“Your Los Angeles Dodgers have won the World Series!” These words said by FOX’s lead baseball announcer, Joe Davis, who happens to be the announcer for the Dodgers during the regular season, ended this improbable run for Los Angeles to their eighth title in franchise history. The city of angels rejoiced, with fireworks going off from Whittier Boulevard in East LA to La Cienega Boulevard on the west side, as Angelinos celebrated this long awaited title. Though it has only been four years since the Dodgers last were champions of the world, the pandemic prevented a true celebration of the team. So, for the first time since 1988, a World Championship parade will march through downtown, and Dodger fans can celebrate their victory over the New York Yankees as one in the streets of L.A.
Just over three weeks ago, it seemed as though the Dodgers were not going to make it out of the National League Division Series for the third straight year. Down two games to one against a divisional rival, the San Diego Padres, it seemed as though an eleventh division title in twelve years would once again be for nothing, with all momentum heading San Diego’s way after victories in games two and three. “To me, the season was over,” said JT Lu-Morris, 11. “I was ready to root against the Padres in the NLCS, but I’m glad they surprised me.” In game four, the Dodgers blew out the Padres, shutting them out eight to nothing, forcing a winner-take-all game five in Los Angeles. With the ace for San Diego, Yu Darvish, on the mound, Kiké Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez both homered for the Dodgers’ only two runs in the game. But that was all they needed. For the last twenty-four innings of the NLDS, the Dodgers pitching staff held the electric Padres offense to no runs. That was enough to send the Dodgers to the NLCS, where they easily triumphed over the Mets in a series where every game was decided by four or more runs, with the Dodgers taking home the series in six games.
This set up a World Series where matchup that many fans have been waiting for. For the first time since 1981, the Los Angeles Dodgers would face the New York Yankees, this being the twelfth time the two have met in the Fall Classic, making this the most common matchup in World Series history. In a forty year span from 1941 to 1981, the teams met eleven times, but since then, this is the first meeting for a championship. The Yankees won eight of the eleven matchups in the World Series between the two, but the Dodgers won their last meeting in 1981, powered by the pitching of Fernando Valenzuela.
Tragically, Valenzuela passed away just over a week ago on October 22, 2024. He was sixty-three years old. The Dodgers dedicated this series to the pitcher who has left such a lasting legacy on not only the team, but on the sport of baseball as a whole. “Fernandomania” back in 1981 captivated the entire world, as the Mexican-born pitcher won both the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the National League. His number, 34, was just recently retired by the Dodgers, and as game one began, two fellow Dodger legends, Orel Hershisher and Steve Yeager, placed the game ball on his number, which was painted into the back of the mound.
Game one felt as though the Yankees purely had the Dodgers’ number, as Gerrit Cole, New York’s best pitcher, carved through the Dodgers lineup. With nine innings not being enough to decide the game, extra innings ensued, with the Yankees taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the tenth. However, in the bottom half of the inning, the Dodgers got some offense going, and Yankee manager Aaron Boone decided to bring in Nestor Cortes, a pitcher who has not pitched in over a month. And Freddie Freeman stepped up to the plate against Cortes with the bases loaded, and boom. Freeman unloaded on a baseball, hitting a walk-off grand slam, the first in World Series history. The Dodgers rode this momentum into games two and three, winning both quite easily despite late scares, Freeman homering in both. Game four was a different story: The Yankees utterly dominated, and early on in game five, it seemed as though that would be the case again.
New York jumped to a five to zero lead early, but in one of the worst defensive innings in baseball history, the Dodgers roared back. Yankee captain and centerfielder Aaron Judge dropped a routine flyball, shortstop Anthony Volpe made a throwing error, and Cole, on the mound once again, failed to cover first base after the first baseman Anthony Rizzo fielded a ground ball. The Dodgers capitalized on these three errors, scoring five runs and tying the game. The Yankees scored one run in the sixth, making it six to five, but in the eighth, the Dodgers had the bases loaded again, scoring two runs on multiple sacrifice flies. With no other pitchers available, Dodger manager Dave Roberts turned to starter Walker Buehler to close the game and the series out, and with two outs in the ninth, he struck out former Dodger Alex Verdugo to win the World Series.
Freeman, with four home runs in the series and a new record for most consecutive World Series games with a homer dating back to his 2021 performance with Atlanta, won the World Series MVP, while star Shohei Ohtani was a title in his first year in Los Angeles. Roberts, with two rings now, will enter the hall of fame as a manager, as this tumultuous year with injuries galore will end with a World Championship for Los Angeles.
