On anniversary of Gibson's blast, it's a Turner classic in Game 2 for Dodgers (Bill Plaschke, LAT, 10/15/17):
Chavez Ravine rattled and rocked and swayed with a deafening roar. Turner rounded third and spiked his helmet and skipped into a mob of Dodgers who still might be dancing.
“It was the most electric thing I’ve ever been part of, it’s crazy,” reliever Ross Stripling said.
Many of the players were not even born when Gibson hit his home run, so it’s understandable that they had no idea about the historical significance of the moment until they entered the clubhouse. Yet once they learned, though, a few eyes widened and a couple of jaws dropped.
“That’s all so incredible,” Stripling said. “Just to think, this team is trying to do what that 1988 team did. This home run, following in the footsteps of that home run, a lot of corresponding things that make it feel like destiny.”It is, indeed, the first walk-off homer of his major-league career. It happened just before 8 p.m. at Chavez Ravine, bottom of the ninth, game tied at 1-all, Dodgers on first and second base and an entire stadium holding its breath. Turner dug into the second pitch from the Cubs’ John Lackey and just blasted it. More than 50,000 fans immediately stood as if they knew it was gone. Turner watched it sail, and sail, and, just before reaching first base, stuck out those arms as he could fly.
Joe Maddon's call for John Lackey to relieve was Cubs' downfall (Dylan Hernandez, LAT, 10/15/17):
A career starter, Lackey didn’t make an appearance in the division series. Now, he was being asked to make a relief appearance for the second consecutive night, this time with a runner in scoring position.
How the inning played out was pitifully predictable.
When starting pitchers make relief appearances, there’s a reason managers prefer the bases to be empty. Starting pitchers are greater risks to not have command immediately.
“I’m just betting on his experience right there as much as anything,” Maddon said.
The wager was lost and Lackey walked Taylor. Now, the Dodgers were sending their best hitter to the plate in Turner.
Maddon acknowledged this spelled trouble.
“I liked him a lot on the first guy, Taylor,” Maddon said. “Once that walk occurred, all bets were off against Turner. Nobody is a really great matchup against Turner.”
Turner launched a 1-and-0 fastball into the center-field side of the left field pavilion.
Lackey was his prickly self after the game. Asked about his final pitch, Lackey replied dismissively, “I’ll talk to my pitching coach about that.”With two outs, the top of the order was up, starting with the right-handed-hitting Chris Taylor. Davis wasn’t warmed up but Lackey was.
Meet Keith Hupp, the man who nabbed Justin Turner's walk-off homer (Arash Markazi, ESPN, 10/16/17):
"And in the ninth inning, he hit it, and it looked like it was tailing and going into center field and man, did I get lucky. I ran across as quick as I could and I reached out three or four feet and caught it."
After the game, the Dodgers brought Hupp and his son back to meet Turner. Hupp gave the ball to Turner and he and his son took photos with Turner and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. While there was no official exchange on Sunday, Hupp expects it will be similar to what he got in return from Bellinger.
"I didn't ask for anything, but they told me they would hook me up, and I'm sure they will," said Hupp, who had 213 text messages on his cell phone by the time he got home before midnight. "That was the biggest ball I've ever caught. I thought the biggest ball I'd catch in my life was earlier this year when I caught the game-winning home run ball from Ian Kinsler when the USA won the World Baseball Classicat Dodger Stadium."
Hupp said he is donating that ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. While he has a vast baseball memorabilia collection at home, he said doesn't collect home run balls for money.
"I retired a couple of years ago, and I said I was going to spend my retirement income on baseball," Hupp said. "Last year I went to 109 games, and this year I went to 127 games. I went to all the games at Dodger Stadium this season and 46 games on the road. I've gone to all the playoff games. I always sit in the outfield because I try to catch home run balls.
"I'm an old guy, I'm 54 years, and when I see the ball coming at me, it's such a rush. I got mobbed after I caught the ball [Sunday]. There is nothing like it.""When JT came up to bat I turned to my son and said, 'Hey, it was almost one year ago today that he hit that home run, wouldn't it be cool if he hit one and I caught it again?'" Hupp said. "During his first three at-bats I was envisioning the flight of the ball and he didn't hit a home run.
Other articles:
- Why wasn't Cubs closer Wade Davis on the mound at the end of the game? (ESPN.com)
- Tommy Lasorda delivers words of wisdom to Dodgers' Dave Roberts (ESPN.com)
- Dodgers’ Justin Turner Delivers a Walk-Off Homer to Topple Cubs (NYT)
- NLCS: 5 takeaways from Dodgers' walk-off Game 2 win (USAToday.com; includes point #2, "It's definitely not over.")
- History repeats itself for Dodgers (Yahoo Sports)
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