Dodgers Interview: Justin Dean, World Series Champion, reflects on being a weird part of World Series History
LOS ANGELES — Justin Dean may accomplish a lot in this game. But one thing is for sure, he will be forever a part of World Series lore, and his name will forever be a part of numerous baseball trivia quizzes for years to come. It’s a fact not lost on the young outfielder, and one that he reflected on when we caught up with him earlier this week at his meet-and-greet in Montebello.
This was before the roster move, before he was let go, so he was still talking like a Dodger and still very much living in the glow of October. He might not have piled up plate appearances, but every Dodger fan knows his name now because of one strange play in center field at Rogers Centre in Game Six. That ball over his head changed the inning, and depending on where you watched the game, it changed the temperature of the room.
“It won’t ever get old,” Dean said right away when our Roger Arrieta called him a World Series champ. “It’s got a really good ring to it. Still doesn’t feel real, so I’m loving it right now.”
Then we asked him about “the play.” The one Toronto fans are still mad about. “The hitter, Barger, he hits the ball hard. He was hitting the ball hard all series, all playoffs really,” Dean said. “So I’m expecting him to hit the ball and he did hit the ball really hard towards the wall and I know how that wall plays, how I was playing it off in BP. The ball bounces off the wall pretty hard, so I was ready and expecting it to bounce off really good cuz he hit it really good. And it just didn’t move at all. It stopped immediately.”
That was the moment his baseball brain kicked in. He said it “automatically threw a red flag” in his mind. “I’m thinking about it in my head as I’m running towards the ball. I’m like, is that a stuck ball, a dead ball? And I’m looking back and Kiké’s got his hands up and I’m like, yes, I agree. Throw my hands up and just trusted that that was going to be the right call and that the umpires were going to see that. And that was the rule.”
He even admitted how odd it was to see that happen in a big league park. “I haven’t seen that play happen at this level of baseball or at these nice of stadiums. I feel like the rule was made when we used to play on travel ball fields or not as nice fields where there might be chain link fences, the ball can get stuck. So it’s rare to see that in this type of stadium, but it happened.”
We pointed out that after the game people went out there and tried to wedge balls in the same spot and couldn’t. Dean just nodded. “Correct. I don’t know the numbers or the chances of what it had to be but it was perfect. He hit it at the perfect angle. He hit it at the perfect speed. He smashed it. So it was super crazy. That’s like a one of one thing for that to happen. You can’t recreate that.”
That ruling took a run off the board for Toronto. It kept the Dodgers out in front and a few pitches later, it was over. It is the kind of thing people in Canada will grumble about for a long time. Dean was not apologizing for knowing the rule. He was doing what a late-inning defensive sub is supposed to do: know the park, know the wall, help the pitcher.
The rest of the interview reminded you what kind of year it was for him. A long grind in the minors, then a call to Los Angeles, then a spot on a team that everyone expected to win. “I was first thought just super excited, super emotional just after a long career in the minor leagues,” he said. “I wanted to immediately be able to help the team in whatever facet that was. I didn’t know how much I would be playing when I got called up. I knew it wouldn’t be a ton, but I knew I’d be mixing in here and there, and I just wanted to be able to help the team whenever that was.”
He was also honest about the noise around the series. You’ve heard it. Toronto fans saying the better team lost. Dean did not take the bait, but he did answer it. “It’s kind of a two-way street,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, they said that we were the best team and that we should win, and it’s a failure if we don’t. And then we’re not the best team if, you know, in that situation, as they say. So it’s kind of like which one do you choose? But the Blue Jays, they literally did everything correctly. It was the craziest series of all time. They hit everything. They played great defense. Their pitchers were on one. So it’s hard to fault them for feeling that way. They should feel that way. They were the best team. They played fantastic. We just happened to win the game. The object is to win the game. So maybe we were the best team.”
That is a good answer. Respectful to Toronto. Loyal to the Dodgers.
He lit up when he talked about how many different guys made plays in those last two games. “It’s just a testament to the group that we have and the mentality that the group takes hold of,” Dean said. “We know the talent is there, but the talent doesn’t usually win on its own. We’ve seen a lot of talented teams not reach the goal. So it’s everyone having the mentality of buying in to the ultimate goal. Everyone coming every day to the yard and putting in work and extra work regardless of status, regardless of how big these stars are. They’ve worked super hard and they’re super detailed and we just play together. All that coming together is a world championship recipe for sure.”
About that wild ninth-inning catch from Andy Pages with Kiké playing shallow. Dean was watching like the rest of us. “As he hit it, I’m like, he hit it well but he hit it high,” Dean said. “Then I looked and saw where Kiké was playing and he was kind of shallow. So I didn’t really think he was going to get there. I was watching Kiké pretty much the whole time. I didn’t see Pages anywhere and then all of a sudden he comes out of nowhere. I saw immediately that he did secure it, but it was crazy to see him just fly out of nowhere and catch that ball.”
The interview ended the right way. “World Series champion, man. That’s for life,” Roger said. Dean smiled. “For life, man. I appreciate LA. I love LA, man. World Series champion.”
Whatever uniform he wears for the rest of his career, that part is true. He was there. He knew the rule. He raised his hands. And in a seven-game series where every inch mattered, Justin Dean gave the Dodgers one more play to point to.
Have you subscribed to the Bleed Los Podcast YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows & promotions, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
