Dodgers: Justin Turner Talks About the Unselfishness of 2020 World Series Team

Justin Turner is no longer on the Dodgers, but he’ll always be a part of Los Angeles. That included last week, when he was in LA for a Los Angeles Dream Center event with his wife, Kourtney.

While JT was around, he talked with a local radio personality, and of course a lot of the conversation was about Turner’s nine years in Dodger blue. One topic they specifically talked about was the 2020 Dodgers team that battled through a pandemic and became the first (and still only) team to win 13 postseason games on the way to a World Series title.

JT talked about what made that 2020 team so special.

“2020 was [an] unbelievable team. Just the amount of unselfishness that took place that year was like nothing I’ve ever seen. The guys that, whether they were in the lineup or not in the lineup or were expected to pinch-hit or come out of the bullpen. Julio [Urias], who is by far one of our most consistent starters we’ve had since I’ve been a Dodger, and he’s going into the bullpen, taking the ball and closing down games and doing whatever’s asked of him. Kiké [Hernandez] pinch-hit homers, Joc [Pederson] platooning, just so many things that went into that and guys just all-in to win, you just don’t see that very often, and that I think separated that team.”

It’s a little sad to hear Turner still talking in kind of the present tense, even though he and Hernandez and Pederson (and Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger and a lot of others) have all moved on since then.

Winning a World Series together creates bonds of friendship that last forever. Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson were only teammates for three years, but you still hear them say they love each other whenever they’re together. Heck, Gibson was only teammates with Steve Sax for one year, but Gibby still tabbed Sax for his coaching staff in Arizona last decade.

The bond Turner has with his 2020 teammates and with Dodger fans will last as long as the World Series memories do.