Gone But Not Forgotten

                       Earlier this week the Mariners came to Dodger Stadium for a 3-game series that the Dodgers ended up sweeping. One of the players with Seattle was former Dodger 3rd baseman, Justin Turner. JT was making his first visit to Dodger Stadium since he left as a free agent after the 2022 season to sign with Boston. After a year with the Red Sox, JT signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent. The Dodgers saw him when they went to Toronto in April. They won 2 of the three games there. JT went 2-11 during the series. 

                      Turner during his tenure in Los Angeles was one of the most popular players on the team. And why not, JT turned his entire career around once he signed with LA. Turner was originally drafted by the Reds in the seventh round of the 2006 draft. The Reds gave him a 50,000-dollar bonus to sign. 

                       He started out at Billings in the rookie league. He batted .338 that year and had a .921 OPS. Within two years, he was at AA Chatanooga where he batted .289 with a .792 OPS in 2008. At the winter meetings he was traded along with Ryan Freel and Brandon Waring to the Baltimore Orioles for catcher, Ramon Hernandez. He went to spring training with the Orioles and then was assigned to AAA Norfolk where he hit .300. He was playing mostly at second and third. In September, he was called up to the Orioles and he made his MLB debut that day at Fenway, pinch hitting for Melvin Mora, and he finished the game playing third base. He went 3-18 over 12 games. 

                        He went to spring training as a member of the 40-man roster, but he was sent back to Norfolk. He was called up to replace Brian Roberts. But on May 21st, he was designated for assignment. In 17 games he hit .111. Then on May 25th, 2010, he was claimed on waivers by the New York Mets. He had 8 at bats with the Mets and then was sent down to AAA.

                        In April of 2011, Turner was recalled by the Mets. On May 15th, he hit his first major league homer against the Astros off Aneury Rodriguez. It was a three-run homer and capped a 5 RBI Day for Turner. Turner ended up being named the NL Rookie of the Month in May of 2011, their first since 2001. He spent the next two years as the Mets utility man.  After the 2013 season, Turner was non-tendered by the Mets, and he became a free agent. 

                       Following the release, Dodger coach, Tim Wallach saw Turner hitting at a Cal-State Fullerton alumni game. On February 5, 2014, Turner signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He got an invitation to spring training and impressed enough to have his contract purchased by the Dodgers on March 16th and he was added to the roster. JT got into 109 games due to his versatility and led the team with a .340 BA, 7 homers and 43 runs driven in in 288 at bats. 

                        The Dodgers re-signed him to a 2.5-million-dollar deal, avoiding arbitration. He became the starting 3rd baseman for most of the season and responded with a .294 average, 16 homers and 60RBIs. In the 2015 LDS against his former team, the Mets, he hit .526 with 10 hits. Six of those hits were doubles. The Dodgers lost the series, but it was the first of many solid post-season performances for the player who was becoming known as RedTurn-10. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after the season and then signed a 1-year-5.1-million-dollar deal. 

                        Turner had one of his best seasons in 2016, batting .275, hitting 27 homers, and driving in 90 runs. He did well in the LDS, with six hits, including a homer. But struggled in the LCS hitting only .200 against the Cubs. As a reward for his great season, the Dodgers signed Turner to a 4-year, 64-million-dollar deal. Turner rewarded the Dodgers with a season where he hit .322 with a .415 OBP, 21 homers and 71 RBIs. All of that despite missing almost a month. JT finished 3rd in the batting race and second in OBP. 

                       In the NLDS against the Diamondbacks, he had 6 hits.  He and Chris Taylor were named Co-MVP’s of the NLCS against the Cubs. In game 2, Turner hit a walk off 3 run-homer. He struggled in the World Series against the Astros. He hit only .160. In 2018, he was hit by a pitch during spring training and was out until May. Because of injuries, he missed time and still had a good season with a .312/14/52. He hit well in the NLDS when he reached base in nine of his 18 plate appearances. He was 7-29 in the NLCS against Milwaukee and then went 8-24 against the Red Sox. He was nominated for the Roberto Clemente award during the season. 

