Dodgers see latest example of ‘special clubhouse’ forming during return to Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas — The World Series memories flooded back to the Dodgers before they ever stepped foot at Globe Life Field this weekend.

A day before their Friday opener, they returned to the same Las Colinas hotel in which they had spent nearly all of October 2020 during the postseason bubble. Then, a get-together shortly after their arrival provided another reminder of the strange, euphoric chapter in the past — and an appreciation of the present.

On Thursday evening, a number of Dodgers players and coaches continued on to Max Muncy’s house, where the North Texas native was hosting his daughter’s second birthday. Muncy, who made sure there was enough TexMex to go around, was grateful for the eclectic group that came to support. There were newcomers, including Jason Heyward, Miguel Rojas, David Peralta and J.D. Martinez. There were others who’ve become part of the team’s core, including Freddie Freeman and Evan Phillips.

And, of course, there were 2020 championship contributors, a collection of players that included Chris Taylor, Mookie Betts, Will Smith and even Rangers shortstop Corey Seager, the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series MVP.

“For me, it’s home,” Muncy said. “But for a lot of the guys that were here, we talked about it, it’s fun being here. Even with Freddie being on the Braves [in 2020] — we’ve been giving him a lot of crap coming here, like, ‘Hey, this is the house you lost 3-1′ — he’s been having a good time with it, too. That was just such a unique year.”

Though last year’s Dodgers team set a franchise record with 111 wins, it was the 2020 iteration that posted the highest win percentage in franchise history (43-17, .717) en route to the team’s first championship since 1988. Muncy believes that 2020 team could have won 120 games in a normal season.

He recognizes this year’s group is not on the same historic pace, but in terms of the environment created — as evidenced by the number of people around him Thursday night — the 2023 group stands apart.

“It’s one of the best teams I’ve been a part of, just clubhouse-wise,” Muncy said. “We may have had one other team that might be as talented as this team, but I don’t think any of the teams come close to what we have with the culture in this clubhouse, and that proves it. It was a birthday party for my daughter, and it was for all the other kids that were on the trip, and we had multiple guys that came out that didn’t even have their family with them and they still came out to support and have a good time. It was very special.”

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Texas Rangers Highlights

Taylor, who has been a Dodger since 2016, sees something similar in this year’s group, which — despite some obvious flaws — is now 57-41 and four games up in the division after taking all three series against the Mets, Orioles and Rangers on a nine-game road trip to start the second half.

“We’ve always kind of done stuff off the field, but I think this year we’ve kind of taken it to another level with the number of team dinners, team functions that we do,” Taylor said. “I think this group is probably a little closer, does a little more off the field than groups in the past, but I think we’ve always taken pride in being a tight-knit group. The closer you are with your teammates, the more invested you are, the more you pull for guys.”

For that, he credits some of the newcomers: “Some of the veteran guys, J-Hey, Peralta, Miggy, are pretty much at every team thing.”

How much of a difference that chemistry makes on the field is difficult to quantify, but for a Dodgers team with more glaring holes than recent versions of the club — their 4.43 ERA ranks 19th in the majors — they’ve managed to put themselves in a familiar position atop the National League West.

Their best players are performing like superstars — Freddie Freeman now has the best OPS in the National League (.997), erasing the bitter memories of his last Globe Life Field experience by collecting multiple hits in all three games in Texas — while the newer additions have meshed quickly.

Early in the year, the Dodgers adopted Peralta’s “freight train” celebration on home runs. While at Muncy’s daughter’s birthday this week, they decided to add another one to the mix, imitating Freeman’s dance moves by waving their hands like an inflatable tube man on extra-base hits.

“Of course, I was the first one to have to do it,” Freeman said after a two-hit game Friday.

Freeman’s success was more of the same. For Muncy, this weekend represented a significant step forward. He appeared more comfortable back in his home state. The Dodgers’ third baseman entered the weekend with a .147 batting average since the start of June, but after hosting on Thursday, he doubled in Friday’s 11-5 win, homered and doubled in Saturday’s 16-3 trouncing and began Sunday’s finale with his third grand slam of the season, tying the franchise’s single-season record in the process.

Despite failing to close out the sweep, the Dodgers looked energized by the lively crowd they weren’t afforded three years ago in a pandemic-impacted, limited-capacity environment. There were 11,437 fans in attendance the last time the Dodgers were at Globe Life Field in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. This weekend, all three games were sellouts, including a Saturday night crowd of 40,738 fans that represented the highest attendance in the venue’s history.

“When you get mired in the season, you sort of put your head down and move forward day to day,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But when you get to a place where you recall running onto the field, celebrating, that taste sort of revisits itself.”

The Dodgers scored 31 runs through their first 19 innings of the series after Muncy’s first-inning homer Sunday.

Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy hit back-to-back home runs to increase the Dodgers’ lead over the Rangers

They would, however, stay stuck at 31. Starter Emmet Sheehan’s 4-0 lead evaporated two innings in, as the rookie set career highs in runs allowed (eight), hits allowed (eight) and walks surrendered, with all five free passes resulting in runs in an 8-4 defeat.

A chance to sweep the opponent slipped through the Dodgers’ grasp on all three stops of their road trip, magnifying the potential areas for improvement for president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman with the deadline approaching.

After a 6-3 road trip, the Dodgers will have to walk a tightrope in roster construction over the next week. Roberts said any move has to make sense both for the roster and the clubhouse. They want a team best suited to compete for a title, but they don’t want to ravage the chemistry being built on the road to October.

“It’s just a special clubhouse that we’ve created this year,” Muncy said, “and it definitely makes the year a lot easier and a lot more fun.”

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and MLB as a whole for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.