LOS ANGELES — The moment was brief yet will carry in Evan Phillips’ heart forever. His wife, Liz, had spent much of the afternoon in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, waiting as the Dodgers closed out a Mother’s Day win against the Padres. Only after the ballpark emptied did she enter.
But there they were. A photographer accompanied them to commemorate the moment. It’s still surreal to them that Phillips is here. More than a year after being designated for assignment and on his third organization in a matter of weeks, he is one of the premier relievers in sport. He is the bullpen ace for a club with true World Series aspirations. Since the start of last season, no reliever with more than 80 innings of work has a lower ERA than Phillips’ 1.51.
This was a different kind of “pinch-me” moment. Together, they held their newborn son, Beau.
“There’s nothing better than being his father,” Phillips said recently, grinning at the prospect of his first Father’s Day. “I genuinely feel changed.”
He just wasn’t expecting Beau to arrive so soon. As the Dodgers boarded a flight to Chicago in late April, Phillips went back over their list of emergency contacts. It was the last trip Phillips would be on without anyone there to stay with a pregnant Liz and help get…
