Sports
How the Dodgers' Tommy Edman honed his craft thanks to his father's 'great baseball mind'
If Andrew Friedman donned a white coat and protective goggles and went into a lab to create the perfect position-playing depth piece for the Dodgers, he would walk out with Tommy Edman.
The team’s president of baseball operations has long placed a premium on versatility, and Edman is a Swiss Army Knife of a utility man, one who can play three outfield and three infield positions and excels at the all-important up-the-middle spots — shortstop, second base and center field.
In addition to his defensive dexterity, Edman, 29, is a switch-hitter who has historically been equally productive from both sides of the plate, giving manager Dave Roberts maximum flexibility for daily lineup decisions and in-game moves.
“To be able to play so many different positions and do so at such a high level, with the switch-hitting ability, the contact skills, the foot speed … there are just so many aspects that can help you win a game,” Friedman said. “He’s a guy who has been on our radar a long time.”
That’s why the Dodgers jumped at the chance to acquire Edman from St. Louis at the trade deadline despite the fact that Edman, part of a three-team deal that also netted closer Michael Kopech from the Chicago White Sox, had yet to play a game in 2024 because of offseason wrist surgery and an ankle sprain.
The Dodgers have two versatile utility men in Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor, but both bat right-handed, and neither is as proficient in the middle infield as Edman, who won a Gold Glove Award at second base for the Cardinals in 2021 and accumulated 10 outs above average at shortstop in 2022, tied for fourth among big leaguers at the position.
Edman didn’t play his first game for the Dodgers until Aug. 19, but he quickly emerged as a key contributor during the team’s run to the National League West title and baseball’s best record, batting .237 with a .711 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, six homers and 20 RBIs in 37 games.
Edman, who hit four homers in a two-game span against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 10-11, including one from each side of the plate in the latter game, has started 22 games in center field and 13 at shortstop, allowing the Dodgers to pace veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas, who has been slowed by a left-adductor strain.
The Dodgers’ Tommy Edman heads to first after hitting the first of his two home runs against the Cubs on Sept. 10.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Four times, Edman has moved from center field to shortstop during a game with no discernable drop-off defensively. He moved from shortstop to center field once.
“It’s really tough,” Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel said of the transition. “You’ve got to throw with a long arm, where you really get out in front of it, from the outfield, whereas in the infield, your throws are short and quick, you have to turn double plays and go into the six-hole.
“And depth perception is a challenge. You’re going from a 100-mph groundball hit to you on the dirt to center field, where balls are slicing, they have backspin or top spin. It’s a big adjustment, and it takes a special player, an elite defender, to bounce between center field and shortstop. He does it with a plus glove.”
The 5-foot-10, 193-pound Edman, in the first year of a two-year, $16.5-million contract that runs through 2025, is more of a complementary piece than an impact bat — he’ll hit seventh or eighth when the Dodgers open the NL Division Series on Saturday, and he won’t be expected to carry the offense.
Edman’s splits in a small sample size this season were more extreme. He hit .181 (18 for 105) with a .523 OPS from the left side and .412 (14 for 34) with a 1.299 OPS from the right side but has a career .256 average and .689 OPS in 1,757 at-bats from the left side and a .284 average and .831 OPS in 609 at-bats from the right side.
He also closed the regular season in a two-for-30 slump (.067) that dropped him from the .284 average and .824 OPS he sported on Sept. 19.
But if Edman can heat up at the plate in October, he would add considerable length to the playoff lineup, an added bonus to the many intangibles he brings on offense and defense.
“When we made the trade, I got a call from Albert Pujols, and he said you’re going to love this guy because he’s a baseball player,” Ebel said, referring to the former Angels and Dodgers slugger who played with Edman in St. Louis in 2022. “He can hit from both sides of the plate, he’s shown some power, he can play short, second and center field.
“He’s fundamentally sound, he makes the routine play, he knows how to run the bases, he can bunt, he can hit-and-run, and he’s got the talent to be on a championship-caliber team and to win a World Series.”
This did not happen by accident.
There were three defining moments in Edman’s life that convinced his father, John, now in his 25th year as La Jolla Country Day School’s baseball coach, that his son might have what it takes to excel at the youth-league level, play major college ball and reach the big leagues.
The first was in the spring of 1998, when John Edman was a graduate assistant coach at Michigan and the Wolverines traveled to Notre Dame for an NCAA regional with toddler Tommy in tow.
