The Inaugural Adric Awards

12/31/2024 12:02 PM

Michael Elizondo wraps up 2024 with aplomb — a "mostly" serious award essay where he settles his NLDS bet.

What a year. With the following new wrap-up trailer on the year's final day, 2024 ends.

And yes, I did borrow from Sammy Levitt and Vin Scully's sign-off. Good writers borrow, and great writers steal (as do lawyers, but we cite our work, which is a fun aside).

From coast to coast, Adric and I have had a proverbial ball recounting our adventures during this championship season.

Before we start this "award show," I want to state for the record that I am a man of my word. In case anyone forgot, I finally settled things up around a week before Thanksgiving, declaring I was wrong in short order.

While ducks may not be the new crow, they should be because ducks are generally jerks, and ducks are extremely delicious if you cook them properly. All one needs to do is use a garlic salt rub and cook the breast on medium heat, skin side down, for 75%—85% of the cooking time.

As someone pointed out, my options were being right or eating tasty duck. I do not believe in the no-win scenario.

I have had the idea for this essay for the past three seasons. Considering that no one apart from our community and Eric Stephen knew me, the idea of coming up with my own take on awards based on my experience seemed the height of arrogance.

We are now on the eve of season four — no more rookie contract here. Folks know me now, both in and out of the game, which is an idea that still does not fully compute. As people have asked me, I tell them this gig is as goofy or as serious as you make it. Plus, being able to write well is an added bonus.

As the 2024 ends, let us put our tongues firmly in cheek and add another award to the pile.

The Inaugural Justin Turner Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence

Technically, "first annual" is a grammatical error that profoundly annoys me for many reasons. It works in comedy but not in an actual award. The Adric for the Inaugural Justin Turner Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence is the award for the best player I saw in person in 2024.

The Adric is named after Justin Turner because historically, while a Dodger, Justin Turner was on an entirely different level when I was around. In context, he was the Dodger who played the most games in my presence, even after departing in free agency in 2023, until being surpassed by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

In 2021, I was privileged to watch 30 regular-season games of Justin Turner, who absolutely raked. Something odd happened when I reviewed my old statistics from the #SaveEli season, and the first season I was on staff. I realized I should have used Excel rather than handwritten notes to calculate. So, this essay will correct that mistake.

In 2021, Turner's slash line in 30 games when I was around was .294 (32 for 109)/.379/.532. He hit 7 HR and 20 RBI and was the most potent offensive force that I had ever seen in person. In 2022, he missed time when I was around, which was weird, but he still was the engine of the Dodger offense. His slash line in 12 games was .381 (16 for 42)/.449/.571. Even in limited action, he had 14 RBI.

When he was around, he was the best player on the Dodgers. In the 42 games he played as a Dodger when I was around, he had a slash line of .318/.399/.543.

Accordingly, this award is named for him.

This year, while Freddie Freeman was one of two Dodgers to play in every game I attended, the other man who did redefined what good on the baseball diamond means, whose bat made a sound I could not get enough of. This man recently won his third unanimous Most Valuable Player award in his third league and is probably a first-ballot Hall of Famer today: Shohei Ohtani.

In 17 games, Ohtani had a slash line of .311 (23 for 74)/.373/.824. His OPS was 1.197. He scored 19 runs, hit six doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, and 25 RBI. He struck out 21 times with only nine walks (including one intentional). He stole six bases and was only caught once (out of four for the year, in Detroit).

After seeing Ohtani silence his critics in Toronto, I feel justified in geeking out a bit.

To put Ohtani's monster season in context, just about every fifth Ohtani home run was with Adric and me in attendance. But you might have the same thought I did after writing that sentence.

Michael, you and Adric were at the literal best day ever; how much did that one day inflate Ohtani's overall performance?

It actually mattered a lot.

Ohtani's slash line sans The Perfect Day was .250/.325/.647, which shows you never know what you will see at the ballpark. I imagine that books will be written about this season, but I don't think I will ever forget the magnitude of what I saw in 2024.

And while the running part of Ohtani's game is likely sealed, it is worth remembering that Ohtani will likely retake the mound at some point in 2025, which boggles the mind.

The Inaugural "Adric wants a word with someone because we traveled a long way" Award

For the past few seasons, I have used the above image as a meme when a Dodger has been underperforming. I do not know why Adric using the bullpen phone in Washington, D.C., makes me chuckle as much as it does, but it works.

Originally, if I was going to award an MVP, it would stand to reason that I should also award the least valuable player award. However, after I wrote reviews for Chris Taylor, Bobby Miller, Ricky Vanasco, and Walker Buehler, the exercise felt mean and punitive. Instead, we will focus on the worst moment of the year from my perspective.

And, no, the scandal caused by Ippei Mizuhara does not count as it was bad for Ohtani, but I love deciphering legal documents and pleadings. I have been called Columbo in the past for my love of chili, fashion sense, and temperament when I am questioning someone.

Truth be told, with all of my travel, there is one irresistible truth that I could not avoid: I prefer it when the Dodgers win when I am around, but winning is not necessarily a prerequisite to my enjoyment.

A game with tension and back-and-forth is generally better to watch than a blowout. The Dodgers blowing someone out on the road is marginally better than the Dodgers getting blown out, but both scenarios require finding ironic enjoyment. The last thought I want to think about while at the ballpark is what I would do now if I was at home.

That said, dumb stuff happens.

The Dodgers coughing up a five-run lead in Detroit on July 13 immediately comes to mind. Yes, we all remember Yohan Ramirez being there to surrender the final blow of the collapse. But to be fair to Ramirez, he was the last domino in a chain reaction of catastrophe.

It was a game of baseball hot potato that he lost. The worst moment was the next day.

Brent Honeywell had opened, and the Dodgers were winning...until they were not. Ramirez had gotten through the eighth inning with only a modicum of effort. The bottom of the ninth imploded in short order through a triple-single-E1-E1. The blown save was bad enough, but losing a game like that.

It was ugly and would have been funny had I not been sitting in Detroit. It was rough to see; considering the effort, after all the neat things seen in 2024, Adric wants a word.

The Inaugural "Tony Gonsolin is a Cool Cat" Award

If it was unclear in the past, I am quite a fan of Tony Gonsolin. In summary, while some players (A.J. Pollock) did not care for my antics and shenanigans, Gonsolin was always game, even when I was just a fan.

On one balmy afternoon in Pittsburgh in 2021, Gonsolin played along with my antics, sealing my devotion for life. Granted, it has been fun to write about his successes. However, covering his valleys in 2023 and his absence in 2024 has been challenging.

While some players are more gregarious than others, Brent Honeywell is the only possible nominee to win this year's inaugural award. I am confident but do not wear a turtleneck, regardless of the weather.

As we covered in depth, Brent Honeywell became a folk hero in Los Angeles during the 2024 season. I hope he returns in Dodger Blue soon.

And so, our awards show concludes. If one needed a Dodger-themed way to celebrate the New Year, the entirety of Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Yankees is now free to watch on YouTube.

If you start the link at 9:27:27 PM local time, two hours, thirty-two minutes, and thirty-three seconds later, Buehler will strike out Alex Verdugo at midnight, and Joe Davis will say "Start the party, Los Angeles!"

Accordingly, 2025 should be exciting, and we will have updates for planned in-person coverage very soon.