                       Turner not only showed leadership on the field, off the field, he and his wife, Kourtney, were involved in many charities and off the field community services. They had been married in December of 2017 at a beachfront resort in Mexico in a ceremony officiated by Orel Hershiser. The Justin Turner foundation helps homeless veterans, children facing life-altering diseases and various youth baseball organizations. 

                         In 2019, Justin hit his 100th career homer. He finished with .290/27/67. He had 2 homers and 5 RBIs in the losing cause against the Nationals in the NLDS. He had a 3 homer, 6 RBI game against the Braves in May. 2020 was the pandemic year. JT was hit by a pitch on opening day, tying the record at 73 set by Zack Wheat. He was hampered by a sore hamstring and missed two weeks. In the postseason, he was hitless in the 2 games with the Brewers. He went 4-15 against the Padres in the LDS. He hit .280 against the Braves in the NLCS with a homer and 1 driven in. He hit .320 in the World Series with 2 homers and 2 RBIs. He was pulled in game 6 after testing positive for Covid and was chastised when he returned to the field for the team photo in violation of MLB protocols. 

                         He signed a 2-year-34-million-dollar contract with a 14-million-dollar option for a third year. 2021 saw him go .278/27/87. His third season hitting 27 homers. He made his second All-Star team that year. Turner struggled in the post season going 2-38 with 1 homer in the three series. He strained his hammy in game 4 of the NLCS and was ruled out of playing anymore postseason games. 

                         2022 would be Turner’s last season as a Dodger. He split his time between DH and third base. His stats dropped off accordingly. He had a .278/14/81. After the playoff loss to the Padres, the Dodgers declined his option, and he became a free agent. He would sign with the Red Sox and have a really solid season for them. .276/23/90. The 90 RBIs were a career high. He left the Red Sox and signed with the Blue Jays. He was traded at the deadline to Seattle. 

                        The fans gave Turner a standing ovation prior to his first at bat. The team presented his foundation with a 10,000-dollar check. Many fans hope Justin will return to the Dodgers in some capacity after he retires. Yes, he is truly gone, but not forgotten.

                                                                                    Minor League Scores

            OKC: 1 El Paso: 0 Alex Gamboa and Ben Casparius combined for a 1-hit shutout of the Chihuahua’s. Andy Pages HR in the bottom of the 8th won the game. Between them, Casparius and Gamboa allowed 1 hit, 4 walks and struck out 7. Rushing was 2-3. His BA is now .328. 

             Tulsa dropped a 4-1 decision to Springfield. The Drillers outhit Springfield, 10-9 but could not overcome the 2 runs they scored in the 2nd inning. Keith was 3-5 and Miller 2-5. Campos gave up all four runs and took the loss. 

             Great Lakes shut out Wisconsin, 7-0 allowing only 2 hits. The Loons managed 7 hits and walked 6 times. Biddison was the only Loon with multiple hits. Martin started and went 5 innings allowing 1 hit, no walks and striking out 2. Neecks and Hobbs threw scoreless frames in relief. 

             Lake Elsinore beat Rancho, 8-5. Hope went 1-4. Scored a run and drove one in. Meza was 2-5. Zazueta took the loss despite only giving up 2 of the 8 runs. Gonzalez gave up 5 in his 1/3rd inning of work. 

                                                                                               Dodgers lost 9-8 to the Rays in extra innings. Joe Kelly gave up a 2-run shot to Caballero in the top of the 10th. Mookie Betts drove in the 8th run with a sac-fly in the bottom of the inning. The Dodgers lost despite getting homers from Hernandez, Ohtani and Rojas. Kershaw gave up the first five runs. Lead over Az is down to 3 games, but they still lead SD by 4.5.