Dodgers Interview: Game 7 Hero Smith on the swing that sealed the deal
“I was just trying to get on base.”
TORONTO — Will Smith stood in the middle of the postgame euphoria, hat on backwards, eyes stinging from champagne, and tried to explain the swing that lifted the Dodgers to a title. He kept the focus on the room, the series, and the guy who turned every high-leverage moment into a showcase of control.
“There’s nothing better in baseball than this,” Smith said. “Celebrate with the guys, winning the World Series, going back to back.” He grinned at the setup he knew was coming. “There’s nothing better than this in baseball.”
About the pitch: the smile widened. “He hung a slider,” Smith said, “and I banged it.”
Attention turned quickly to the star on the mound. “What Yoshi did was special,” Smith said. “Absolutely incredible. The complete game in Game 2 here, going six innings the other night, last night, and three today. That’s insane. Insane.” He shook his head and said it again for emphasis: “Absolutely incredible.”
The eleventh-inning at-bat sounded simple by design. “I was just trying to get on base,” Smith said. “Just pass the baton to Freddie right behind me. I believed if I got on, Freddie was going to drive me in. That’s how we were going to score.”
He went back to the group again, a catcher’s view of a roster that emptied the tank. “Going back to back with these guys,” Smith said, “there’s nothing better.” He nodded toward the mound one more time. “What Yamamoto did for us tonight and this series—special.”
One last line for the highlight reel. “Mr. Clutch?” Smith said, half-laughing as a teammate shouted it from off camera. “I was just trying to get on base. He hung it. I banged it.”
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