Dodgers Reaction: Andre Ethier Enjoys Resurgence After Reflection
He was done. Old. In decline. On the verge of being traded.
I never wavered in my support for the longest tenured Dodger. There were so many memories he had created with my beloved team, and for that I would always stay faithful. There was the 30-game hitting streak, the clutch hitting and walk-off home runs, the All-Star appearances, a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award, 31 home runs during an epic 2009 season, seven consecutive seasons of 30 or more doubles, the underrated defense and versatility in the outfield and of course his fiery spirit.
They say it’s only for his looks. I couldn’t care less if you resemble Ronald Belisario or Andre Ethier. Impress me with your baseball skills and help my team to go all the way. The stats may say his peak has come and gone, but this season has brought the best out of Ethier. Glimpses of vintage “Dre” circa 2009 have been reminiscent in his 2015 performance.
Trading away Ethier was never the decision I wanted to accept. He was on the verge of being traded this offseason. Yet here we are after 10 amazing years, and Captain Clutch is having a resurgent season to my delight. His disappointing seasons prior to 2015 could very well been because he was dogged down by injury and Don Mattingly’s unwillingness to play him regularly. The 2013 spat with Don Mattingly aside, Dre has been nothing short of a team player even when he was sitting on the bench.
“I never lost faith,” Ethier said. “I maybe doubted myself a little bit. You start to wonder. But you never really give up.”
When I spoke with Ethier this spring, he seemed healthy and raring to go. He was one of the players who was taking extra batting practice in the mornings at Camelback Ranch even though that kid named Joc in the next cage had all the eyes and cameras on him. Pederson and Ethier may be at exact opposite points in their career, yet they have worked well with each other both in the outfield and in the lineup to help their shared team succeed. Pederson can still learn a thing or two from Ethier, and the veteran still has that young zest for the game in which I fell in love with.
Over the decade he has been with the Dodgers, Ethier has amassed Dodger franchise records as well. He’s now fifth all-time amongst Dodger outfielders with 296 career doubles (ninth-best overall), sixth in hits (1,336), fifth in total games (1,391), eighth in runs (628), sixth in RBI (672) and sixth in walks (507).
Andre Ethier may not hit 30 homeruns this season (I’m going to say he hits 16), but that’s okay. Not many baseball players make a historic impact on a team for 10 seasons let alone stick with the same team for that long. My respect for Ethier has endured even during the darkest times, when he barely got an at bat off the bench. I maintained that his defense was better than the stats may reflect, and that his arm is still an asset in the outfield (Ethier has 67 career outfield assists as a Dodger including six this season). While many Dodgers have come and gone over the past decade, Ethier is still here and still good.
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