The Los Angeles Dodgers received production from a variety of rookies in 2019, with one of them being top prospect Gavin Lux after he earned a call up in September due to a monster season in the Minors.
Lux, who the Dodgers drafted in the first round in 2016 out of Kenosha, Wis., is just 21 years of age. More specifically, he wasn’t even a thought in his parents’ minds the last time L.A. won the World Series in 1988.
Lux was quizzed a bit on his knowledge of that championship Dodgers team, to which he admitted not having a tremendous amount of information on. “Honestly, not too much, no,” Lux said with a laugh. “John Shoemaker would kill me if he heard me say that in the AZL.”
The 1988 World Series is most known for Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, of course. Lux remembered that, but what he could not immediately recall was the identity of the Oakland Athletics pitcher that Gibson hit the home run off.
“Yeah, of course,” Lux said when Gibson’s name was mentioned. “Who did he hit it off of? Don’t tell me … Tell me.”
He eventually was told that it was Dennis Eckersley, who is one of the best relief pitchers the league has ever seen. Lux remembered him for something else though. “Yeah, mustache, yeah. Yeah.”
Current Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser was the MVP of that World Series. Lux was able to remember him and recognized that the Dodgers organization has had countless great players over the years.
“Yeah, Hershiser, of course. And there’s been a lot of really good Dodgers teams, a lot of really good players,” he said.
Lux will be hoping to add his name to that list one day, although he will have to help break the organization’s World Series drought for that to happen.
The 2019 Dodgers team has a legit chance to do that as they won a franchise-record 106 games in the regular season. Lux earned the starting second base job against right-handed pitching down the stretch of the season, but his first taste of postseason action will not be easy.
Lux hit a pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the series in his first career postseason at-bat. He got his first start on Game 2 though and did not fare as well, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts facing Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer.
“I watched them pitch growing up, and I’ve seen them throw in a lot of big games,” Lux said before Game 2. “So for me I’m excited just to get out there and compete and see where I match up against them. So it will be fun. Just pass the torch to the next guy and keep the line moving.”
Being as young as Lux and having to face two of the most dominant pitchers in the world in your first two postseason starts cannot be easy. He will look to bounce back with the series shifting to Washington for Games 3 and 4 though, with Scherzer expected to start one of those.
