The thrill of victory--and the agony of victory

Freddie Freeman's walkoff grand slam in World Series Game 1 was a huge lift for the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani's Game 2 shoulder injury was a big scare. On that, and thoughts on the Kings and Lakers.

Remember the introduction to “Wide World of Sports,” as narrated by the great Jim McKay?

“The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” nearly became the Dodgers’ theme Saturday after stellar DH Shohei Ohtani injured his left shoulder while attempting to steal second base in the seventh inning and had to leave Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers, shaken and concerned about Ohtani, gave up a run in the ninth inning as the Yankees loaded the bases in the suddenly subdued atmosphere at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers were spared when Alex Vesia, entering with the bases loaded, earned a one-pitch save by getting Jose Trevino to hit a fly to center that cemented the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory. They hold a 2-0 lead as the World Series shifts to Yankee Stadium for Games 3, 4 and (if necessary) Game 5, starting Monday.

The elation sparked for the Dodgers on Friday by Freddie Freeman’s history-making, living-out-a-dream grand slam and sustained on Saturday by starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s brilliant one-hit effort over 6 1/3 innings, was dampened by the sight of Ohtani writhing in pain near second base Saturday. Manager Dave Roberts later said Ohtani had a “little” subluxation (or partial dislocation) of the left shoulder but added Ohtani had good strength and good range of motion, “so we’re encouraged.” Ohtani was scheduled to undergo additional tests, including an MRI.

Ohtani’s teammates and fans suffered with him. “Not only the dugout, but the whole stadium went silent. You know how big Shohei is for this team,” Teoscar Hernandez, whose two-run home run had given the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the third inning, said at a postgame news conference. “Hopefully he's okay, and the day off tomorrow will help him get back on the field Monday.

“A lot of things go through your head, but you just have to stay positive and think like maybe he jammed his hand and he'll be back on Monday when we start the game in New York.”

The Dodgers’ supposed weakness coming into the World Series was their starting pitching, but excellent performances by Jack Flaherty and Yamamato have debunked that theory. Walker Buehler is scheduled to start Game 3. Their bullpen, despite losing Evan Phillips for the World Series due to arm fatigue, has been a solid safety net. Dodger pitching has held Aaron Judge to one hit in nine at-bats and has struck him out six times.

It’s not over, but the Dodgers are in good shape. According to Major League Baseball, teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series have won that series 77 of 92 times, or 84%. Under the 2-3-2 format now in use, teams that won Games 1 and 2 at home have won the series 45 of 56 times, or 80%. This link has more details on those stats.

While the Dodgers move toward the prize at the end of the baseball season’s rainbow, the Lakers and Kings are just starting their respective journeys. And although most fans in Los Angeles are too focused on the Dodgers to pay attention yet to the winter sports teams, it shouldn’t get lost that the coaches of the Lakers and Kings (JJ Redick and Jim Hiller, respectively) have each made a smart and authoritative decision that established a purposeful tone for his team’s long season ahead.

The Lakers always seem to operate like a circus, complete with high-wire drama to match their high-powered lineup. Their decision to use a second-round draft pick on Bronny James, son of LeBron, seemed like just another circus stunt, a move made to appease the father while throwing the son into a situation that, by all measures, figured to be well beyond his depth.

What could have turned into a clown show was cleverly handled by Redick, a coaching rookie. He quickly ended the fevered speculation about when LeBron and Bronny would make NBA history by playing in the same game, sending father and son off the bench and out to the floor in the second quarter of the Lakers’ season-opening 110-103 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.

Hearing Lawrence Tanter announce their entrance into the lineup was fun.

The key point is that Redick didn’t allow it to become a sideshow. He brought the focus back to what was important: the game against a conference rival. Bronny for played 2 minutes and 41 seconds, missed both of his field goal attempts, grabbed one rebound, and was minus-5 before Redick brought him back to the bench, where he remained. Bronny was a DNPCD (did not play, coach’s decision) in their victory over Phoenix on Friday and again in their triumph over Sacramento on Saturday.

In all likelihood, Bronny will split time between the Lakers and their G League team so he can get the playing time he needs in order to develop. It’s difficult to predict if he’s a nepo hire or if he’s truly an NBA-caliber player. Odds are he won’t have much impact in the NBA, if at all. But it’s noteworthy that Redick gave LeBron and Bronny their moment without letting it happen at the expense of the team’s best interests or the expense of Bronny’s future, whatever that might hold.

Redick has promised to focus on instilling good communication with players, and he appears to have brought good energy in the early going. Coaching the Lakers is never easy, and Redick’s task is complicating by the obvious fact that they’re LeBron James’ team, no matter who’s coaching. Redick has so far been decisive in keeping players motivated and keeping them more like a team than a circus.

Hiller succeeded Todd McLellan as the Kings’ interim coach last February, so this will be his first full season behind their bench. His task is tough: taking a team that hasn’t gotten past the first round of the playoffs the last three seasons and lost anchor defenseman Drew Doughty to ankle surgery and pushing them another step forward in a rebuilding process that shouldn’t be taking as long as it already has. His team’s goaltending is so-so, much of his defense is ponderously slow, and the offense has been slow to mesh many nights.

But Hiller deserves kudos for taking a decisive stand on Saturday in the form of benching winger Kevin Fiala—the Kings’ second-most productive scorer last season with 73 points—for the entire third period of their too-close 3-2 victory over the less-than-poetically named Utah Hockey Club.

Fiala’s skill is beyond question, but his situational judgment and defensive play are remarkably poor for someone who’s in his 11th NHL season. He takes too many penalties, most of which aren’t committed to prevent opponents’ scoring chances.

He took a tripping penalty late in the third period Thursday, an infraction that allowed San Jose to pull within a goal. Although the Kings won 3-2, Hiller afterwards said his players had to cut down on the number of penalties they took and said he’d use his biggest carrot—ice time—to reinforce his point.

Fiala apparently didn’t get the memo. He took two offensive zone penalties on Saturday and didn’t play another shift after the second call, made at 13:54 of the second period. He had a great view from the end of the bench for the rest of the game.

Asked about Fiala’s late-game absence on Saturday, Hiller stayed away from ripping the veteran forward’s performance. “We did get the two points, which was, I think, the most important part of the afternoon,” Hiller told reporters at his postgame news conference. “We played extremely hard. Checked extremely hard. And that’s more important than Kevin right now.”

Hiller stuck to his promise to make players accountable for their actions. “We’re taking too many penalties. That’s clear,” Hiller said. Do it too often, he said, “and the coach has to do something.”

He did the right thing in this case if not in every case: Why he continues to play veteran forward Trevor Lewis over prospect Akil Thomas remains a mystery.

It’s concerning that the Kings (5-2-2) haven’t been able to put away lower-tier teams. They’ve also allowed one more goal (29) than they’ve scored (28). But Hiller’s insistence on accountability from players is an important precedent to establish, especially for a team like the Kings that’s still discovering its identity.

Good coaches set high standards and get players to buy in for the collective good. Redick did that for the Lakers by getting the focus off LeBron and Bronny and back to the team. Hiller did that for the Kings by keeping his word that ice time would be a reward for disciplined behavior and would be taken away from those who stray.

Although it’s early in the NBA and NHL seasons, it’s safe to predict that the Lakers and the Kings won’t get as close to a championship as the Dodgers have gotten. But it’s never too early for a coach or manager to assert himself (or herself) as a credible leader and set a tone for future success. The thrill of victory never gets old, even if it sometimes takes a while to feel it.