“We were playing Wiffle ball on campus under Touchdown Jesus, and he squared a ball up right off my forehead,” John Edman, 53, said. “The ball has those little holes, so the rest of the weekend, I had a Wiffle ball mark on my forehead. It was one of those experiences that you never forget. He had a pretty decent swing for a little 3-year-old.”
The second light-bulb moment was in the spring of 2011, when Tommy, then a 5-foot-9, 150-pound sophomore at La Jolla Country Day, led off the CIF San Diego section Division 4 championship game at San Diego State with a home run over the 365-foot sign in left-center field.
Tommy Edman playing for La Jolla Country Day School.
(Courtesy of Edman family)
“I didn’t think too much of it, but the next thing I know, San Diego State brought him in for a visit, and [then-coach] Tony Gwynn offered him a scholarship right after his sophomore year,” John said. “I guess that’s the first time I had more of an outsider’s perspective on what [Tommy] was like as a ballplayer.”
The third came in the winter after the 2018 season, which Edman, a sixth-round pick of the Cardinals out of Stanford in 2016, spent at double-A Springfield (Mo.) and triple-A Memphis.
“It was the year before he got his first big-league call-up in 2019, I was throwing batting practice to him in the offseason, and he just looked different,” John Edman said. “All of a sudden, he was hitting for some power. I remember telling my wife, ‘I think he’s got a shot.’ He was playing well in the minor leagues, but something seemed like it clicked.”
A can’t-miss prospect or bonus baby, Edman was not. He had a solid, but not spectacular, three-year career at Stanford, batting .281 with a .726 OPS, four homers, 31 doubles and 71 RBIs in 168 games. He signed with the Cardinals for $236,400, the exact slot value assigned to his pick and not a penny more.
But as he rose through the Cardinals’ system and eventually established himself as a big leaguer, Edman developed a reputation for being fundamentally sound, versatile and polished on both sides of the ball, a player who didn’t wow you with eye-popping tools but did everything extremely well.
Growing up the son of a high school coach clearly rubbed off on him.
“I learned a lot about the game at a pretty young age, and I was always around my father’s high school teams, whether I was just shagging balls in the outfield or just watching his games,” Edman said. “So I think I learned about the game pretty early.
Tommy Edman, center, played baseball at Stanford. Standing with him on his graduation day are, from left, his father John Edman; his mother, Maureen; his sister, Elise; and his wife, Kristen.
(Courtesy of Edman family)
“[My father] has a great baseball mind. He taught me a lot of things. He was always willing to help me work, to hit groundballs and to throw me batting practice.”
When Tommy was 10 years old, John and his brother-in-law built a batting cage in the backyard of the family home in the Tierrasanta section of San Diego, commissioning a local company to cut steel pipes to size, ordering aircraft cable and netting from a batting-cage company, digging holes manually and pouring concrete for the footings.
“It wasn’t a fancy design, by any means,” said John Edman, who is also a math teacher at his school. “I talked to a bunch of people and figured out how to do it.”
The cage remained in the yard until Tommy headed off to the minor leagues in 2016.
“If Tommy wanted to hit for 15 minutes to build some confidence, blow off steam or take a break from his homework, he could just go outside and do it,” John said. “It was so much more convenient than having to go to the field every time you want to hit.”
Tommy wasn’t the only Edman to go into the family business. His older brother, Johnny, works as a data engineer and an independent-league scout for the Minnesota Twins, and his younger sister, Elise, worked as a data engineer for the Cardinals for two years before moving to a private sector job.
But Tommy is the one who benefited most from his father’s guidance, combining his own talent, work ethic and coach-on-the-field instincts to develop into the well-rounded player he is today.
“I think it’s just playing the game the right way, always playing hard and making the smart decisions on the field, whether that’s base-running or defense, just having a good baseball IQ,” Edman said, when asked how his father influenced his development. “It’s trying to always do the right thing on the field.”
Those attributes are among the many Edman qualities the Dodgers were enamored with from afar and are now counting on to help push the team through October.
“It’s very cool to be valued by one of the greatest organizations in baseball, and now, looking at it, I kind of see how it makes sense, knowing the versatility I have and how the Dodgers prioritize versatility,” Edman said. “It’s been fun. I feel like I fit in well here. And hopefully I’ll continue to contribute at the level that I’ve been.”
