LOS ANGELES — Yeah, go ahead and say it. The Dodgers are old. Too many years, too many additional postseason games, and sooner or later veteran canniness becomes less of an advantage as the speed and reflexes slow, right?
But there’s another way to look at it.
As the Dodgers took the lead in their National League Division Series on Saturday with a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves in triple-digit heat, their veteran core of shortstop Mookie Betts, first baseman Freddie Freeman, third baseman Max Muncy and catcher Will Smith played in their 41st postseason game together. That dates to when Freeman joined the Dodgers in 2022 and encompasses four previous seasons of ups and downs, of celebratory champagne showers and quietly pondering what went wrong.
Betts has played 71 postseason games as a Dodger, dating to the 2020 short-season championship, and 92 all told between L.A. and Boston, with four rings (three as a Dodger) to show for it. Muncy has played in 80, dating to the 2018 postseason. Smith has played in 72 and been on the roster for 76, dating to 2019.
And Freeman, who left Atlanta as a free agent and joined the Dodgers in 2022, has played in 38 of 41 playoff games as a Dodger and 83 all told, given his six seasons with the Braves. He has three World Series championship rings, one in Atlanta in 2021 and the last two in L.A.
What does all of this mean?
This is a group for which the stage isn’t too big. They understand the difference between the regular season and the postseason.
“I definitely think our experience is a real competitive advantage,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before Saturday’s game.
“October, this stage, it’s a lot: the emotions, the intensity of the games. So I think for the guys that have been through it and have that appreciation – you know, the game can speed up on guys. To have that experience to draw from, to be able to calm that in a way to be able to perform, I think, is really helpful.”
That preparation not only helps them get themselves ready to play, it creates an example and expectation for others. The clubhouse culture in L.A., going back to Justin Turner’s days as the unofficial captain, is one of quiet professionalism, enabling these players to either meet the moment or be honest with themselves when they don’t.
“Obviously, talent matters a lot,” Friedman continued. “But coupled with that is how guys prepare, and I marvel at walking through our clubhouse and watching the way our guys prepare – out on the field doing defensive drills, in the clubhouse watching video, talking about the pitcher, game-planning. Just everywhere you go, there are guys who are focused on what to do to help you win a game that day.
“I think to have that talent and that level of preparation is a rare thing.”
Tarik Skubal noticed that when he first got here, after being acquired in trade deadline deal with Detroit.
“I think from top to bottom, I’ve said this before, they’re very much aligned with trying to win championships,” he said during Friday’s pre-series availability. “Everybody’s got one goal at hand. I fit right in with that. I think everything that I try to do is try to win as many baseball games as I can. I’m excited to start doing that in October.”
Is the game different at this time of year? On Friday, Skubal made the observation that his approach doesn’t change, saying, “How I go out and execute and how I prepare and how I game plan and all that stuff is going to be kind of the exact same. That’s kind of what I trust in any moment.”
It worked Saturday – two hits and seven strikeouts in seven innings, with a solo home run by Sean Murphy in the sixth as one of Skubal’s few blemishes.
And there was this, as well: When a questioner noted that Skubal had hit 101 mph on a 1-and-1 four-seam fastball to Austin Riley in the second inning, he quipped: “I think I was just trying to match the temperature out there.”
He grew up in Arizona, so Saturday’s extreme heat probably brought back some memories. “I played a Little League game in 127, Lake Havasu,” he said.
Much of postseason baseball is a mental battle. It could be adapting to the atmosphere of a team that expects to win. Or it could involve the opportunity to reset following a poor stretch or a poor season.
“There’s nothing I can do of the things that (did not get) done in the past,” said outfielder Teoscar Hernández, whose two-run, 431-foot missile into the left field pavilion in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead and made everyone forget about his regular-season struggles, at least for the moment.
“For me, it’s not about … the regular season. It’s not about the September (hot streak). It’s about what can I do in an at-bat, pitch by pitch, to help this team win 10 more games this year?”
That seems to be the theme throughout the Dodgers’ clubhouse, and it’s one that the veterans pass down to everyone else.
And if this team does achieve the three-peat, that knowledge and belief and attitude – boiled down to the idea that nothing on a daily basis, from March through October and into November when necessary, is more important than winning that day’s game – will go a long way toward explaining why.
And to go for a third straight championship, and to have been in postseason play for 14 consecutive years, has as much to do with culture as with payroll size.
“The amount that goes into it, the potential things that come up throughout the course of a season with injuries and the timing of things and regression in performance – there’s so many factors that to be able to withstand the 162 games and get into October,” Friedman said.
That difficulty, that randomness, helps explain why just making the postseason or winning a playoff round, prompts a champagne-drenched celebration.
And to get to October every year? Yes, it’s talent, but it’s also experience, and preparation, and it’s the elders passing those secrets down in the clubhouse.
jalexander@scng.com