And so, the 2024 Dodger season began. Following two games in Korea against the hated San Diego Padres, the Dodgers returned to the mainland for another week of Spring Training. With apologies, I’ll hop on my soapbox for a moment and complain about the inanity of playing two regular season games in the Far East, returning home for another week of ‘pre-season’ games and then, beginning the regular season. I know that the Dodgers are a big brand and playing in these types of isolated games is good for business, but it feels like that there’s a better way to do this. However, with a commissioner like Rob Manfred, it’s not fair to expect rational behavior from irrational people.

Anyway, the Dodgers began the regular season and played typically okay. They won 19 games in the first two months and lost 13. Not earth shattering, but enough to place them in first place. However, a troubling trend began to emerge. Injuries.

Now, injuries are a malady that affects every team. For teams with low payrolls like the A’s, Rays or Twins, a rash of injuries is a death tap for that team. They just don’t have the depth of players to overcome a bunch of injuries. The Dodgers do have that luxury, however, 2024 pushed that idea to the test. Before the season started, future Hall of Fame pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, had his first arm surgery and wouldn’t return until July at the earliest. Other pitchers such as All-Star Tony Gonsolin and wunderkid Dustin May, were also out and for them, it would be the whole season. All in all, as the season progressed the Dodgers would go through a record number of starting pitchers and pitchers in general; they would endure double digits of Tommy John surgeries to their pitching staff. It was disastrous and the only thing that can overcome disaster on a team… is teamwork and great teammates. It takes a complete team.

****

After Opening Day, Rolando required a little more care than prior. Weaving through the insurance system and trying to figure out who pays out what and who will take care of him, in many ways, became irrelevant. It all needed to be done and figuring it all out was priority number two, with taking care of dad, priority number one. From the outside, it may have looked like I was doing it all on my own; that could not be further from the truth. I had an amazing support team, and this team made everything possible.

It would be unfair of me to say I was the sole caregiver of my dad. The phrase, ‘It takes a village’, is absolutely how things must work to handle the care of an elderly parent. When I say I did this or I did that, it’s not giving due credit to the people who were involved in Rolando’s everyday life. We did hire two daily caregivers, Ding and Ace, and anytime I worked or couldn’t be there, they were there to take care of my dad. But it wasn’t just them.

Lyn, (one of Heather and my closest friends) she and her husband, Chris, worked with Heather and I many, many moons ago. In the past few years, Lyn became very tight with Rolando and was so amazing with him. She had grown (due to some effort from Chris) to be a huge Dodger fan and many times she would watch the game with my dad and talk Dodgers with him. Rolando grew to think very highly of Lyn and Mah Jongg will live on with her from him.

Melissa, Heather’s cousin, spent as much, if not more time, with Rolando than anyone besides Heather or me. The amount of effort and care she went through on her visits with my dad, was and is astounding. She would bring books and games to play with Rolando and poke the mind of my dad and listen to the stories from a man who had a million stories. Melissa was irreplaceable when it came to my dad.

Carmen spent time with my dad in the rehab facility when Heather and I were out of town. The warmth and love she brought to him stayed with him long after she left. Rolando would often mention the ‘great lady’ who came to see him and the smile she brought to his face. She was wonderful to Rolando.

Rich is one of my oldest (in terms of length of friendship) friends I have in the South Bay of Los Angeles. When I was stuck in a tight spot at work, and needed someone to watch Rolando, Rich came through. An avid Dodgers fan, Rich attended many games with Rolando and I at Dodger stadium and spent time watching Dodger games with my dad.

Masud, once a roommate of ours and always more of a family member than a friend, developed a terrific friendship and relationship with Rolando over the years and was often a confidant to my dad, as well as a great friend. I often counted on Masud when it was needed.

In that vein, friends like Jeremy, Jeff, Danny, Dave, Christian, Frankie, Tim, Mikey, Fitz, Dante, who are also members of the fantasy football league I’ve run for twenty years, all spent quality with Rolando and were constant sources of laughter for him. Jeremy would sit with Rolando and talk sports and many times; I caught these other gentlemen having a conversation with my dad. I need to post some of those great pictures.

Manny was the first guinea pig to cook and sit with Rolando when I couldn’t get out of work. Manny set the standard for Rolando’s meals, and it was a high bar to set.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Redondo Rotary and their marvelous Rotarians. Rolando was so proud to be a Rotarian and to have been their president. People like Dr. Vicki, Leeann, Vera, John, the Weigel’s and countless others would come and sit with Rolando, bringing him more food than he could eat in a month and provide more entertainment than he could handle. Thank you Rotary, for all that you did.

Many, many more were part of the team, but no one did as much or got as close with him as my beautiful and wonderful girlfriend, Heather. Being in a relationship with someone who takes care of an elderly parent, is extremely difficult. I did my best to control emotions, be it happy, sad, frustrated or even angry when Rolando was being difficult or an out an out pain. We’ve had to cancel trips and vacations when he was sick or injured or cancel plans or a date night. But never once did Heather ever complain. She developed such a lovely, loving relationship with him that often, when I was at work, she would stay with him and watch MASH and Jeopardy (two Andrade staples). She’d try to avoid watching the Dodgers, but shit happens. In six years, she never once complained or not come to the aid of my dad or myself. It is something I treasure and love her all the more for. Thank you, my love.

But last April as Rolando seemed to be on the mend, Heather became very ill with a lung infection. After spending a few days in Las Vegas (one day for our anniversary and a couple for her mother’s birthday) she came down with a cough that became a fever and then morphed into pneumonia and soon, an ambulance was driving her to the hospital. Illnesses of this type are frightening and this was very scary. She spent two harrowing weeks in the hospital. Rolando, wheelchair and all, visited her which gave us the glimpse of an often-hospitalized older man, visiting a much younger, hospitalized woman.

It was scary and I was scared. For her, her kids, her family and, selfishly, for myself. It was difficult to see someone you consider a tower of strength become as ill as she was. I was witnessing it with my dad and was not prepared to witness it with Heather. I hope that I was strong enough or at least came off as strong because I would be horrified if I let her down.

Thankfully and gratefully, she recovered. That period of time is a constant reminder to me of how fragile and fleeting life can be. To see someone you love, suffer, is difficult. Last April was a very hard month but as a team, we all made it through.

****

The Dodgers moved through the spring with less excitement than I’d hoped. Shohei Ohtani was playing well but hadn’t hit his stride yet. Mookie Betts was playing at a great offensive level, but learning a new position, Short Stop, he struggled defensively. Freddie Freeman came out of the gates slowly and struggled. As a Freddie fan, even when he played for the Braves, I’d never seen Freddie Freeman struggle as he did in April and May. It affected the team.

Soon Max Muncy would be hurt and another couple pitchers would go down. The first place Dodgers would begin to play at a mediocre pace and the thrill of the offseason became a malaise of the regular season. Much would need to be improved, and the strength of the Dodgers would be them playing as a team. Little did we know, more was to come to challenge the team.

Kevin R. Andrade

This is Part Four of the series, Fernando, Freddie, Rolando and Me.