LOS ANGELES \u2014 A realization of a World Series dream is not the same for everybody.<\/p>\n
If the Dodgers are to become the first MLB team since 2000 to win three consecutive titles, Andy Pages\u2019 early-season determination just might be the inspiration the current stagnant offense needs.<\/p>\n
Pages\u2019 2025 World Series was different from the rest. While the Dodgers were searching for a path through the Toronto Blue Jays and grinding through a seven-game series, Pages was a shell of himself at the plate.<\/p>\n
He had been for some time.<\/p>\n
When Pages delivered two home runs in an Aug. 25 home game against the Cincinnati Reds last season, it gave him 23 on the season and within reach of an unlikely 30-homer year with more than a month left in the regular season.<\/p>\n
All of that production was coming from a player that had just established himself as an everyday outfielder in his second season. But Pages\u2019 offensive numbers dropped across the board the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
Pages limped to the finish line in the regular season, batting .125 over his final eight games but with two home runs that helped make the overall output bearable. And then the postseason arrived.<\/p>\n
In the 17 playoff games Pages started through Game 4 of the World Series, he batted .080 with four hits and 11 strikeouts. He did not hit a home run and had one extra-base hit, with one RBI. His defense was valued. His offense was a liability.<\/p>\n
Pages did not start in any of the final three World Series games but was a defensive replacement in two. He was effectively benched on baseball\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
From that limited role, though, Pages made not only his biggest impact on the playoffs, but on the entire season. And it did not come at the plate.<\/p>\n
In the bottom of the ninth inning at Toronto, with the bases loaded, in a tied Game 7, Pages raced from center field, crashed into left fielder Kik\u00e9 Hernandez and made a fully focused game-saving catch to force extra innings.<\/p>\n
The play gave Yoshinobu Yamamoto the runway to finish off a heroic 2\u2154-inning pitching performance and allowed Will Smith to step up with his game-winning and championship-clinching home run in the 11th inning.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers celebrated a title. Pages celebrated too. But in the entire episode, he gained the inspiration for a hard-working offseason.<\/p>\n
Through just six regular-season games, after some focused prep time in Arizona, Pages has nine hits, including a home run and five RBIs, with a .439 batting average and a 1.048 OPS. His teammates have taken notice.<\/p>\n