Sports
NBA player calls for Hawks to cancel their ‘Magic City’ strip club promotional night out of respect for women
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An NBA player has taken exception to an Atlanta Hawks promotional night, which is a nod to a famed strip club in the city.
The Hawks have “Magic City Night” scheduled for March 16 against the Orlando Magic, but a player for neither team isn’t too fond of paying tribute to a strip club, which has been famed for its late-night stories involving athletes, celebrities and more.
While the Hawks call it an ode to a “cultural institution,” San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet shared his displeasure in a letter posted on Medium.
Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs reaches for the ball during the third quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Feb. 26, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Kornet, a nine-year veteran and 2024 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, called for the Hawks’ promotional night to be canceled later this month, saying that it is disrespectful to women to honor the strip club.
“In its press release, the Hawks failed to acknowledge that this place is, as the business itself boasts, “Atlanta’s premier strip club.” Given this fact, I would like to respectfully ask that the Atlanta Hawks cancel this promotional night with Magic City,” Kornet wrote in his post.
“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world. We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.”
The Hawks boasted about the theme night in its press release, including a live performance by famous Atlanta rapper T.I., a co-branded, limited-edition hoodie and even the establishment’s “World Famous” lemon-pepper chicken wings in the arena.
A general view of signage with the State Farm Arena logo on Nov. 14, 2025, outside State Farm Arena, in Atlanta, GA. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire)
“This collaboration and theme night is very meaningful to me after all the work that we did to put together ’Magic City: An American Fantasy’,” said Hawks principal owner, filmmaker and actor, Jami Gertz, said in a press release. “The iconic Atlanta institution has made such an incredible impact on our city and its unique culture.”
Kornet wrote that allowing the night to continue “without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, “specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”
Kornet wrote that “others throughout the league” were surprised by the Hawks’ decision to have this promotional night.
“We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision,” he wrote.
Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs defends against the Charlotte Hornets during their game at Spectrum Center on Jan. 31, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
The Hawks have seen good reception for the promotional night, as Tick Pick reported a get-in price was initially $10 for the game and has since skyrocketed to $94.
Kornet is in his first season with the Spurs, his sixth NBA team, where he has played mainly in a bench role. He averages 7.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game across 50 contests.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — How do you improve on the perfect ending?
Clayton Kershaw stood in the desert heat Monday, wearing a far darker shade of blue than the Dodgers do. He does not need a medal, or a chance to fail. His election to the Hall of Fame will be a formality.
In his farewell year, the Dodgers won the World Series, becoming baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years. He secured a critical out. He bathed in adoration at the championship rally, and he told the fans he would be one of them this year.
“I’m going to watch,” he hollered that day, “just like all of you.”
Four months later, he was back in uniform.
He wore a dark blue jersey with red-and-white piping. As Team USA ran through its first World Baseball Classic workout, Kershaw participated in pitchers’ fielding practice and shagged fly balls during batting practice. He could have been home with his five kids, and instead he was rushing off the mound to take a throw at first base.
That November night in Toronto, as it turned out, was not the last time we would see him in uniform.
“Feels good,” he said Monday. “I wouldn’t put on a uniform for anything else. This is a special thing.”
He put the World Baseball Classic into red, white and blue perspective.
“It’s a bucket list thing for me,” he said.
He is either self-deprecating or painfully honest about his capabilities right now, or perhaps a little of both.
The last World Baseball Classic came down to Shohei Ohtani pitching to Mike Trout. This one could come down to Kershaw pitching to Ohtani.
“I think, for our country’s sake, it’s probably better if I don’t,” Kershaw said.
Former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw fields a ground ball during a workout at Papago Park Sports Complex on Monday.
(Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
Never say never. Team USA planned to run a tremendous rotation of Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Joe Ryan and Logan Webb, but now Skubal says he will pitch just once in the tournament. Skenes says he’ll pitch twice. Ryan says he won’t pitch in the first round, at least.
Kershaw might be needed beyond the role he was promised: save the team from using the current major league pitchers in blowouts or extra innings.
In 11 career at-bats against Kershaw, Ohtani has no hits. Kershaw won’t duck the assignment if gets it, but he considers it so unlikely he is happy to share his game plan publicly.
“It’s throw it, pitch away, play away, hope he flies out to left,” Kershaw said. “Don’t throw it in his barrel.
