The Dodgers Win Their 8th Title, Third Clinched At Yankee Stadium

The Los Angeles Dodgers, down (5-0) and sans a hit entering T5, rallied for 5 unearned runs in that frame and 2 more, also a bit, not quite as fortuitously, T8, those being the final runs of baseball 2024, as L.A. won #5 (7-6), taking the W.S. vs the Yankees (now (27-14) in W.S.), in 5. games.

Freddie Freeman had one of the greatest World Series ever, getting 12 rbi’s, tying Bobby Richardson’s mark set in defeat in 1960, getting big rbi hits in all 4 Dodgers’ wins, highlighted by the series’ most important play, a game ending, grand slam home run, yielding a (6-3) L.A. win in the opener.

It is the Dodgers’ 8th title, first in a full season since 1988 and just the second since Sandy (Koufax) shutout the Twins, (their only home W.S. loss-they are (11-1) riding that to a (2-1) W.S. mark) at Minnesota in 1965.

This is the 6th time the Dodgers clinched the crown on the road and the third time they did so at still venerable but not quite as in the past, Yankee Stadium. Only once, again with Sandy pitching a complete game (2-1) clincher have the Dodgrs clinched a W.S. at home. Their other crown was finalized on a neutral field in 2020.

In the 5 run L.A. 5th, in addition to Yankees’ errors, Mookie Betts, Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez delivered 2 out rbi hits, the latter two, of the two run variety to tie the tilt at 5.

Then T8, trailing (6-5) the Dodgers got “one base advances” in 5 straight at bats, with sac flies to Judge (he homered but made a key error and Soto says he is open to all 30 teams but ……) by Gavin Lux and Betts (his third title in the last 4 even years, all 3 in World Series involving the Dodgers, his Red Sox 5’ing them in 2018 and their “bubble,” not so hot title in 2020).

That 2018 W.S. ended with starting pitcher Chris Sale pitching a 1-2-3, B9 up (5-1) and his Red Sox team up (3-1) in the series vs the Dodgers.

Last night, another starting pitcher, Walker Buehler, the #3 winner, 2 nights earlier, hurled a 1-2-3 B9, up just a run giving L.A. the 5 games series triumph, just the second time in 41 W.S. that the Yankees lost in 5 games. (The other was in 1942 when the Cardinals (a distant second to the Yankees who have 27, with 11 titles) came to New York (1-1) and won all 3, actually winning the last 4 of that series and taking it in 5. The next year the Yankees “reversed” matters, winning the series 4 games to 1.

Finally, in the game that made it 25 of 25 that a team up (3-0) in the World Series not only won it but did so in 5 games or less, credit winning pitcher Blake Treinen, for 2 and one third scoreless innings.

World Series MVP, Freddie Freeman, pictured above, won #1 with a game ending grand slam, “solo’d” to put the once Brooklyn team up (4-1) in an eventual (4-2) #2 win, the least but still important hit of his incredible series.

Continuing, Freddie “set the tone” in #3 hitting a first inning 2 run homer in an eventual go up (3-0) win. Last night his team down (5-1) Freeman lashed a 2 rbi hit. He hit a 2rhr T1 in the lone L.A. loss that in game 4.