Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I hope all of you are safe from all the wildfires and that those of you with asthma or other respiratory illnesses are breathing OK.

Before we get to the answers from Mickey Hatcher, it was good to see how well Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched in his return to the rotation after missing a couple of months because of a strained rotator cuff. If he can continue to pitch like that and remain healthy (and build up to where he can pitch six innings) then the Dodgers have two strong postseason starters between he and Jack Flaherty.

Now who will join them? Landon Knack? Tyler Glasnow? Clayton Kershaw? Walker Buehler? Someone else? It doesn’t look like it will be Bobby Miller, that’s for sure.

Mickey Hatcher answers your questions

Mickey Hatcher was a key man and fan favorite for the Dodgers in 1988 when they won the World Series, hitting two big home runs against Oakland while filling in for the injured Kirk Gibson. He later coached for the Angels under Mike Scioscia for many seasons. Readers sent in dozens of questions and he answered a select few. In the cases where multiple people sent in the same question, the person who asked it first gets credit. Thanks to Mickey for taking the time to do this. Let’s get to it.

From Teresa Sherman of Victorville: During the time you played, pitchers threw complete games and seemed to avoid the injuries we are seeing today. Do you have an opinion as to what could be causing these injuries?

Hatcher: Compared to when I played, pitchers are definitely stronger and more powerful. We didn’t have the weight rooms and our pitchers weren’t built like tanks. Back then, pitchers used to go in the training room and rub heat on their arms, go out, loosen up, get in the bullpen, pitch, and go out there and pitch a game. And I think there’s a big factor to that. Nowadays, the workout programs for the pitchers are just unbelievable. How many pitches do these guys throw before they even go to the mound, before they get in the game? It’s amazing. So a lot of these things have come up when I talk to guys in my era who watch what’s going on. It was interesting to see the Dodgers’ general manager say, “We might have to look into our pregame workouts.”

Back in our day, guys did pitch with sore arms and injuries. Now they shut down everybody. So, it was a different era. Back then most of these guys didn’t have the multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts. There were a lot of guys out there that were pitching hurt, but they pitched through it. I’m not saying that the guys nowadays are wimps. But they’re more protected because they are paid more money. And that’s just how the game is now.

From Dino Goldstein: Can you comment on the Jesse Orosco prank on Kirk Gibson during spring training in 1988? Were you there when it happened?

Hatcher: Yes, we were all down the left-field line and getting ready before a game. I was farther down the line doing my sprints and stuff and all of a sudden I looked over and I heard that Gibson just left and walked all the way to the locker room and said he’s not playing today. And I said, what happened? And a couple of the guys were laughing. I’m not going to give up their names. But they said he took his hat off and he had the black mark on his head. And I didn’t know who did it or what happened until it got blown up the next day.

From Matt Ferrero of Orange: You played the game with high intensity and joy. How did you prepare yourself mentally, especially for key moments like the 1988 World Series?

Hatcher: I was always intense. I was a football player. And I built my whole career on being like a Pete Rose and energy and playing hard. I just think that that’s the way I always was. And to have Kirk Gibson come along and be that same kind of guy on that ’88 team, I think it just helped push me, too. It was just a great year in ’88 and so many magical things, with a team that, well almost nobody could name our whole lineup besides Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson and what they did. We had three great starting pitchers. Tim Leary and Tim Belcher and Orel.

Those guys just really carried us through the season. And then we had a lot of guys in the bullpen like Tim Crews and Brian Holton, guys that couldn’t break a window when they threw a pitch, but they knew how to pitch, along with Alejandro Peña and Jay Howell. Tommy Lasorda just did a great job that year putting this team together and playing like we should play. We didn’t have a lot of power, so we did a lot of hit and running. We did a lot of bunting. We played the game of baseball the way we needed to play to win. And that’s how we beat those guys.

