The echoes of greatness were everywhere at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. The Dodgers staged a reunion for the 1988 World Series championship team, a sobering reminder that more than 10,000 days have passed since their last parade.
The Dodgers also put on an alumni game, and the introductions generously included those too old to play. There might have been no moment more touching than when Sandy Koufax, 82, extended his left arm so that Don Newcombe, 91, could hold onto it as the two men walked slowly onto the field.
Koufax, Newcombe, Tommy Lasorda, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser … the introductions went on, a flashback to the days when being a Dodger meant playing in the World Series, and winning it.