Dodgers defense of Orion Kerkering is a raw human moment that transcends sports

You can only imagine how Philadelphia Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering must be feeling right now, less than 24 hours after his gaffe in the bottom of the 11th inning ended his team's season and sent the Los Angeles Dodgers on to the NLCS. Even the morning after, it still doesn't feel quite real: Despite bobbling a comebacker off the bat Andy Pages, Kerkering had so much time to regather the ball, compose himself and make a throw to first to secure the third out and keep the game going. Instead, well, he panicked, and made one of the most shocking decisions in postseason history.

Of course, all of that is easy for me to say. I'm just some guy who was watching at home; I didn't play baseball past high school, and I haven't the faintest idea how much work it takes to make it to the stage that Kerkering was on — much less how that stage might mess with your head.

Those who do know, however, were quick to come to Kerkering's defense. His manager, Rob Thomson, put his arm around his young pitcher before he even made it back to the dugout. And his teammates, to a man, refused to put the blame on him.

“One play shouldn’t define somebody’s career,” Kyle Schwarber told The Athletic. “I’ve had tons of failures in my life. It’s disappointing, but it’s not about the last play. Right? It’s not about that."

But it wasn't just Kerkering's own clubhouse that was thinking of him. While they go to battle on the field in October, big-league ballplayers are all part of the same exclusive fraternity. They know all too well the pressures that come with it, and how quickly the baseball gods can turn on anyone. So it should come as no surprise that, through their series-clinching celebration, the Dodgers took no pleasure in Kerkering's misfortune.

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Dodgers know better than anyone that Orion Kerkering deserves sympathy after brutal Game 4 gaffe

You could tell that Los Angeles was torn in the raucous aftermath of Game 4. Sure, they'd just survived an instant classic and were now one step closer to repeating as World Series champs. But they'd done so at the expense of a fellow player, one who will now have to live down the worst mistake of his life in front of the eyes of millions.

"It's brutal," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. "Kerkering is a stud. You definitely feel for a player. I'm obviously happy that we won, but yeah, he's had a heck of a year and he's a heck of a pitcher. No one wants anyone to kind of bear that."

That's a lesson that Roberts, and several Dodgers players, know all too well. Before finally getting over the hump and winning it all twice over the last five years, this was the team that neutral observers loved to point and laugh at, one that found increasingly excruciating ways to come up short in October — often through nothing but a freak confluence of circumstances. At the highest level, it's a very fine line between hero and horror.

Kerkering still has a heck of a career ahead of him. He'll put this behind him; after all, he made a huge pitch in a huge spot, and in a different world, we'd all be praising his escape act the day after. And if he ever needs a friendly word of advice, he can rest assured that every other Major Leaguer can relate.