WASHINGTON — In the original “The Magnificent Seven” film, the late Steve McQueen’s character is talking to the bad guy, explaining why he accepted a seemingly thankless job.
“It’s like a fellow I once knew in El Paso,” McQueen’s character stated. “One day, he just took all his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus. I asked him that same question, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘It seemed to be a good idea at the time.’ ”
Sort of like the Mets deciding to non-tender Justin Turner after the 2013 season.
One prevailing theory was that Turner displayed a lack of hustle. Turner at one point afterward claimed he was not a “looking-to-walk guy,” and there was head-butting philosophically. Hindsight maintains the Mets have had better ideas than letting Turner walk.
Turner, headed for free agency after the season, said he could not envision everything working out so much in his favor since his Mets exit. In three years with the Dodgers, Turner, the No. 3 hitter in the order, has hit .296 with 50 homers — including 27 this season — and driven in 193 runs — including 90 this season. Turner hit .275 this season, despite an awful start following an offseason microfracture knee surgery.
“I don’t know what happened but obviously my career has kind of taken a turn for the better once I put the Dodger uniform on,” said Turner, who delivered a two-run homer for his first career postseason blast in L.A.’s 4-3 victory over the Nationals in Game 1 and will be back at it in Game 2, pushed back to Sunday following Saturday’s rainout.
“I couldn’t be happier to be here and be on a team that from Day 1 is all about winning. And that’s what we’ve done the last three years. We’ve fell a little short in the postseason, but we’re prepared to go deep into the postseason this year.”
The Dodgers fell short last year, three games to two in the NLDS against the Mets. No fault of Turner. He went 10-of-19 (.526), a spree that included a Division Series-record six doubles, which also equaled the most ever in any postseason series. After Friday, he’s 12-of-24 (.500) in his postseason career.
One man’s perceived lack-of-hustling trash is at least one other man’s productive treasure.
“I always liked him from the other [opponent] side,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, calling Turner a “glue” guy in the clubhouse. “Even when he was a bench player, utility player for the Mets. I always liked his energy and the way he interacted with teammates and the at-bat he gave you coming off the bench or days he would start.”
So he went from being a utilityman and non-tendered in New York to hitting third on a playoff team.
“He should be hitting third for a playoff team. He had a monster year this year. He had a monster year last year,” said former Mets teammate Daniel Murphy. “Early in the year, it looked like he was just trying to get healthy off that knee. … He sure looks healthy right now. Swaggy is one of my favorite teammates of all time.
“He’s a baseball rat. I’ve enjoyed talking baseball with him. I’ll shoot him texts during the year. And at this point, I would prefer us to pick a fight with somebody other than Justin Turner,” said Murphy, who also left New York somewhat unceremoniously but declined to draw comparisons other than: “We both had some success. We both played for the Mets. … I’ll let you guys find the similarities.”