Los Angeles —
The Dodgers last year welcomed Manny Machado into the fold so wholly, so unapologetically, that they worked up a bobblehead giveaway less than 10 weeks after trading for him for a World Series push.
He was even behind the plate when his wife, Yainee Alonso, threw out the first pitch before a crowd of 53,536 before a late September game against the Padres. Yet that hospitality – as Machado learned when Dodgers fans crowded into Petco Park for a record-setting weekend earlier this month and was reminded when he stepped into the box Tuesday night for his first game at Dodger Stadium in a Padres uniform – only goes so far.