In the time leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline in July 2016, the Los Angeles Dodgers were regularly connected to a slew of starting pitchers and corner outfielders. The team ultimately swung a deal with the Oakland Athletics to acquire Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, filling both needs in one fell swoop.
Hill was on the disabled list at the time of the trade, but had been one of the top starting pitchers through the first half. Reddick had missed six weeks with a fractured left thumb but otherwise was enjoying the best season of his career.
Upon joining the Dodgers, he was batting .296/.368/.449 with eight home runs, 28 RBIs, a .348 wOBA, 124 OPS+ and 121 wRC+. But what Los Angeles believed they were receiving did not meet reality.
Reddick went hitless in his first 15 at-bats with the Dodgers. He snapped the drought with a single in the final at-bat of his fourth start with the team. It led to some improvement but not much consistency.
A lack of production led to frustration for both Reddick and the Dodgers fan base. He revealed some in the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium showered him with calls for Yasiel Puig’s return.
And with that, Reddick explained a matchup with the Dodgers in the World Series is what he desired, so as to exact revenge, according to Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times:
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“It’s gonna be fun. There were a lot of good guys there that I played with last year, trying to get to where we are now. Personally, I wouldn’t rather do it against any other team. I wasn’t really a fan favorite there. I got booed a lot as a home player. I didn’t really fit in, it seemed like they thought. I tried to put that behind me. But I think it’s gonna be fun to go back, especially to beat them. It’s gonna be a really good feeling for me personally.
“Nothing against that team, that organization. There’s a lot of history and a lot of great guys over there. But the fan base, I think it’d be more personal for me to win. Just to get reaction from there. But it’s not gonna be easy. They’re a really good team, a really good ballpark. Their fans are gonna be loud, just like it was for this series for the Yankees.”
The 30-year-old went 6-for-16 (.375 batting average) with two RBI, two walks, two strikeouts and key hits in four American League Division Series. But he slumped in the Championship Series, going 0-for-21 with five strikeouts through the first six games.
That prompted Astros manager A.J. Hinch to drop Reddick to batting ninth in the winner-take-all Game 7. He fell to 0-for-22 before connecting on a one-out single in the fourth inning. It was his lone hit and only time reaching base in the Astros’ shutout victory.
The previous LCS record for longest 0-fer was 0-for-16, shared by Seattle Mariners catcher Dan Wilson (1995 ALCS), Detroit Tigers third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez (1972 ALCS) and Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Gene Alley (1972 NLCS).
The Major League record for worst 0-fer in any postseason series is 0-for-22, set by St. Louis Cardinals infielder Dal Maxvill in the 1968 World Series.
In 10 playoff games (eight starts) with the Dodgers, Reddick went 8-for-26 (.308) with two RBI, one walk and two strikeouts, posting a .333 on-base percentage and .308 slugging.
