Justin Turner: ‘We want to be the last team standing’

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have won 113 games this season, yet if they lose either Tuesday or Wednesday at Dodger Stadium the bulk of the winter will be left lamenting what could have been.

Similarly, the Astros have won 111 games in 2017. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was asked on Monday if the team that loses the World Series will consider their regular season accomplishments diminished.

I enjoyed his answer, making Turner a real Nat King Cole Beasley, if you will.

“At this point in the series nothing is going to be forgettable about this season. Obviously we want to be the last team standing on the field, win the last game of the season, and that's the goal,” Turner said. “But you have literally the two best teams in baseball going at it. It's the clash of the titans right now, and I don't think there's a single moment of this season that will be forgettable.”

Monday was an interesting off day. The Dodgers didn’t have a formal workout, though some players did show up to Dodger Stadium to get some work in.

The first question during a conference call with Turner was asking him why he hugged Marie, the elevator operator at Dodger Stadium.

“I hug her because she's a nice person, and she's in there every day. She takes us up and down the elevator,” Turner explained. “It's not a superstitious thing, or about winning or losing. It's because she's a wonderful human being and we enjoy seeing her every day.

“She's as much a part of the team as anyone else here. I try to treat everyone around here with just as much respect as I would treat Dave Roberts.”