One of the most unusual seasons in MLB history has concluded, with the Los Angeles Dodgers coming out on top as World Series champions for the first time since 1988.
The club returned to L.A. this week after spending the last month confined in the Texas postseason bubble. For most players, they will soon travel back to their offseason home to reunite with friends and family for the first time since reporting to Summer Camp in July.
Kiké Hernandez noted being away from his loved ones for the extended period of time was the biggest obstacle he faced during the 2020 season. “Obviously there was a lot. I think for us as players, the bigger challenges were off the field,” he said.
“Once we got started, baseball is still baseball. Even though there’s nobody in the stands or there’s only 60 games or the fact that if we don’t get the job done in nine innings, the 10th inning starts with a runner on second. Baseball is baseball.
“I think for us, off the field was a bigger challenge. The whole COVID thing affected a lot of people’s routines and stuff. Being from Puerto Rico, I haven’t seen my family in a really long time, and I think there’s a lot of people in the clubhouse that can share that sentiment.
“Besides baseball, I would say the most challenging part was dealing with the daily life as is.”
One thing Hernandez observed this year was how talented of a player Mookie Betts is after previously being unfamiliar with him. “There’s been a lot of times where we’ve sat as a group, we’ve sat in front of you guys and we’ve talked internally about, ‘Oh, this is the best team we’ve ever played on,'” Hernandez said.
“This season, I think we can all agree this is the best team we’ve seen since we’ve been here. As far as something that I learned this year, how great Mookie Betts is as a player.
“A lot of us have been here for a while and the ones that are coming up, you get to know them during Spring Training and all that and you start hearing their names coming up. But playing in the National League, you don’t get to watch American League players all that often, especially on a daily basis. Mookie Betts is the real deal.”
Hernandez doesn’t believe shortened season affects validity of World Series title
One of the major changes implemented this season was an abbreviated 60-game schedule, rather than the usual 162. Some believe the World Series championship holds less weight because of this.
Hernandez sees things differently and believes the World Series championship is just as legitimate this year as a normal season. “Postseason is the postseason, regardless. First round was a little weird for obvious reasons,” Hernandez said of the expanded playoffs.
“But at the end of the day, the two best teams in baseball this season are still standing. There’s 28 other teams watching from home and I think there’s 28 teams that would give whatever to be in this situation that the two of us are.
“It doesn’t matter if we played 60 or 162 games. I bet you the other 28 teams would still want to be here.”
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