Comment from Mitchell: Yeah, I was looking up the other day. It’s like teams never bunt anymore. Hatcher: Never. Oh, no. But I think it’s starting to come back a little. When Houston won the World Series with Dusty Baker managing them. You saw some bunting and hit and runs. And that’s good for the game. You see the Dodgers doing a little bit now. They’ve got guys like Austin Barnes, he’ll move a runner. And so you’re starting to see that happen in the game again.

From Mitchell Namark of Severna Park, Maryland: What were you thinking during the World Series while rounding the bases in record time after your home runs?

Hatcher: I never was a guy who could get the ball up in the air to get out. And when I hit that ball in Game 1, it was more on a line drive. So my intention is when I left the box is that if it’s going to hit the wall, it’s going to be a double. I want to get a double or a triple off of it. And as soon as I hit first base and looked up and nobody was moving. I think I was as shocked as everybody else in the stands and watching the game. And I just couldn’t stop myself because, you know, I had all that energy going. I wasn’t even supposed to be a starter, and here I’m starting in the World Series. So I was definitely hyped up and energized.

From Anthony Rogers of Los Angeles: I always heard a rumor that you were going to be named World Series MVP, but it was switched to Orel at the last minute. Is there any truth to that?

Hatcher: Oh, yeah, it was funny. Before the game, I got a call in my room at the hotel and they said, hey, you know, if we win this game, MVP could be between you and Orel Hershiser. And they said when you get to the ballpark, a person from Disney is going to get a hold of you [to tape “I’m going to Disneyland” commercial] and they’re going to explain what you need to do if it happens.

So I got to the park. Nobody ever talked to me. Of course, Orel pitched great that night. After the game ended, I went to the locker room and I’m doing an interview. And a Disney guy came up and said, “Hey, you’ve got to go up on stage. You’re the MVP.” And I’m like, ‘I’m what?’ And so I started walking to the stage and I saw someone talking to Bob Costas and Costas said “No, Orel Hershiser is the MVP.” And my Disney rep goes, oh, I guess you’re not the MVP anymore. So I ended up just going back and doing my thing.

It really wasn’t [disappointing] because of what Orel did that whole year and especially during the postseason. There couldn’t have been a better ending for him, an MVP. I mean, that streak of pitching that he did, coming out of the bullpen against the Mets, and just shutting down Oakland like he did, especially that last game. To me, he was 100% the MVP.

From David Robertson of New York City: Were you surprised when the Minnesota Twins released you just before the 1987 season?

Hatcher: No, I really wasn’t. I was on the bubble there all the way through spring training. I actually went in because my family was in Orlando, and I was going to ask them, “Should I send my family to Minnesota or should I have them wait and go home with me from here?” Because I knew I was on the bubble, and they finally said, “No, go to Minnesota, you made the team.” And then, at the last second they made a trade, they went out and got Dan Gladden, and that left me out. So my family was already halfway to Minnesota and I had to get them and drive back home. But it was a trade that helped them win that ’87 World Series.

Follow up question from Mitchell: Did the Dodgers reach out to you right away?

Hatcher: Oh, no, that was an amazing story on my behalf because I went home, and it was like over a week or so, and nobody was interested in me. My agent was out there trying to work a deal. I would wake up every morning at 5 a.m., because it was so hot in Arizona where I was living and go for a run. At the end of my run, I’d go up my neighbor’s driveway, and I’d steal their paper and sit on their porch. They were an older couple, in their 80s, and she’d bring me out a cup of coffee, I’d read their paper because we didn’t even get a paper because we didn’t think we were going to be living there that long. And I was reading, and I saw where Dodgers third baseman Bill Madlock pulled a hamstring and wasn’t going to play, and I called my agent. I said, “Willie, I go, can you get a hold of the Dodgers and see if I can go to triple-A on my own expense? Just go to Albuquerque and maybe play a week to see if I can help them.” And he said, “Mickey, we already tried.” I go, “I know you tried with Al Campanis, and he didn’t want me. But Fred Claire is the new general manager. can you just give it a shot?”

