LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium didn’t sleep much after the 18-inning epic, and neither did the two young arms who helped drag Game 3 to the finish line. One of them, reliever Will Klein, kept laughing at his phone. “I had like 500 after the game, and I think I’ve had 500 more since going through all of them,” he said. “It’s never ending.” Emmet Sheehan just shook his head at the whole thing. “I woke up this morning still not feeling like last night had happened,” he said. “It was an out-of-body experience.”
Klein’s sudden rise from depth piece to October folk hero felt like a jump cut. “A week ago I was in Arizona throwing live ABs,” he said. “Just being on the roster and being in the World Series was a surprise. Getting to throw Game 1 was cool. And then yesterday was even cooler, I guess.” The reception flipped overnight. “I’ve seen some of the stuff on Twitter and Instagram,” Klein added. “It’s a complete 180 from where I was earlier this year. Being on the good side of people is a lot better than the other side.”
Sheehan wasn’t surprised by Klein’s stuff—he’d seen it up close. “I played with Will in OKC this year in Triple-A,” he said. “I saw how nasty he is and what a competitor he is. So it’s not a surprise for me. It’s really cool to see.” Moving to the bullpen during a postseason run isn’t easy, and Sheehan didn’t pretend it was. “It definitely wasn’t the easiest at first,” he said. “I struggled a little bit. I leaned on the other guys in the bullpen. I had Kersh down there. I had Glas down there at the start to work through it. Learning from the older guys, the veterans, helped me a lot.”
If relief work usually adds a little extra sizzle to the radar gun, Sheehan wasn’t chasing that storyline. “I don’t know, honestly,” he said. “It feels pretty much the same.” Mostly, he described the job as a mindset shift. “It’s doing whatever it takes to win,” he said. “The conversations down there are normal bullpen conversations. It’s hard to describe. I’m trying to learn the ways to go about it.” When asked if the clean frames he drew in extras felt more comfortable, he nodded. “It’s always a little more comfortable starting with no one on base for sure.”
The night came with history in the house. Koufax stayed until the last out, then walked into the clubhouse. “Getting to meet Sandy after the game was kind of surreal,” Klein said. “He’s a Dodger legend, a baseball legend. Just getting to shake his hand put it all into perspective.” The roll call of phones-lighting-up moments hit a second beat when the TV crew showed him a shout-out. “They showed me CC [Sabathia]’s tweet,” Klein said. “You grow up watching these guys and now they’re watching you and acknowledging it. That was really cool.”
They were asked about Shohei Ohtani, who reached base nine times and then turned around to pitch Game 4. The two relievers smiled like the rest of us. “I couldn’t do it,” Klein said. “Hit two home runs, doubles, walk, then go through whatever happened yesterday and now he’s going to go out and do something equally insane. There’s never going to be another guy like that. Being around him is really cool.” Sheehan didn’t try to top it. “That sums it up,” he said. “It’s incredible. It’s crazy.”
Klein’s path to the Dodgers was a whiplash day—DFA to dealt. “I got DFA’d the day before and they told me to wait around,” he said. “That night they told me the Dodgers were trading for me. I was like, ‘Well, that’s really cool.’ The next day I was in L.A. I woke up to a 9 a.m. missed call and a text saying, ‘Hey, call me back.’ I found out I was DFA’d and really low. That night I got traded to the Dodgers and really high. It was a crazy day, and it’s all worked out pretty well.” The new slider shape helped, too. “The addition of a sweeper when I got here with Connor McGuiness and [Mark] Prior really helped me,” he said. “Helped me attack righties a little better. Staying in the mindset of going after guys and pounding the zone—after a couple successful outings, if they’re not hitting it, you build on that.”
The “last man in the ‘pen” piece of Game 3 was real. “As soon as [Edgardo] Henriquez went out there, I was like, I’m the last one,” Klein said. “He ran two great innings. You’re hoping we walk it off. If you don’t, I was like, ‘All right, we’re not losing this game.’ I was going out there until apparently Yamamoto was ready to go. I’m really glad we didn’t have to see what happened there.” The difference between October and regular-season extras? He didn’t hide his preference. “It’s so much better,” he said of no ghost runner. “You don’t get 18 innings of baseball with a ghost runner. I had a lot more fun yesterday.”
The reach of the moment hit home, literally. “I’ve heard from every coach I’ve ever had,” Klein said. “High school, travel, college—probably T-ball. Middle school put a picture up from yesterday in their hallways. There’s been a lot of support from Bloomington.” The family is flying in. “They couldn’t make it yesterday,” he said. “I think I’ll get to spend a little more time with them today.” He admitted the body felt it, the way anyone’s would. “I think I’m still on the adrenaline rush,” he said. “Definitely sore and tired, but so is everyone. Will caught 18 innings and he’s going to go out there and catch again somehow. It’s the World Series.”
Sheehan talked about growth after surgery and the little tweaks that sharpened his mix. “I don’t think it’s too different,” he said. “Slider’s a little different, changeup’s a little different, but overall it’s pretty fastball heavy. I know how to use it a little better now. That comes from Mark and Connor talking to me about it, and all the minor league guys, too. David Anderson and Ryan Dennick and Rob Hill. It’s knowing how to use it.” The bounce-back from Toronto to last night was part scouting, part conviction. “It was pretty similar,” he said. “More scouting stuff and realizing when people are going to be aggressive and when they’re not. Keep them off balance. It was a confidence thing. I already failed once, so I might as well just go in there and do whatever this time.”
Before they left, someone asked about Klein’s t-shirt featuring the silhouette of a certain farm animal with a red number 17 in the middle. He laughed. “Ohtani. He’s the GOAT,” he said. “It felt appropriate after yesterday and what he’s going to do today. He’s the most unreal player any of us has ever seen. I don’t think he needs us to wear the shirt, but it feels like good luck.” And how many innings for tonight, if asked again? Klein didn’t flinch. “As many as they need,” he said. “Hopefully zero.”
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