Long Beach, Ca – Two of the most storied franchises in baseball history duked it out for the crown. The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers battled it out for the 12th time against each other. The Yankees, led by superstars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, were hoping to lead the Yankees to a record 28th championship. Meanwhile, global sensation Shohei Ohtani, who became the only player in MLB history this season to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman were seeking to lead the Dodgers to a 7th championship.
Game 1: Yankees @ Dodgers
The series got underway at Dodger Stadium. The atmosphere was electric. The fighter jets flying over Chavez Ravine. Fireworks during the stunning national anthem. One thing was for certain-it was time for Game 1 of the World Series.
The pitching matchup was between Gerrit Cole for the Yankees and Jack Flaherty for the Dodgers. Gerrit Cole, the ace for the Yankees, was coming in in a good groove heading into the series. Jack Flaherty was the complete opposite heading in. He was coming off a horrendous start against the New York Mets in Game 5, a game where the Dodgers lost 12-6, and Flaherty gave up eight earned runs in just three innings.
Right away, it was apparent that it was a pitching duel. Both starters were on their game through the first half of the game. The Dodgers broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth thanks to the Dodgers catcher Will Smith hitting a sacrifice fly that scored Kike Hernandez, the Dodgers centerfielder that put Los Angeles ahead 1-0. The Yankees responded right back, with Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton crushing a towering 2-run home run down the left field line to put the Yankees ahead 2-1 in the top of the sixth. The Dodgers were not done yet as yet another sac fly from Dodgers superstar right fielder Mookie Betts scored Shohei Ohtani, the international superstar, and Dodgers designated hitter, to tie the game at two in the bottom of the eighth. Both teams went scoreless in the ninth. As a result, for the third straight year, Game One of the World Series went into extra innings. The Yankees got a run in the tenth, thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from their shortstop Anthony Volpe. However, if you date back to Game One of the 1988 World Series, Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off home run for the Dodgers to win it 5-4. He was hobbled and could barely stand up. Fast forward to Game One of the 2024 World Series, Freddie Freeman, on a bad ankle, comes up with the game on the line. Bases loaded. Two outs. Every young ballplayer’s dream. They walked Mookie to get to Freddie.
First pitch. Crushed to deep right field. As Joe Davis called on the broadcast, “Gibby, meet Freddie!” Walk off grand slam for Freddie Freeman. Gibby and Freddie. Two lefties. Two first basemen. Two hobbled players. Two World Series game one walk-off winner. Two MVPS were cementing their legacy in Dodgers lore, hitting a walk-off home run in Game One of the World Series 36 years apart in nearly the same spot, only separated by a couple of rows. It was one of the more unbelievable moments in Dodger and baseball history that capped off a storybook game. It is worth mentioning that Aaron Boone, the manager of the Yankees, put in Nestor Cortes to face Freddie Freeman. Cortes hadn’t pitched in a month when another Yankee left-hander, Tim Hill, who had seemed more reliable, was available. After the game, Boone said he “liked the matchup” of Cortes rather than Hill. Nonetheless, the Dodgers won 6-3 in ten innings.
Game 2: Yankees @ Dodgers
After a classic Game One, both teams were set for Game Two. Ice Cube had an incredible performance before the game (at least in my opinion), which hyped up the players. Left-hander Carlos Rodon got the ball for the Yankees, and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the ball for the Dodgers. In the aftermath of the cinematic Game One, NLCS MVP Tommy Edman kicked off Game Two with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to put the Dodgers ahead 1-0. Juan Soto is a big-time playoff performer, especially against the Dodgers. As a result, the Dodger killer hit a solo home run in the third inning off of Yamamoto to tie the game at one. The Dodgers responded in the bottom of the inning when Teoscar Hernandez crushed a straightaway blast to right center field.
A two-run home run put the Dodgers ahead three to one. Up came Freddie Freeman. He also crushed one to right center and hit another home run to put the Dodgers ahead four to one. After back-to-back home runs, the Dodgers appeared in the driver’s seat and looked to go up two games to nothing. Fast forward to the 9th. Dodgers were still ahead 4-1. Dodger fans were on their feet. The Yankees were on the brink of going into a punishing 2-0 hole. The Dodgers relied on their lights-out closer, Blake Treinen, to close out the Yankees in the ninth. The Yankees had Soto, Judge, and Stanton due up. Juan Soto started with a leadoff single. The leadoff man getting on for the Yankees is crucial. After a wild pitch from Blake Treinen, which advanced Soto to second, Aaron Judge struck out, which continued his postseason struggles. This led to Giancarlo Stanton hitting an RBI single, bringing home Soto to make it 4-2. Jazz Chisholm Jr became the tying run-up at the plate. After a long, grueling at-bat, he smacked a single into right field to advance Stanton to second. A double play would end the game.
