When reliever Will Klein pitched four scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays to earn the win in Game 3 of the World Series, a bullpen journeyman became part of Los Angeles Dodgers lore.
Even Sandy Koufax, the 89-year-old Hall of Famer, stayed for the duration of the six-hour, 39-minute game so he could meet and shake hands with Klein afterward. After all, Klein didn’t just win a game; he restored faith in the idea that unheralded players can still script baseball’s purest moments. And Koufax, by stepping out of the shadows to acknowledge him, sealed it with generational approval.