MILWAUKEE –– Dave Roberts delivered the speech. Teoscar Hernández equipped the punch line.
In the wake of their National League Division Series defeat of the Atlanta Braves last week, the Dodgers gathered around their supervisor at the begin of a champagne celebration in Truist Park’s visiting clubhouse.
First, Roberts extolled their tradition and competitiveness. He then declared that “we’re smarter, we’re better and we’re tougher” than their postseason competitors.
That’s when, from the nook of the room, Hernández chimed in with one more commentary.
“And we’re dinosaurs!” he shouted.
Cretaceous creatures, who have once again discovered the fountain of October youth.
Throughout the common season and main into the playoffs, the Dodgers’ growing older roster loomed as their largest space of concern. Their average lineup age of 30.9 years outdated, according to Baseball Reference, was the oldest in the majors.
Their grizzled veteran core has performed more video games (and traveled more miles, including two season-opening Asia journeys) than any other membership in baseball the previous two years.
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That’s why the group could help but discover the current “dinosaur” remark made by new Padres proprietor José E. Feliciano –– even if he was attempting to refer to the precise assortment of fossils saved by Dodgers proprietor Mark Walter.
To the two-time defending champions, it still certified as a perceived slight.
“We’ve heard it,” 36-year-old third baseman Max Muncy said. “But you can’t focus on the outside stuff for us.
Indeed, the Dodgers do not need any further motivation this postseason, as they proceed their quest for a third-straight World Series title in the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“You worry about yourself,” Muncy said. “You worry about how you’re getting ready for the game, how you’re preparing for the series.”
But discuss about their age has nonetheless added some fuel to their aggressive fire.
“Los Viejitos!!!” Kiké Hernández captioned on an Instagram photograph of him, Muncy, Miguel Rojas, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman earlier this week –– playfully utilizing the Spanish time period for “old folks” to describe the membership’s 5 eldest statesmen.
“I like our dinosaurs,” Roberts also joked with AM 570 earlier this month. “Our dinosaurs have come through in the biggest spots.”
That was not always the case during the second half of this yr’s common season, when the Dodgers’ offense slipped into such a obvious funk –– highlighted by an lack of ability to constantly slug the ball –– that one rival scout remarked in late August: “This is the oldest they’ve ever looked.”
Since then, however, they have rediscovered a jolt. They scored the fourth-most runs in the majors in September. They outslugged the Braves in the NLDS by belting eight home runs, all but one of which came from gamers age 33 or older.
Now, they are banking on their expertise to give them an edge in this week’s NLCS, beginning with a showdown against 24-year-old flamethrowing Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 on Sunday.
“The toughest part about age is [managing it during the regular] season,” Roberts said. “But once you get through the marathon and you get to the sprint of the postseason, advantage goes to us in the sense of the experience.”
Father Time, of course, will ultimately win out at some level.
Even Muncy acknowledged that there has been “some talk” of this being a potential closing experience for this model of the roster.
“For us, it’s about playing for each other, and that’s what makes it so special,” Muncy said. “A lot of us have been through a lot of moments together –– good, bad, in the middle –– and I wouldn’t want to share those with anyone else, that’s for sure.”
For now, however, the Dinosaur Dodgers just need to keep on roaring.
Eight wins away from another World Series, age is the least of their considerations.
“I don’t like thinking that this could be towards the end [of our run], because I don’t think it is,” Muncy said. “I think we still have a lot of good baseball left in us. Hopefully we can keep going.”
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