Redemption.


Howard Kendrick touches home on his tenth inning, series winning grand slam.

The best thing about baseball is its capacity for redemption.

In Game 1 of the Nationals-Dodgers series, Howard Kendrick made a critical error in the fifth inning to allow the Dodgers second run to score. It was his second error of the game. The Nationals lost 6-0.

The Nationals moved him to second in Game 3. He butchered plays there that cost his team a win.

And again in Game 4.

But with one swing of the bat in the top of the tenth inning of Game 5, he made every fan of the underdog forget about that.

Howard Kendrick hit a grand slam. And the monkey jumped off the back of a franchise that has only known futility.

The Dodgers came into this series full of swagger and bravado. They leave with the stigma of over reliance on analytics. Why anyone would remove Walker Buehler when they did is a testament to the folly of sabermetrics. 

There are three fundamental rules of baseball sabermetics cannot measure.: One, never remove a dominating starter. Two, never remove a dominating starter. Three, never remove a dominating starter

That used to be Baseball 101. But the Dodgers organization hasn’t learned the real lessons of baseball.

And, for the thirtieth season in a row, there will be no Dodgers World Series championship.

Howard Kendrick made sure of that.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Tyler Glasnow vs. Garrit Cole
Game time: 6:07 on FS1