And an hour later, he called me up and says “Hey Mick, get on a plane.” I said, “I’ll be in Albuquerque in three hours.” And he says “No, get on a plane. You’re going to L.A.” And my jaw just dropped. Like, what? He says “Fred Claire wants you in L.A.” And that was it. If I didn’t do that, I didn’t run early in the morning, and I didn’t pick up the paper, and I didn’t read about Madlock, the 1988 World Series would have never happened for me.

From Tom Kelsey of Murrieta: What are you doing now and do you ever want to coach again?

Hatcher: Oh, my coaching days are over. This game has passed me with all the technology and stuff that’s going on now. I still love the game, but I would not coach. I’m still back in old-school mode. I love going and speaking to Little Leagues, and I do alumni appearances for both Dodgers and Angels, so I get to be with the fans and talk to the fans. And, you know, they keep me in the game, and right now, that’s what I really love to do.

The postseason race

A look at how the teams stack up. The division winner plus the next three teams with the better record advance to the postseason:

Division leaders

1. Philadelphia, 88-58
2. Dodgers, 87-59
3. Milwaukee, 84-62

Wild-card standings

Arizona, 82-64
San Diego, 82-65
NY Mets, 80-66
Atlanta, 79-67, 1 GB
Chicago, 75-71, 5 GB
St. Louis, 74-72, 6 GB

If the season ended today, the Dodgers and Phillies would get first-round byes. Milwaukee would host the Mets in one best-of-three wild-card round, with the winner advancing to play the Dodgers in the best-of-five division series. Arizona would host San Diego, with the winner advancing to play the Phillies.

Results: Who is your favorite current Dodger?

You had to pick your seven current favorite Dodgers from a list of about 40 active and injured Dodgers. After 23,132 ballots, here are the top 15:

Mookie Betts, named on 92.5% of ballots
Freddie Freeman, 86.7%
Shohei Ohtani, 79.6%
Clayton Kershaw, 65.7%
Teoscar Hernández, 56%
Will Smith, 53.3%
Kiké Hernández, 41%
Max Muncy, 37.3%
Miguel Rojas, 28.7%
Gavin Lux, 18.4%
Joe Kelly, 15.6%
Chris Taylor, 13.6%
Jack Flaherty, 15.4%
Tyler Glasnow, 10.8%
Walker Buehler, 9.4%

Others receiving votes, in order: Austin Barnes, Gavin Stone, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Alex Vesia, Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, Tommy Edman, Evan Phillips, James Outman, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Andy Pages, Kevin Kiermaier, Landon Knack, River Ryan, Bobby Miller, Anthony Banda, Daniel Hudson, Ryan Brasier, Michael Grove, Brent Honeywell, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Petersen, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski.

Everyone on the ballot received at least one vote.

Now, to continue our quest to find the favorite current Dodgers, we reduce the ballot to 10, and ask you to vote for four.

Click here to vote.

Result: Who should be NL MVP?

After 14,390 votes, the results:

Shohei Ohtani, 90.1%
Francisco Lindor, 9.9%

That’s actually more support than I was anticipating for Lindor, considering this is a Dodgers newsletter. It would be interesting to see a New York news site do a similar poll.

Thanks to everyone who voted in both surveys.

The last two weeks

How the Dodgers hitters and pitchers have fared the last two weeks (through Wednesday):

