Turner joins elite company as October star
This browser does not support the video element.
Justin Turner isn’t just a great October story right now for the Dodgers. He is one of the best of all time, because his story really started with him being released by the Mets in December of 2013 -- the way David Ortiz’s long run as a star of October began with the Twins releasing him after the '02 season. Of course no one would suggest they’re the same player, Ortiz is going to end up in the Hall of Fame. It is their stories that are similar.
Turner was a star again for the Dodgers on Friday night in Game 3 of the World Series, getting them the lead in the top of the first with a home run off Charlie Morton, and then later starting a crackling double play with a sweet pick as Los Angeles was on its way to taking a two games to one lead over the Rays. This was everything except the kind of October Surprise we hear about in politics all the time. This is the way Turner plays at this time of year for the Dodgers, for whom he has now hit as many postseason home runs for them as Duke Snider once did.
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 20 | LAD 8, TB 3 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 21 | TB 6, LAD 4 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 23 | LAD 6, TB 2 | Watch |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 24 | TB 8, LAD 7 | Watch |
| Gm 5 | Oct. 25 | LAD 4, TB 2 | Watch |
| Gm 6 | Oct. 27 | LAD 3, TB 1 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: Again, I am not suggesting that the guy with all that big red hair has had the career Big Papi did. But they both turned out to be made for this kind of stage and this kind of moment, after being pink-slipped by their previous teams.
Check it out:
Ortiz ended up playing 85 postseason games in his career (including a handful with the Twins). He hit 17 home runs, 61 RBIs, had an OPS of .947 and batted .289. By the time he was finished in Boston, he had played in three World Series, and won them all. In October, he was Ted Williams.
Turner? He has now played 69 postseason games for the Dodgers, has hit 11 home runs, 40 RBIs, has an OPS of .894 and a batting average of .293. This is his third World Series with Los Angeles. He is looking to win his first, the way the Dodgers are trying to win their first since 1988. Nobody paid much attention when Sandy Alderson, then running the Mets, called him in L.A. to tell him the Mets were releasing him after the 2013 season. Now everybody knows who Turner is. Everybody saw what he did on Friday night.
It is ironic now, looking at Turner’s dirty uniform after a postseason game, that seven years ago he was told that his lack of hustle was one of the reasons for his release. Here is something Turner said on WFAN radio in 2018.
“I heard that I didn’t hustle and that was a shocker to me. I thought I played the game pretty hard and went about it the right way. So I was a little offended by that, because that’s something I take pride in, trying to play the game the right way and being a good teammate I think are the two most important things that you can do as an athlete. That felt like a personal attack on my character and I didn’t like that one too much.”
This browser does not support the video element.
It was Alderson’s call all the way. He was in the process of building what would become a World Series team one season after Turner was released, and Turner clearly didn’t fit his vision of who and what he wanted the Mets to be going forward. Alderson turned out to be wrong about Turner’s potential, and maybe even the character about which Turner spoke. He let him go, the way the Twins let Ortiz go.
A few years ago the Astros couldn’t give away J.D. Martinez before they designated him for assignment, and then Martinez went to Detroit, then Arizona and finally Boston and became one of the most productive hitters in the sport, winning a World Series of his own, the first the Red Sox had won since Ortiz retired.
And guess what? Last January, the Cardinals traded Randy Arozarena to the Rays and now they're watching him tie a record with eight home runs in the postseason. Two years ago the Cardinals traded away Luke Voit, who happened to end up being the home run champ of baseball this season. These stories are as old as sports. The Steelers once cut Johnny Unitas. You know where Kurt Warner’s journey to the Hall of Fame, and being a Super Bowl champ, really began? With the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League.
When Game 3 was over, Turner was asked about tying Snider as the Dodgers all-time postseason home run hitter.
“It means I’ve had the opportunity to play on a lot of really good baseball teams deep in October,” Turner said. “Obviously it’s something I don’t think I ever think about. It’s something I can talk about when I’m done playing.”
Austin Barnes, who also hit a home run on Friday night, said this of Turner, who can become a free agent when this season is over:
“He’s the heart and soul of this team.”
Turner had just turned 29 when he got the call from Alderson. Ortiz was 27 when the Twins released him. Different players. Same story. From an old song. Not where you start, where you finish. And sometimes you finish on top.