Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — “Don’t go there, Dylan!” Manager Dave Roberts jokingly admonished reported Dylan Hernandez at the press conference after Wednesday’s epic Dodger win at the Ravine. Roberts bristled when Hernandez reminded him of his own 0-for-6 performance for the San Diego Padres when Roberts was on the losing end of the famous “4 + 1” game between these two teams in September of 2006. But then Roberts admitted, “Since you brought it up, it certainly reminded me of that night.”
Pennant Race of 2006
Indeed, the similarities are uncanny. Almost exactly fifteen years ago, on September 18, 2006, the Dodgers faced the Padres at Dodger Stadium. The team, led by names like Drew, Garciaparra, Kent, and Ethier were finishing up a season in which they would finish second in the division behind the Padres even though they ended the year with identical records of 88-74. Neither team had much luck in the playoffs, the Dodgers losing to the Mets and the Padres getting bounced by Albert Pujols and the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals.
However, that September the two teams were locked in an epic battle for first. On that night, the Dodgers came into the game having dropped the previous two to the Padres at Dodger Stadium and had seen their half-game lead evaporate. They entered the game trailing the Friars by half a game, and were looking to salvage a split of the four-gamer before they went into the final days of the season. To say winning this game was critical to the Dodgers’ hopes of being NL West champs is an understatement.
Padres strike first but Dodgers hang in there
The Padres got off to an early lead in this one, thanks to a four-run first inning. But the Dodgers fought back and had the game knotted at four by the middle innings. Then, in the latter stages of the game, things got crazy. The Padres got two in the eighth, and after the Dodgers answer back with one in the bottom of the frame, San Diego put up a three-spot in the top of the ninth, putting them in the driver’s seat with a 9-5 lead. (Hmm… 9-5, that score sounds familiar doesn’t it?)
The glorious ninth inning
The stage was set for one of the most improbable comebacks in Dodger history. Jeff Kent led off the inning, already with three hits on the night. He drilled a home run to the right field bleachers and the Dodgers pulled to within three. Then, JD Drew went yard as well, hitting one even deeper than Kent.
Manager Bruce Bochy had see enough, so he lifted reliever Jon Adkins for his Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman. But Hoffman looked very human on this night. Catcher Russell Martin jacked a pitch off Hoffman into the right centerfield seats for the third straight home run in the inning. Finally, Marlon tagged the first pitch he saw from Hoffman, and just like that, we had ourselves a tie game.
The Padres scored again in the top of the tenth inning, but the Dodgers had the last say in this one. With Hoffman out of the ballgame, Bochy turned to Rudy Seanez to finish out the game. He finished it all right.
First, Seanez walked the tying run aboard in the person of Kenny Lofton. Then up stepped local boy Nomar Garciaparra, who was in his first season with his hometown ballclub. Nomar got a pitch that was to his liking and drilled into into the left field seats for a walk off winner. As the Dodgers shortstop circled the bases in jubilation, Vin Scully summarized the night like this “The Dodgers win it 11-10. Oh-ho! Unbelievable!”
Coincidentally, Garciaparra was calling Wednesday night’s game from the booth, filling in for the still-quarantining Orel Hershiser. It must have been a deja vu for the former All-Star. The other witness of the 2006 game was Dave Roberts, now managing the Dodgers. He recalled that night when his Padres got knocked back into second place. “It certainly reminded me of that night,” he said of Wednesday’s game. “It certainly had feelings of that, and to be in this dugout, much better feeling than being in the visiting dugout.”
Though Roberts didn’t particularly relish that memory from his playing career, he had to admit, “Yeah. Same two opponents. And certainly the same vibe. I remember being out there.”
Dodger fans do, too, Dave. People are already calling this latest thrilling comeback, the “1+4” game, since Mookie’s seventh inning homer set the stage for the four bombs in the eighth. It wasn’t quite the drama of a walk-off winner, but it was pretty darn close. And Dave Roberts got to experience both…
