When Dodgers new second baseman Howie Kendrick addressed the hometown media for the first time on Friday morning, it was impossible to miss the air of confidence that he brought with him after his 12 years in the Angels system – the only team he has ever known. There was no nervousness, no anxiety, only the obvious desire of a well-seasoned, well-grounded veteran to get started with his new club.

But making the transition to the National League after nine major league seasons in the American League isn’t without its challenges and the 31-year-old Jacksonville, Florida native is well aware of them and is looking forward to them.

“Baseball is baseball,” said Kendrick. “But I think once we get out on the field and start playing the game it’s going to be the same game. Obviously I’m in a different league, I’ve got to learn some of the pitchers, but everybody’s got to still throw it over the plate, you’ve got to throw strikes, you’ve got to make plays on defense. You’re going to have to do those things to win ballgames and as long as you win I think everything else happens, it’ll take care of itself. And when you’re having fun and winning that’s even better.”

Howie Kendrick has a .329 batting average and .346 on-base percentage at Dodger Stadium over his nine-year MLB career.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

As far as learning new pitchers, are there any that Kendrick is looking forward to facing or perhaps even dreading facing?

“I just play, I don’t really care who’s throwing to be honest with you. I mean, that day you might get the best of me, I might get the best of you,” answered Kendrick. “Going from facing guys like Felix [Hernandez], you see Kershaw, we see him in interleague, you don’t get much better than those guys, you just invite them up to the challenge. Facing tough pitching, those are the games you want to play your best in.

“Every guy in the major league has the potential to be great,” Kendrick added. “So any guy, you could be facing number five and he can get the best of you, but you know you’re going to go out the next day and play again. I think that’s one of the best things about what we do is that even though you might have a rough day the first day, you can go back the second day and have an even better one. It’s not about just that one day, one day doesn’t win you a series.”

Obviously moving up the I-5 to join his new team is a lot more convenient than having to move across the country, especially when you are trying to raise a family, and this is not lost on Kendrick – not even slightly.

“I live in Arizona and spring training in Arizona is huge,” Kendrick said. “My little boy just started school so he gets to stay in school, we don’t have to move somewhere else. I grew up in Florida, nothing against Florida, don’t really want to go back to Florida, I love the west coast, I’ve kind of grown accustomed to being on this side of town. I don’t think you can ask for anything better – great weather, great teams, great baseball and for me and for my family it was just a great move.”

Having been in the big leagues for nearly a decade and with free agency being what it is today, it’s no surprise that Kendrick isn’t close with many of the current Dodgers – especially with the widespread changes the Dodgers have made over the past two months.

“Not really close close but there are a lot guys that I have come in contact with that I know from playing,” said Kendrick. “[Andre] Ethier, I hid out at his house for one year, one off-season, and me and [Orioles shortstop] J.J. Hardy have been working out together for a long time and him and Ethier live close to each other, so we would go out to their place and hit and hang out together.

“I know Andre from his [Oakland] A’s days when we were in Double-A,” added Kendrick. “We played each other, and then we went to the [Arizona] Fall League at the same time. I was in the Fall League with Kemp, Loney, Russell Martin; all of us went and played together in the Fall League, we were all there at the same time.”

Although there will undoubtedly be some challenges facing Kendrick as he settles in with his new team but one thing is very apparent – he is definitely up to those challenges and is eager to embrace them.