How Los Angeles Dodgers made it to third World Series in six years
USA TODAY Sports’ Gabe Lacques breaks down how the Dodgers dominated the Brewers en route to another World Series appearance.
Sports Pulse
TORONTO – John Schneider subscribes to a sage theory in this extremely online era: Never read the comments.
He has taken a beating online and even from the sports network that broadcasts Toronto Blue Jays games after the manager inserted Brendon Little into the eighth inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.
As you may have heard, the move backfired terribly, the Blue Jays lost 6-2 and now they face a must-win Game 6 against the Seattle Mariners to stay alive in this ALCS.
So when asked pregame whether he doomscrolls late into the night, Schneider had a ready answer.
“For one, I don’t have TikTok,” he says.
“Two, I don’t have Twitter; and three, I could care less what people think about me other than in my clubhouse.”
Schneider has taken his share of playoff criticism before, most notably when he abruptly yanked Jose Berrios from a start in the 2023 AL wild-card series. Yet the Little move will linger, given how close the Blue Jays are to a World Series and that they were six outs from taking a 3-2 ALCS advantage back to Canada.
So be it, says Schneider, clearly more comfortable in his cutoff hoodie than when he took over as Blue Jays manager midway through the 2022 season and guided them to a playoff berth.
“I think you care about it more then because you’re trying to make a name for yourself, you’re trying to do what’s right by your players,” he says. “I think the more you do it, the more you kind of take it with a grain of salt. You know what I mean?
“Again, not everyone in this room is privy to information I am. Again, man, I get that this is a job and these guys have jobs where everyone gets to go to their job and ask them why they did something. I’ve never been to your guys’s places of work, don’t pretend like I want to, but I think it’s just matter of circumstance.
“I think just the more open and transparent I can be, the better off it is.”
