Howie Kendrick’s .325 on-base average ranked fourth among National League second basemen with at least 450 plate appearances. (Keith Birmingham/Staff photographer)
This is Part 27 of a series in which every member of the 2015 Dodgers has his season juxtaposed with an episode of the greatest sitcom of all-time. Don’t take it too seriously.
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Key stats: .295/.336/.409 in 495 PA (117 games).
Seinfeld episode: “The Soup Nazi” (Season 7, Episode 6)
Key quote: “This guy makes the best soup in the city, Jerry. The best. You know what they call him? Soup Nazi.”
There are two ways to look at what Howie Kendrick did for the Dodgers in 2015.
The first, and maybe most popular way, is to compare him to Dee Gordon, the player the Dodgers drafted, developed and effectively traded for Kendrick in December 2014. Gordon won a Gold Glove Award, a batting title and a Silver Slugger Award in 2015. Kendrick didn’t do any of those things. Can’t dispute any of this.
But there’s a fallacy to this train of thought: the Dodgers didn’t trade for Kendrick to replace Gordon’s production in their lineup. They traded for Kendrick to be Kendrick. When you look at it that way, he did something rather remarkable:
Kendrick’s .295/.336/.409 slash line was insanely consistent with the hitter he was in Anaheim: .292/.332/.424. If the Dodgers were hoping Kendrick’s game would translate to a different park in a different league at age 31, they got exactly what they hoped for.
Defensively, Kendrick’s range is inferior to that of Gordon and below average overall. Within his range though, Kendrick was close to automatic.
Kendrick wasn’t acquired just for his offense or defense, but also his clubhouse presence. In that regard Kendrick was more of a lead-by-example type. He isn’t much of a talker, never was, though he wasn’t shy among teammates either. More than some, Kendrick was a slave to his routine, the type of player you can set your watch to. That much didn’t change when he was traded from Los Angeles of Anaheim to Los Angeles, either.
Only something random, external and unexpected could take Kendrick out of his routine. So it was when he strained his left hamstring on Aug. 9. Chase Utley picked up the slack at second base in the meantime, but he hardly replaced Kendrick. As soon as Kendrick returned from the disabled list 34 games later, the second base position was his again. He batted .273 in the postseason, with a double and a home run among his six hits.
The season was reminiscent of an episode that some consider the greatest in Seinfeld history: “The Soup Nazi.” The title character of the episode is famously disciplined and consistent, like 2015 Howie Kendrick. The Soup Nazi’s streak of success was also derailed by something random, external and unexpected: A bunch of his recipes are tucked in the drawer of an armoire that he gives away. Unknowingly, the armoire (and the recipes) wind up in the hands of a pissed-off customer, Elaine, who threatens (and presumably succeeds) in driving him out of business.
That’s about as dry a description of a historically great television episode as you’ll find. This scene gave our culture the phrase “No soup for you!” and helps color in some of the blanks:
I’m not sure what the back of Howie Kendrick’s baseball card will look like when his career is over, or how his 2015 season will fit into the grander scheme of all those numbers. This was almost certainly his last season as a Dodger. It might be his only season in the National League — or with any team other than the Angels, who are looking for a second baseman.
For now, we can say the Dodgers caught Howie Kendrick at his most Howie Kendrick, in his final season before what’s expected to be his most lucrative contract. If it wasn’t quite lightning in a bottle, it may be closer to a fine bowl of soup.