Austin Barnes, .438/.438/.500, 16 at-bats, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 2 K’s
Tommy Edman, .353/.370/.608, 51 at-bats, 1 double, 4 homers, 13 RBIs, 2 walks, 10 K’s
Mookie Betts, .333/.411/.688, 48 at-bats, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homers, 14 RBIs, 7 walks, 6 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .333/.429/.500, 30 at-bats, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 walks, 11 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .310/.370/.357, 42 at-bats, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 4 walks, 3 K’s
Gavin Lux, .303/.351/.424, 33 at-bats, 4 doubles, 2 RBIs, 3 walks, 9 K’s
Chris Taylor, .280/.333/.320, 25 at-bats, 1 double, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 8 K’s
Will Smith, .278/.316/.500, 36 at-bats, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 7 RBIs, 2 walks, 9 K’s
Max Muncy, .276/.436/.621, 29 at-bats, 1 double, 3 homers, 5 RBIs, 9 walks, 8 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .262/.360/.548, 42 at-bats, 4 homers, 10 RBIs, 7 walks, 11 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .259/.328/.593, 54 at-bats, 1 double, 1 triple, 5 homers, 9 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .191/.191/.238, 21 at-bats, 1 double, 4 K’s
Andy Pages, .188/.188/.375, 16 at-bats, 1 homer, 3 RBIs, 4 K’s
Kevin Kiermaier, 0 for 11, 1 RBI, 4 K’s
Team, .289/.351/.498, 20 doubles, 3 triples, 23 homers, 45 walks, 104 K’s, 5.69 runs per games

Pitching

Blake Treinen, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 4 hits, 9 K’s
Evan Phillips, 0-1, 0.00 ERA, 2 saves, 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, 5 K’s
Ben Casparius, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP
Brusdar Graterol, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 2 hits
Jack Flaherty, 2-0, 0.79 ERA, 13 IP, 9 hits, 3 walks, 13 K’s
Alex Vesia, 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 4.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks, 4 K’s
Michael Kopech, 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 1 save, 4.2 IP, 2 hits, 4 walks, 3 K’s
Daniel Hudson, 2.08 ERA, 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 4 walks, 4 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2.25 ERA, 4 IP, 4 hits, 8 K’s
Landon Knack, 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 8 K’s
Michael Grove, 3.18 ERA, 5.2 IP, 6 hits, 4 K’s
Ryan Brasier, 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 2 K’s
Nick Ramirez, 4.50 ERA, 2 IP, 4 hits, 1 K
Brent Honeywell, 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 5 IP, 3 hits, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Walker Buehler, 6.30 ERA, 10 IP, 14 hits, 3 walks, 10 K’s
Gavin Stone, 9.00 ERA, 5 IP, 5 hits, 1 walk, 4 K’s
Bobby Miller, 1-1, 10.05 ERA, 14.1 IP, 12 hits, 10 walks, 13 K’s
Joe Kelly, 10.80 ERA, 1.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 K
Justin Wrobleski, 0-1, 12.27 ERA, 7.1 IP, 11 hits, 5 walks, 4 K’s
Anthony Banda, 13.50 ERA, 4.2 IP, 11 hits, 2 walks, 3 K’s
Kiké Hernández, 18.00 ERA, 1 IP, 4 hits
Michael Petersen, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Clayton Kershaw, 27.00 ERA, 1 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk

Team, 8-5, 5.51 ERA, 3 saves, 116 IP, 118 hits, 44 walks, 102 K’s

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (Landon Knack, 2-3, 3.00 ERA) at Atlanta (Spencer Schwellenbach, 5-7, 3.78 ERA), 4:20 p.m., Apple TV+, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Saturday: Dodgers (Jack Flaherty, 12-6, 2.86 ERA) at Atlanta (*Chris Sale, 16-3, 2.38 ERA), 4:20 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Sunday: Dodgers (Walker Buehler, 1-5, 5.95 ERA) at Atlanta (Charlie Morton, 8-8, 4.11 ERA), 4:10 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Plaschke: Shohei Ohtani pitching out of bullpen in playoffs? Why not?

Hernández: Forget all the injuries. The Dodgers are going to win the World Series. win the World Series

Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda breaks pitching hand with angry punch

Clayton Kershaw ‘trying everything,’ even working with Skechers, to ease toe injury

And finally

Vin Scully discusses his first impression of Sandy Koufax. Watch and listen here.