Two California nuns and superfans cheer on the L.A. Dodgers in World Series
As the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the New York Mets in the World Series this weekend, many fans will be cheering on the Boys in Blue including two devout superfans who also happen to be Catholic nuns. Sister Johnelle Turner and Sister Joann Ashburn said that the Dodgers are regularly at the top of [...]
As the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the New York Mets in the World Series this weekend, many fans will be cheering on the Boys in Blue including two devout superfans who also happen to be Catholic nuns.
Sister Johnelle Turner and Sister Joann Ashburn said that the Dodgers are regularly at the top of their prayer lists.
Turner said she would even bring holy water to Dodger games whenever she could attend. She now lives in Northern California but is considering tossing holy water into the air and hoping the wind will carry it all the way down to L.A.
“The Dodgers are on fire,” Turner said. “They want this badly and they’re going to get it.”
“They’re such a good team,” said Ashburn. “People have asked, ‘Who’s your favorite player?’ It’s the team,” she emphasized. “They care about each other, I think, more than the individual.”
The nuns told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe that they both grew up loving everything Dodgers.
Sister Johnelle Turner (left) and Sister Joann Ashburn (right) are Catholic nuns and Dodger superfans who said the Boys in Blue are regularly at the top of their prayer lists. (KTLA) 
Sister Johnelle Turner shows off her cherished Dodger blue rosary. (KTLA) 
The two nuns were close friends with Dodger legend Tommy Lasorda and were often his guests at baseball games. (KTLA) 
Sister Johnelle Turner keeps her stuffed Dodger prayer dog nearby during games. (KTLA)
“We both grew up with blue milk and everything else that was blue in our houses,” Turner said.
Turner shows off her cherished blue rosary while Ashburn proudly wears a matching one, too. Turner also shows off her stuffed Dodger prayer dog that she likes to keep nearby.
They both recall the thrill they felt when they first met Tommy Lasorda, the legendary Dodgers manager and baseball Hall of Famer, in person.
“This is when we met Tommy for the first time in his office,” Turner said as she showed a picture of the three of them.
They later became close friends with Lasorda and were often his guests at baseball games.
“We sat with him, right next to him, right outside the dugout and we were able to smile at a lot of the players,” Turner recalled fondly. “We had our rosaries in our hands almost the entire games while we were there.”
Turner has since moved to Northern California, while Ashburn is an eighth-grade teacher at Saint Catherine’s Academy in Anaheim. She joked that if any of her students are Dodger fans, they’ll receive an automatic A grade.
The Dodgers will face off against the Mets for Game 1 of the World Series on Friday, Oct. 25 at Dodger Stadium beginning at 5 p.m.
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