On a star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers team featuring the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, few observers would have predicted that their postseason run to the 2024 World Series championship would be propelled by an under-the-radar midseason acquisition.
But when the Dodgers beat the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, it was La Jolla Country Day School alumnus Tommy Edman who led them with a .407 batting average and matched a team record with 11 RBIs in six games. Edman was named Most Valuable Player of the NLCS.
In the World Series in late October against the New York Yankees, Edman went 5-for-17 (.294) with two doubles, three walks, a home run, two stolen bases and six runs scored.
After the Dodgers hoisted the World Series trophy with their victory in five games, Edman returned to his home in San Diego to enjoy some time off.
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“Baseball is weird,” Edman said. “You have your ups and downs over the course of a season. Part of that (success) can be your swing feeling really good and getting a lot of good pitches to hit. You kind of have to have a couple things align for that to happen. I think both happened in those series.”
Part of his success could be attributed to the overall power of the Dodgers’ lineup.
“I think the great thing about playing in such a good lineup is that the pressure is on the pitcher at all times,” Edman said. “They put so much of their attention on Mookie, Freddie and Shohei that it’s tough to focus for an entire lineup. So it kind of frees up guys like myself to not be the center of an opponent’s gameplan.”
Tommy Edman celebrates as he reaches home plate after his solo home run during the second inning in Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, Oct. 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
Edman said he experienced many games this season that he would consider among the best he’s been a part of. First was Ohtani’s walk-off grand slam against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 23 to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases on the season. And Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series set the tone for the rest of the series.
“The World Series was incredible,” Edman said. “Obviously, the first two series leading up to that — beating the Padres and beating the Mets — were great series in and of themselves. And the buildup to having the best team in the NL face the best team in the AL was really exciting.”
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Tommy Edman played at Stanford after graduating from La Jolla Country Day. (Stanford athletics)
Another thing that helped set up Edman for his success on the big stage was his time playing winning baseball at La Jolla Country Day and then Stanford.
Edman was a Country Day Torrey from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade and grew up watching his father, John, coach the high school baseball team. Edman played for his father from 2010-13.
Tommy Edman was an All-Academic pick while at La Jolla Country Day. (LJCD)
“I learned about the game of baseball a lot when I was pretty young,” Edman said. “So I think that kind of helped me with my instincts and just understanding the game and what it takes to win.”
And win the Torreys did. In Edman’s sophomore year, LJCDS took home its first CIF baseball championship. His first-inning home run in the title game propelled the team to victory.
Edman still holds LJCD records for hits, runs, stolen bases, and ERA as a pitcher. He was a four-time All-Coastal League selection, a three-time All-CIF selection, the 2013 Coastal League MVP, a 2013 MaxPreps All-State selection, a 2013 Louisville Slugger First-Team All-American and a 2013 CIF San Diego Section Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Those accolades earned him a spot in Country Day’s Athletic Hall of Fame last year.
“I grew up around the school and I would go into the gym and they had all the plaques and banners for all the past athletes in the Hall of Fame,” Edman said. “I used to admire them. So now, to get to join their ranks, it feels very special.”
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La Jolla Country Day’s Tommy Edman, right, dives to the bag during a 2013 game against Orange El Modena. (MIGUEL VASCONCELLOS / FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER)
Edman played against the best players in San Diego, something he said was crucial to his development as a young ballplayer.
His baseball career further blossomed at Stanford, where he was named to the All-Pac-12 first team, All-Pac-12 Defensive Team and All-Pac-12 Academic Team and earned a degree in math and computational science.
The St. Louis Cardinals took him in the sixth round of the 2016 draft.
In St. Louis, Edman won several awards for his defensive prowess, including a 2021 Gold Glove and a 2022 Fielding Bible Award. His versatility and speed made him a key piece of a Cardinals team that typically was in the playoff mix.
Edman’s 2024 season had a sluggish start. He endured a longer-than-expected recovery from wrist surgery and suffered a sprained ankle on a rehabilitation assignment in June.
But the Dodgers saw value in Edman, who can play shortstop, second base and outfield. In the last week of July, they acquired Edman and hard-throwing reliever Michael Kopech in exchange for infielder Miguel Vargas and a pair of minor-leaguers.
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Edman quickly immersed himself in the Dodgers’ clubhouse culture, showing his versatility not only in the positions he plays but also in how he can adjust to a new setting.
“When I went in there, I just wanted to learn as much as I could,” Edman said. “And I think that helped me get integrated pretty quickly. I think guys just saw I was excited to be a part of the team (and) excited to contribute and that I wanted to be the best player I could be.”
The Dodgers’ Tommy Edman celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
He made his Dodgers debut Aug. 19. Just over two months later, he had added NLCS MVP and World Series champion to his resumé.
