Bill Plaschke: Greatest team or biggest flop? The 2024 Dodgers will decide their place in history
Published in Baseball
They opened the season surrounded by strangers in a tiny, rattling dome in South Korea.
They played two games witnessed in Los Angeles only by those fans willing to awaken in the middle of the night.
By the time they embarked on the 6,000-mile flight home, all hell had broken loose.
Shohei Ohtani, their new global superstar, was linked to millions of dollars in lost bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker who is the target of a federal investigation.
Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, claimed responsibility for the lost bets, then was accused of stealing the money and was fired.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, their new $325-million pitcher, was racked for five runs in the first inning in his major league debut.
Max Muncy, their troublesome third baseman, committed two errors and misplayed another ground ball in that same game.
They staggered back to Chavez Ravine after splitting a series with the San Diego Padres amid what is surely the most distracted start by a major league team before even playing a single inning on North American soil.
Welcome to the 2024 Dodgers.
Unhinged. Unmatched. Unreal.
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©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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