The baseball world is now into the “hot stove league” — an old-fashioned phrase describing the long, cold off season. Back in the day, you would mosey over to the general store and talk baseball around a warm pot-bellied stove. At least that’s how Norman Rockwell painted it. Sounds nice.
No pot bellied stove here in the 21st century. So, we can’t have an actual hot stove league. But, while it is still 2025, I want to remember a couple of baseball stories I liked from last season.
We are in the Golden Era of Dodger Baseball
Sportscaster, Doug McKain (who hosts an excellent Dodger You Tube program), says we are in the “golden era” of Dodger baseball. He’s right.
The Dodgers are on a roll. For 13 straight years, the’ve made the post-season playoffs. They have won three of the last six world series. They have the world’s best player and are drawing 4 million fans a year (including me).
How often do we get to be in the “golden era” of anything? For most people, that’s never. So, enjoy the ride.
Winning is fun. Fun for me and fun for the whole LA region. Everyone likes a winner.
You can see it in the community. During the playoffs and World Series, I saw more Dodger blue than ever. Hats, jerseys, t-shirts. Trader Joes, the gym, church, on the street, wherever I went, Dodger blue was there.
You know, it is amazing what a simple blue baseball hat with two letters can do. It is as if all differences disappear and, for the moment, we are all on the same team. Call it the fellowship of the blue baseball hat. Ten million people in LA County, visitors from other countries, all rooting for Dodger blue.
There’s a guy at Sprouts on Rosemead who knows Dodger statistics cold. It was fun to swap team baseball news with him as I bought groceries. Lots of newcomers too. More than once I heard people say they didn’t know anything about baseball but were now Dodger fans.
Age and language are irrelevant so long as you’re rooting for Dodger blue. During the playoffs, I passed by a group of young Asian tourists bedecked in all kinds of Dodger gear. They were about a hundred years younger than me but it was just me and them passing on the street. I called to them without response. Then I pointed to the “LA” on my blue hat and yelled “go Dodgers.” Immediately they laughed and pointed to the Dodger logos on their hats and shirts.
I got a thumbs up and “go Dodgers” from kids I’ll never see again. Other than “go Dodgers” probably not much conversation there. But, I got big smiles all around as we went on our separate ways.
The Dodgers’ Secret Sauce
Before leaving the ’25 baseball season, I want to highlight something I’ve heard Dave Roberts say. I’ve heard it a number of times and heard it again in his club house speech following the Dodger win in game 7.
The Dodger manager talks a lot about doing things the right way. Roberts says, “The game honors you, and when you do things the right way, you play the right way, you’re a good teammate. I just believe that the game honors you.” It’s Roberts’ way of explaining why good things happen to some people and his answer is excruciatingly simple — because they work hard and do the right things.
He said it last year after the Dodgers won game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees. As we all recall, Freddie Freeman won it in the bottom of the tenth inning with a dramatic walk off grand slam. And, the game winning homer wasn’t the half of it with Freeman battling a broken hand and sprained ankle while still reeling from his young son’s illness. As Roberts said, that night the game honored Freeman.
This year, it was Miguel Rojas. It was the ninth inning of game 7 of the World Series. The Jays were up by a run and their closer, Jeff Hamilton, had just struck out Kike Hernandez for the first out. Two more outs and the Blue Jays would win game 7 and the World Series. Then Miguel Rojas, the Dodgers’ number 9 hitter, came to the plate. Rojas, of course, did what nobody expected. The 36-year old utility player tied the game with a solo home run.
Certainly the night belonged to every Dodger. But Roberts’ post-game speech called out the hard-working veteran Rojas — a guy who mastered his craft, helped his teammates, and, if they had such an award, would be the team’s “most inspirational” player. “Tonight the game honored Miggy.”
I like what Roberts says. He’s elevating the importance of going about baseball (and life) in the right way. That, in itself, is honorable. Of course, you won’t always hit the game-winning home run. You just might strike out. But, the game recognizes the effort and, some way, will return honor for honor.
Great coaches don’t get their due. That’s true no matter what the level of sport be it Little League, high school or professional. In my opinion, Roberts is a big part of why we are in the Golden Era of Dodger baseball. He is a great coach and is, I think, the secret sauce to the team’s success.
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