And Edman will remain in Dodger blue for the foreseeable future. He signed a five-year, $74 million contract extension Nov. 29 that goes through the 2029 season, with a sixth-year club option valued at $13 million.
Beyond his MLB, college and high school teams, Edman played for the Korean team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
It marked his first time visiting the country, and he saw it as an opportunity to represent his family lineage. As of April, Asian players made up only 3.4% of MLB’s population, a slight increase over 2023’s 3.2%.
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“There’s not too many players in MLB with an Asian-American background,” Edman said. “It’s definitely becoming more common … with Shohei and a lot of guys coming over from Japan and Korea. But I think it’s really cool to be an example, especially for Asian American kids who are growing up and see players in the big leagues who are having success who look like them.”
Following a weeklong vacation to Florida, Edman’s offseason focus is on his family. He and his wife, Kristen, welcomed their first child, Eli, in October last year.
“Spring training always comes really quickly,” Edman said, “so we gotta take advantage of this time off while we can.”
When emergencies such as wildfires, floods and rockslides caused road closures on Native American reservations in San Diego County, tribal personnel — including law enforcement, firefighters and elected leadership — couldn’t access their own land to help their community.
This week, that changed.
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, a tribe with a 5,000-acre reservation in Valley Center, partnered with the Sheriff’s Office, the county of San Diego, the county’s Office of Emergency Services and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association to launch a first-of-its-kind program Tuesday.
Rincon Tribe Chairman Steve Stallings said the idea for an Emergency Tribal Access Pass Training has been in the works for 20 years, following the East County fires.
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The three-hour-long training offers authorized tribal personnel instruction on emergency access procedures, incident command, wildfire safety and first responder coordination. With these passes, they are verified at emergency checkpoints for entry. All tribes in the county can take part in the training.
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians hosted its inaugural Emergency Tribal Access Pass Training on Tuesday at the Rincon Government Center. (Sydney Brammer / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The pass does not grant entry under all circumstances; whichever agency has top authority at emergency scenes will ultimately determine if it’s safe enough for tribal personnel to enter.
While Stallings said there hasn’t been a recent emergency in which tribal members have been denied access to enter their land, he said this is a solution for the future, when tribal personnel need access to help their people and protect government operations and infrastructure on the reservation.
It benefits all groups involved when everyone is on the same page during an emergency, he said.
“If we’re not part of the process, then our team of specialists and urgent personnel are operating independently of other local law enforcement when what you want is everyone coordinated in that,” Stallings said.
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Sheriff Kelly Martinez said this has “been a long time coming” during her opening remarks at the inaugural training on Tuesday at the Rincon Government Center.
“It’s been long overdue that we allow you access to your critical infrastructure,” Martinez said. “I’m happy to support it.”
There are 18 Native American reservations in San Diego County — more than any other county in the United States.
Martinez said there were representatives from 16 of the 18 tribes, totaling about 260 people, in attendance at the Tuesday training.
That day, 143 access passes were distributed to authorized tribal representatives who had completed the required application ahead of the training. The other participants at the training will receive their passes once their applications have been finalized, according to a Rincon Band representative.
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“This is a game changer,” said Rincon Fire Chief Chip Duncan. “When we can’t get on the reservation, we can’t provide service.”
Stallings said the hope is for the training to eventually move online, so people can take the course more quickly.
“We know that this is a change for the better — puts us on equal footing,” Stallings said.
SAN DIEGO – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are searching for an incarcerated person who walked away from the Male Community Reentry Program in San Diego on July 2, 2026.
At approximately 3:50 p.m., staff received a tamper alert indicating incarcerated person Randy Seitzinger had removed his GPS device while on an approved community medical pass. Staff immediately launched an emergency count, which confirmed Seitzinger was missing. CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety and local law enforcement have been notified and are assisting in the search.
Seitzinger, 70, is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs approximately 191 pounds. He has a light complexion and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a light-colored short-sleeved shirt.
Seitzinger was received from Orange County on May 22, 2019. He was sentenced to 15 years for second-degree robbery and false imprisonment with violence.
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Anyone who sees Seitzinger or has knowledge of his whereabouts should contact any law enforcement agency, call 911, or contact the Office of Correctional Safety staff at 760-550-8782.
The Male Community Reentry Program is a voluntary program for eligible male incarcerated persons. Approved participants serve the end of their sentences in the community in lieu of confinement in state prison. Since 1977, 99 percent of the incarcerated people who have escaped or walked away from an adult institution, camp, in-state contract bed, or community rehabilitative program placement have been apprehended.
The victim was smoking outside the business when a 35-year-old man approached him, threatened to kill him and pulled a knife at around 10 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of Cardiff Street, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Police said the attacker stabbed the man twice in the chest and twice in the arm. It was unclear what prompted the stabbing.
