Why Justin Turner has become Mr. Clutch
Star 3B credits late professor and sports psychologist Ravizza
No current Dodger, and precious few former ones, have the postseason resume of Justin Turner. His greatest moment was a walk-off home run to win Game 2 of the National League Championship Series in 2017, after which he received a congratulatory text from the previous Dodger to hit a postseason walk-off, Kirk Gibson.
That’s the company he keeps.
But when asked on Tuesday whose advice helped make him the Dodgers’ Mr. Clutch, the answer wasn’t a teammate, manager or coach. It was sports psychologist Ken Ravizza, who was a professor when Turner played at Cal State Fullerton and became a renown mental skills guru throughout the sporting world.
Turner paid tribute to Ravizza on Twitter when he died of a heart attack at age 70 two years ago and again on Tuesday before the Dodgers held their final workout in preparation of the Wild Card Series that opens Wednesday against Milwaukee.
“Growing up, I played in travel ball tournaments, Mickey Mantle World Series, Connie Mack World Series, College World Series and postseason in Minor League baseball, so I’ve been in a lot of, I guess, big important games,” Turner said.
“But, if there was one person I give a lot of credit to in trying to mentally hone in and be present, that would be Ken Ravizza, who unfortunately we lost a couple years ago. I worked with him for many, many years, took a couple of his classes and he just talked about the mental side of baseball and life, really. He was huge for my career, for being present and letting go of the bad stuff and move on and get back to the next pitch.”
Nobody has been more essential to the Dodgers during the current postseason run than Turner. In 54 career postseason games, he's hit .310/.411/.520 with 13 doubles, a club-record 35 RBIs and nine homers, which trail only Duke Snider (11) and Steve Garvey (10) in Dodgers history. The 14 runs he drove in 2017 are the most ever by a Dodger in a single postseason. Turner also holds the franchise record by reaching base safely in 15 consecutive postseason games from Oct. 9, 2015-Oct. 20, 2016. His .411 career on-base percentage ranks 22nd all-time in MLB postseason history.
Here are some of Turner's October highlights:
2015: He hit safely in all five postseason games (including four multi-hit games), going 10-for-19 (.526) with two runs scored, six doubles and four RBIs in the NL Division Series vs. the Mets. His six doubles tied for the most ever by any player in a single postseason series. And his 10 hits were the most by a Dodger in a postseason series since Steve Garvey’s 10 in the 1981 World Series and tied for the second most in a postseason series in franchise history.
2016: Turner slashed .286/.457/.514 after going 10-for-35 with six runs, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs. He slugged his first career postseason home run with a two-run shot in the third inning in Game 1 of the NLDS, a 4-3 Dodgers win.
2017: Turner slashed .286/.420/.536 with eight runs, two doubles, four homers and 14 RBIs, the most in a single postseason in Dodger history. His four home runs that October tied for second most by a Dodger in a single postseason. For his heroics, Turner was named NLCS co-MVP with teammate Chris Taylor. Turner’s worst postseason series was the 2017 World Series, when he slashed .160/.323/.360. Teammates claimed he was playing through a back injury, which Turner has never confirmed.
2018: Turner went 20-for-67 (.299) with a .373 on-base percentage, three doubles, a homer and four RBIs, including a .333 (8-for-24) showing in the World Series against Boston.
2019: Turner hit .286 with a pair of doubles and homers, five RBIs and three runs scored against Washington. Since 2015, his nine postseason home runs are the most in the NL.