“I can’t imagine, if it comes down to USA versus Japan, with the arms that we have, that I’ll be needed. But I’ll be ready.”
Kershaw’s average fastball velocity dropped to 89 mph last season, but he led the majors in winning percentage. He could eat innings for some team — maybe even the Dodgers, with Blake Snell and Gavin Stone all but certain to be unavailable on opening day.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, right, celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2025 World Series title.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
But, even with his success last year and even with the joy of wearing a uniform once again, he insists he isn’t interested in pitching beyond the WBC.
“I don’t want to,” he said. “You can’t end it better than I did last year. I had a great time last year. It was an absolute blast and honor to be on that team. I think that was the perfect way to end it. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have enough in the tank to pitch for a full season again. I’m really at peace with that decision.
“This is kind of a weird one-off thing, but you can’t really turn down this opportunity. It wasn’t easy to get ready for this, with no motivation for a season, but I actually am in a pretty good spot with my arm. I’ll be fine. If they need me, I’ll be ready.”
Kershaw said he has kept in touch with his old Dodgers teammates, with some connecting on video calls from the weight room or clubhouse at Camelback Ranch. He arrived in the Phoenix area two days before the workout, but he skipped a trip to Camelback Ranch.
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I miss the guys. I think it’s probably just better, at least for this first year, for me mentally to just stay away, just for spring training.”
Kershaw said he would be at Dodger Stadium for the championship ring ceremony March 27.
He is content with what he calls “Dad life.” He and his wife, Ellen, just welcomed their fifth child, and Dad life includes lots of shuttles to baseball and basketball practice.
“I run an Uber service,” Kershaw said.
This wouldn’t be a Dodgers story these days without some reference to the team’s big spending so, for what it’s worth, Kershaw spent some time Tuesday chatting with Skubal, who will be the grand prize on the free-agent market next winter, or whenever the likely lockout might end.
That’s a rational explanation, Kershaw says, for Skubal pitching just once in the WBC.
“Everybody knows the situation he is in, contract-wise,” Kershaw said. “Any innings we can get out of him is a huge bonus to this team. He’s great. Super competitive. We’re honored to have him.”
Should we assume Skubal will be pitching for the Dodgers next season? Kershaw laughed.
“No comment,” he said, then walked away to get ready for the first game of his post-retirement life.
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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley sounded off on the frenzied reactions to the U.S. men’s hockey team getting invited to the White House by President Donald Trump.
Trump talked to the Olympic gold medal-winning team immediately after they defeated Canada in overtime last weekend. He said they would be invited to his State of the Union address and added that he needed to invite the women’s team as well or he would be “impeached.”
Charles Barkley sits courtside against the Minnesota Timberwolves during an NBA Cup game at Mortgage Matchup Center on Nov. 21, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Trump critics took the joke as a shot at the women’s team, which sparked questions from NHL and Professional Women’s Hockey League reporters as the players returned to their respective club teams.
“I’m proud of the United States men. I’m proud of the United States women. You should have invited both of them to the White House, but it shouldn’t have been disrespect, misogyny,” Barkley said on the “Steam Room” podcast. “Like, yo, man, why do y’all have to mess everything up? Everything isn’t Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal. That’s why we got this divided, screwed up country. Stop it man. Because, you know, the public, they’re idiots. They’re fools. They can’t think for themselves. I know y’all say stuff to trigger them. Y’all say stuff and y’all know they’re going to be fools.”
Barkley lamented that the average person would get riled up over the supposed controversy.
The U.S. team poses for a group photo after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Luca Bruno/AP Photo)
“We don’t have to fall for stupidity. But we do – that’s my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them. Just because they want us to be stupid. We don’t have to be stupid. He should have invited both teams to the White House. Simple as that. Guys who didn’t want to go shouldn’t have to explain why they didn’t go.”
The former Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns star made clear he would go to the White House regardless of whether Trump was in office.
“I’ve said this before, I’m not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go. I’m not a Trump guy – I want to make that clear. But I respect the office,” Barkley said. “He’s the president of the United States. But if guys don’t want to go, I understand that too. It doesn’t have to be a talking point. It doesn’t have to be un-American.
Megan Keller (5) celebrates with a flag alongside Cayla Barnes (3) of Team United States after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime during the women’s gold medal match against Canada on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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“I just wish y’all would stop falling for the stupidity.”
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