The Yankees had other ideas in mind. During a 2-2 count, Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo got hit by a pitch. After a Volpe strikeout, it was a very similar situation. Bases loaded. Two outs. It is Game 1 all over again, except this time, the Yankees have the chance with the bases loaded and two outs. Austin Wells, the Yankees catcher, was looking to be the hero. Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager, removed Treinen and put in left-hander Alex Vesia to face Wells. As a result, Aaron Boone sent a pinch hitter up there for the Yankees. It was Jose Trevino, the backup catcher for the Yankees. The first pitch from Vesia resulted in a towering fly ball to left center field way back and…. Caught in center field by Tommy Edman. It was a heartbreaking defeat for the Yankees as the Dodgers held on and won 4-2 to take a commanding 2-0 series lead as the series shifted to New York.
Game 3: Dodgers @ Yankees
Despite the outcome of the first two games in Los Angeles, Yankee fans still believed that the team in the pinstripes could come back and win the series. Fat Joe tried to be as entertaining as Ice Cube. (He wasn’t, in my honest opinion) Walker Buehler was pitching for the Yankees. He struggled all season long, but the Dodgers trusted him because of his past dominant showings in the postseason. The Yankees countered with the young right-hander Clarke Schmidt. Freddie Freeman kept not being human. He homered in his 5th consecutive World Series game in the first inning to put the Dodgers ahead 2-0. He tied with a cheater, George Springer, for the most consecutive games with a home run. After Betts and Kike Hernandez getting RBI singles in the third and sixth, the Dodgers led four to nothing going into the ninth. Alex Verdugo hit a two-run home run in the ninth to make it 4-2. It was too little too late. The Dodgers, for the second consecutive game, won 4-2 and gave the Yankees the ultimate kiss of death. They took a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Game 4: Dodgers @ Yankees
Yankee fans still had a ton of hope after going down 3-0 in the series. Luis Gil took the ball for the Yankees with their season on the line, while the rookie Ben Casparius would start a bullpen game for the Dodgers. If you had any doubt that Freddie Freeman has not been the best player in the World Series so far, you were wrong. Freeman cracked a line drive home run into right to put the Dodgers ahead 2-0 in the first for the second consecutive night. Freeman is the second player to homer in four straight games in a single World Series, besides the cheater George Springer doing it for the Astros (*) when they got caught stealing signs and banging trash cans against the Dodgers in 2017. He broke the record for six consecutive World Series games, dating back to when he homered in the last two games of the 2021 World Series when he was with the Atlanta Braves and took down the Houston Astros. However, there was still a game to play. Mookie Betts went for a foul ball in foul territory, and a lunatic fan tried to rip his glove off. Then, he and another fan got ejected and banned for life from Yankee Stadium. Verdugo hit an RBI groundout in the second to make it 2-1. After Daniel Hudson came in for the Dodgers, Anthony Volpe cracked a substantial grand slam to put the Yankees ahead 5-2 in the bottom of the third. That was followed by a Will Smith home run in the top of the fifth and a RBI groundout by Freddie Freeman to make it 5-4. After that, the Yankees crushed the Dodgers, scoring six unanswered runs, including five runs in the bottom of the eighth and a three-run home run by Gleyber Torres to seal an 11-4 Yankees victory to keep their season alive.
Game 5: Dodgers @ Yankees
A pivotal Game Five was when the Yankees turned to their ace Gerrit Cole to keep their season alive, and the Dodgers countered with their starter Jack Flaherty, which was the same line as Game One. The Yankees capitalized early as Aaron Judge finally broke loose with a two-run home run at the bottom of the first. It was followed by Jazz Chisholm Jr crushing a sky-scraping homerun to hit back-to-back home runs. Flaherty was taken out in the second inning, and Giancarlo Stanton smashed a homer off of Ryan Brasier in the third to make it 5-0 Yanks in the bottom of the third. Yankees fans were going ballistic, and they believed they would be the first team in baseball history to come back from down 3-0 in the World Series. And then all hell broke loose. From Judge dropping a routine fly ball in center field, Volpe with a miscue at third, and Cole failing to cover first on a ground ball that scored a run in the fifth, the Yankees were playing almost as if they wanted to make it enjoyable in the fifth inning. After Betts reached on an infield single when Cole failed to cover first, Freddie Freeman smashed a two-run single to make it 5-3. Immediately after, Teoscar Hernadez smashed a ball off the wall in the deep center that TIED THE GAME. After an improbable comeback and some Yankee misplays, Stanton hit a sac fly in the sixth to put the Yankees back ahead 6-5. However, after getting runners on in the eighth, Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts hit two sac flies to put them ahead 7-6. After Aaron Judge hit a double and Chisholm walked, Blake Treinen struck out Anthony Rizzo. After failing to get insurance in the ninth, Walker Buehler came out of the bullpen for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers starter got out Volpe via groundout and struck out Wells. The last chance for the Yankees was Alex Verdugo. The former Dodger and the Yankees’ key player in this series was their last chance. On a 1-2 pitch, “STRIKE THE PARTY LOS ANGELES! YOUR DODGERS HAVE WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!” A legendary call from FOX announcer Joe Davis and Dodgers announcer all season for Spectrum Sportsnet LA. (TV station for the Dodgers all season). And indeed, it was a good day in Los Angeles. Fernando looks down and watches “Freddie,” the nickname that legendary Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser gave him. Fernando’s first World Series win was in 1981 against the Yankees. It’s only fitting. Freddie Freeman won World Series MVP. Dodger fans rejoice.
