For all that Howie Kendrick accomplished over nine seasons with the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim, a career-first didn’t come until Tuesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers — his own bobblehead night.
Kendrick’s second season with the Dodgers has been nothing like his first. The 33-year-old has primarily played left field and struggled at the plate through much of the year. But Kendrick, like Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner, has righted the ship.
“You get frustrated through part of it. But doing it for so long you learn to trust yourself and go, ‘Man, I’ve been here before,'” Kendrick said.
“You just have to trust the work you’re putting in, the early work, and trust the process. That’s the biggest thing. Not everyone is going to be right where we want to be all the time.”
Kendrick’s bobblehead night came with added significance as he caught the ceremonial first pitch that was thrown out by his two young sons. Then in his first plate appearance, Kendrick lined a two-run homer that had enough spin on it to kick off the top of the wall in center field and into the pavilion.
“I thought he caught it at first. I was just glad that it kept rolling and bounced over,” Kendrick said of his home run. “I’ll take it.”
He added an RBI double in the fifth inning that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 9-3, which held as the final score. “It’s a good night for the team just in general. We had a lot of guys come out and swing the bats well,” Kendrick said.
“It was my first bobblehead, so I was excited about that. It was just a fun night in general.” The victory moved the Dodgers into a tie with the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.
Though, San Francisco pulled a half-game ahead with their win Wednesday afternoon. “That’s just a testament of hard work throughout the season,” said Kendrick of the Dodgers making up ground in the standings.
“I know we lost a lot of games early and people were like, ‘Ah, they’re falling behind too much.’ But when is too much, too much? You know like I know, going down the stretch it’s just about playing really well in the second half and seeing what happens in September.”
