Stan Kasten Compares Dodgers’ Big Three to Impressive Starting Trio From Atlanta Days
For any opposing team, pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers is going to be one of the toughest tests of the season. With the top three batters in the lineup having each won at least one Most Valuable Player award, each game offers no margin for a pitcher to lose his focus.
The 2024 season just started and already Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman have shown the world why they are the scariest 1-2-3 in baseball. By the end of this week, the Dodgers will make history when they become the first team to have three MVPs batting consecutively for more than 10 games — a first for any team in baseball history.
In many ways, it reminds Dodgers president Stan Kasten of the great teams he had in Atlanta, with Hall of Fame pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz — plus one big difference.
“These guys feed off each other here. Those guys [in Atlanta] loved competing with each other. You’ll never get more competitive guys than Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine – especially on the golf course.
“When Shohei joked about not getting a home run, I’m not sure those guys [in Atlanta] would have joked because they wanted to out-do each other. They took pride being as good or better than the other guy. They all won Cy Youngs, and that made them feel great.
“Our guys have the MVPs, and while they’re pushing each other, I just don’t sense they’re competing against each other, not like those guys.”
— Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten, via USA Today
The Dodgers’ trio won’t be able to deliver Los Angeles a World Series on its own. They will need help from 23 other players on a daily basis. But by setting a tone from the first pitch of the game, it could inspire teammates to be on their game from the outset — and change a fan culture known to arrive late and leave early.
Kasten speaks for a lot of people when he says, “You know something, it’s pretty special waking up and knowing you have a good chance to win a game.”
Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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