Acquired in midseason and added to the roster for the World Series, Klein pitches the final four innings of the 18-inning Game 3 win, calling it an “out-of-body experience.”
Four months ago, Will Klein was just another minor-leaguer bumped off a 40-man roster when the major-league club (in this case, the Seattle Mariners) decided they needed his spot for someone else.
Six weeks ago, he was just another reliever for Triple-A Oklahoma City, making the occasional trip to Los Angeles, just another arm to soak up innings in a long season.
Four weeks ago, he was a charter member of ‘Stay hot’ camp – the group of players working out in isolation at the Dodgers’ training complex in Arizona on the off chance that they might be needed during the postseason.
A week ago, he was a late add to the Dodgers’ World Series roster when left-hander Alex Vesia became unavailable due to a family matter.
And late Tuesday, he was standing at his locker accepting congratulations from a living legend, Sandy Koufax, after ascending to his own legendary status with four scoreless innings as the winning pitcher in one of the longest games in World Series history.
“I woke up this morning still not feeling like last night had happened,” Klein said before Game 4 on Wednesday. “So it was – yeah, it was an out-of-body experience.
“I mean, a week ago I was in Arizona throwing live ABs, so just being on the roster and being in the World Series was a surprise. So then getting to throw (in) Game 1 was cool and then, yeah, yesterday was just even cooler, I guess.”
Klein said he returned to his locker to find his phone filled with messages. He said he had 500 notifications this morning – and 500 more before he could go through the first 500.
“I’ve heard from every coach I’ve ever had – high school, travel, college, probably T-ball,” he said with a laugh. “(The middle school he attended in Indiana) put a picture up from yesterday in their hallway, so that was cool.”
Having the 89-year-old Koufax (who stayed through all 18 innings and was back at the park for Game 4 on Tuesday) greet him at his locker, tell him he did a good job and shake his hand was “surreal,” Klein said.
