where I lived, so I’d get up at 5am every morning and go for a run. At the end of my run, I’d go into my neighbor’s driveway, steal their newspaper and sit on their porch. They’re an old couple in their 80s, and she’d bring me coffee, and I’d read their paper, because we hadn’t even bought a newspaper because we didn’t think we’d be living there that long. And as I was reading it, I saw the third baseman for the Dodgers Bill Madlock They told me I couldn’t play because I had torn my hamstring, so I called my agent. I said, “Willie, can you contact the Dodgers and see if you can go to Triple-A at your own expense? Go to Albuquerque and play a week and see if I can help out,” and my agent said, “Mickey, I already tried.” And I said, “I know you tried. Al Campanishe didn’t want me. But Fred Clare “I’m the new general manager. Can I just give you a try?”

And an hour later, he called me and said, “Mick, get on a plane.” And I said, “I’ll be in Albuquerque in three hours.” And he said, “No, get on a plane. You’re going to LA.” My jaw dropped. What? He said, “Fred Clare’s calling you to LA.” And that was it. If I hadn’t done that, if I hadn’t run early in the morning, if I hadn’t bought the paper, if I hadn’t read about Madlock, I would never have made it to the 1988 World Series.

Tom Kelsey of MurrietaWhat are you doing now? Would you ever want to coach again?

Hatcher: Oh, my time as a coach is over. The game is past my time with the technology and everything else that’s going on. I still love the game, but I don’t coach. I’m still going back to the old-fashioned way. I love going to Little League and speaking, and I make appearances as an alumnus for both the Dodgers and Angels teams, so I get to be with the fans and talk to them. And they keep me in the game, and that’s what I really love right now.

Postseason Races

Let’s take a look at where each team ranks: The division winner and the top three teams in the standings will advance to the postseason.

Department Leader

1. Philadelphia, 88-58
2. Dodgers, 87-59
3. Milwaukee, 84-62

Wild Card Rankings

Arizona, 82-64
San Diego, 82-65
New York Mets, 80-66
Atlanta, 79-67, 1GB
Chicago, 75-71, 5 GB
St. Louis, 74-72, 6GB

If this season ended today, the Dodgers and Phillies would receive bye-points in the first round. Milwaukee would host the Mets in a best-of-three wild-card round, with the winner facing the Dodgers in a best-of-five division series. Arizona would host San Diego, with the winner facing the Phillies.

Results: Who is your favorite current Dodgers player?

From the roughly 40 active and injured Dodgers players, please choose your seven current favorites. The top 15 were determined based on 23,132 votes.

Mookie Betts received 92.5% of the votes.
Freddie Freeman, 86.7%
Shohei Ohtani, 79.6%
Clayton Kershaw, 65.7%
Teoscar Hernandez, 56%
Will Smith, 53.3%
Kike Hernández, 41%
Max Muncy, 37.3%
Miguel Rojas, 28.7%
Gavin Lux, 18.4%
Joe Kelly, 15.6%
Chris Taylor, 13.6%
Jack Flaherty, 15.4%
Tyler Glasnow, 10.8%
Walker Buehler, 9.4%

Other vote recipients, in order, were Austin Barnes, Gavin Stone, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Alex Bethea, Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, Tommy Edman, Evan Phillips, James Outman, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Andy Pages, Kevin Kiermaier, Landon Knack, River Ryan, Bobby Miller, Anthony Banda, Daniel Hudson, Ryan Brazier, Michael Grove, Brent Honeywell, Emmett Sheehan, Michael Petersen, Ben Kasparius and Justin Worowleski.

Everyone on the ballot received at least one vote.

Now, to continue our journey to find the current Dodger favorites, we will narrow our poll down to 10 teams and ask you to vote for 4 of them.

Result: Who will be the National League MVP?

With 14,390 votes, the results are as follows:

Shohei Ohtani, 90.1%
Francisco Lindor, 9.9%

Considering this is a Dodgers newsletter, that’s a bigger endorsement of Lindor than I would have expected. It would be interesting to see a New York news site conduct a similar poll.

Thank you to everyone who voted in both surveys.

Last 2 weeks

Here’s how the Dodgers’ hitters and pitchers have performed over the past two weeks (through Wednesday):

Austin Barnes, .438/.438/.500, 16 at-bats, 1 double, 3 RBI, 2 strikeouts
Tommy Edman, .353/.370/.608 with 51 at-bats, 1 double, 4 home runs, 13 RBIs, 2 walks and 10 strikeouts
Mookie Betts – .333/.411/.688 batting average, 48 at-bats, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 14 RBIs, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Teoscar Hernandez, .333/.429/.500, 30 at-bats, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Miguel Rojas, .310/.370/.357, 42 at-bats, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts
Gavin Lux – .303/.351/.424 with 33 at-bats, 4 doubles, 2 RBIs, 3 walks and 9 strikeouts
Chris Taylor, .280/.333/.320, 25 at-bats, 1 double, 2 RBI, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Will Smith, .278/.316/.500, 36 at-bats, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 RBIs, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Max Muncy, .276/.436/.621 batting average, 29 at-bats, 1 double, 3 home runs, 5 RBIs, 9 walks, 8 strikeouts
Freddie Freeman, .262/.360/.548 with 4 home runs, 10 RBIs, 7 walks and 11 strikeouts in 42 at-bats.
Shohei Ohtani, batting average .259/on-base percentage .328/slugging percentage .593, 54 at-bats, 1 double, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 9 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Kiké Hernández, .191/.191/.238 with 21 at-bats, 1 double and 4 strikeouts
Andy Paige, .188/.188/.375, 1 home run, 3 RBI, 4 strikeouts in 16 at-bats
Kevin Kiermaier – 0-for-11, 1 RBI, 4 strikeouts
The team had a batting average of .289/on-base percentage of .351/slugging percentage of .498, with 20 doubles, 3 triples, 23 home runs, 45 walks, 104 strikeouts, and an average of 5.69 runs per game.

pitching

Blake Treinen, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 4 hits, 9K
Evan Phillips, 0-1, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves, 6 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Ben Casparius, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP
Brusdar Graterol, 0.00 ERA, 1 inning, 2 hits
Jack Flaherty, 2-0, 0.79 ERA, 13 innings, 9 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Alex Beshea, 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 4.2 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
Michael Kopech, 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 1 save, 4.2 innings, 2 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts
Daniel Hudson, 2.08 ERA, 4.1 innings pitched, 3 hits allowed, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2.25 ERA, 4 innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts
Landon Knack, 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 6 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Michael Grove, 3.18 ERA, 5.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 strikeouts
Ryan Brasier, 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 5.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 strikeouts
Nick Ramirez, 4.50 ERA, 2 innings, 4 hits, 1 strikeout
Brent Honeywell, 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 5 innings, 3 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
Walker Buehler, 6.30 ERA, 10 innings, 14 hits allowed, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Gavin Stone, 9.00 ERA, 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Bobby Miller, 1-1, 10.05 ERA, 14.1 innings, 12 hits, 10 walks, 13 strikeouts
Joe Kelly, 10.80 ERA, 1.2 innings, 3 hits allowed, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Justin Wroblewski, 0-1, 12.27 ERA, 7.1 innings, 11 hits, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts
Anthony Banda, 13.50 ERA, 4.2 innings, 11 hits allowed, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
Kiké Hernández, 18.00 ERA, 1 IP, 4 hits
Michael Petersen, 18.00 ERA, 2 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
Clayton Kershaw, 27.00 ERA, 1 inning, 3 hits, 1 walk