LOS ANGELES – A quick scan of the Dodgers clubhouse revealed no newspaper clipping or Internet printout of Joe Maddon’s chest-thumping when the Cubs manager talked about the possibility of facing the Dodgers back in August.
But the Dodgers have heard about it.
“He’s getting his wish,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday, stirring up the competitive banter just a notch on the eve of their teams’ rematch in the NLCS.
Like everyone else, Maddon was impressed by the Dodgers torrid run before they hit that tailspin but he likes his team, which beat LA last year en route to its World Series title, too.
‘‘Love it, love it,’’ Maddon said at the time. ‘‘Listen, I’m very confident playing against them, too. . . . I like the way we match up against them. A lot, not a little bit.’’
“Heard it, and he has a lot of confidence in his guys, as much as I have in our guys, so it’s going to be a great series,’’ Roberts said.
Game 1 starter Clayton Kershaw said he hadn’t heard of Maddon’s comments.
“No, not really,” he said. “I didn’t read about it or hear it, but I don’t know what that means, I don’t know how teams match up. I don’t know the specifics of all of that. So that’s great he thinks that. That’s awesome. I’m sure they need to think that, so that’s great.”
* Umpires for the NLCS are Mike Winters (crew chief), Lance Barksdale, Eric Cooper, Alfonso Marquez, Todd Tichenor, Bill Welke and Jim Wolf.
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