MILWAUKEE –– Dave Roberts delivered the speech.
asserted
Roberts → deliver → speech
Teoscar Hernández supplied the punch line.
asserted
Hernández → supply → line
In the wake of their National League Division Series defeat of the Atlanta Braves last week, the Dodgers gathered around their manager at the start of a champagne celebration in Truist Park’s visiting clubhouse.
asserted
Dodgers → gather → clubhouse
First, Roberts extolled their culture and competitiveness.
asserted
Roberts → extoll → culture
He then declared that “we’re smarter, we’re better and we’re tougher” than their postseason competition.
asserted
we → declare → competition
That’s when, from the corner of the room, Hernández chimed in with one more observation.
asserted
Hernández → ’ → observation
“And we’re dinosaurs!” he shouted.
asserted
he → ’re → ?
Cretaceous creatures, who have once again found the fountain of October youth.
asserted
who → find → youth
Throughout the regular season and leading into the playoffs, the Dodgers’ aging roster loomed as their biggest area of concern.
asserted
roster → lead → concern
Their average lineup age of 30.9 years old, according to Baseball Reference, was the oldest in the majors.
uncertain
age → accord → majors
Their grizzled veteran core has played more games (and traveled more miles, including two season-opening Asia trips) than any other club in baseball the past two years.
asserted
core → play → baseball
That’s why the team could help but notice the recent “dinosaur” comment made by new Padres owner José E. Feliciano –– even if he was trying to refer to the actual collection of fossils kept by Dodgers owner Mark Walter.
uncertain
he → ’ → Walter
To the two-time defending champions, it still qualified as a perceived slight.
asserted
it → defend → slight
“We’ve heard it,” 36-year-old third baseman Max Muncy said.
asserted
Muncy → hear → it
“But you can’t focus on the outside stuff for us.
asserted
you → focus → us
Indeed, the Dodgers do not need any extra motivation this postseason, as they continue their quest for a third-straight World Series title in the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
asserted
they → need → Brewers
“You worry about yourself,” Muncy said.
asserted
Muncy → worry → yourself
“You worry about how you’re getting ready for the game, how you’re preparing for the series.”
asserted
you → worry → series
But talk about their age has nonetheless added some fuel to their competitive fire.
asserted
talk → add → fire
“Los Viejitos!!!” Kiké Hernández captioned on an Instagram photo of him, Muncy, Miguel Rojas, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman earlier this week –– playfully using the Spanish term for “old folks” to describe the club’s five eldest statesmen.
asserted
Hernández → caption → statesmen
“I like our dinosaurs,” Roberts also joked with AM 570 earlier this month.
asserted
Roberts → like → AM
“Our dinosaurs have come through in the biggest spots.”
asserted
dinosaurs → come → spots
That was not always the case during the second half of this year’s regular season, when the Dodgers’ offense slipped into such a glaring funk –– highlighted by an inability to consistently slug the ball –– that one rival scout remarked in late August: “This is the oldest they’ve ever looked.”
asserted
they → slip → August
Since then, however, they have rediscovered a jolt.
asserted
they → rediscover → jolt
They scored the fourth-most runs in the majors in September.
asserted
They → score → September
They outslugged the Braves in the NLDS by belting eight home runs, all but one of which came from players age 33 or older.
asserted
all → outslugge → players
Now, they are banking on their experience to give them an edge in this week’s NLCS, starting with a showdown against 24-year-old flamethrowing Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 on Sunday.
asserted
they → bank → Sunday
“The toughest part about age is [managing it during the regular] season,” Roberts said.
asserted
Roberts → manage → season
“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.”
asserted
advantage → get → experience
Father Time, of course, will eventually win out at some point.
asserted
Time → win → point
Even Muncy acknowledged that there has been “some talk” of this being a potential final ride for this version of the roster.
asserted
this → acknowledge → roster
“For us, it’s about playing for each other, and that’s what makes it so special,” Muncy said.
asserted
Muncy → ’ → other
“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.”
asserted
that → want → anyone
For now, however, the Dinosaur Dodgers just want to keep on roaring.
asserted
Dodgers → want → ?
“I don’t like thinking that this could be towards the end [of our run], because I don’t think it is,” Muncy said.
uncertain
Muncy → like → run
“I think we still have a lot of good baseball left in us.
asserted
we → think → us
Hopefully we can keep going.”
asserted
we → keep → ?
The Aporia
