Courtesy of Hank Paul
In a season of record-breaking plays and edge-of-your-seat drama, the 2024 World Series proved why baseball still reigns as America’s beloved pastime. October baseball means the postseason, and each team’s goal is to make an appearance in postseason play. The 2024 World Series featured a matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. The National League and American League champions played the first two games on the West Coast in LA and the last three games on the East Coast in New York. Complete with drama, clutch hits, and emotional reactions, the 2024 World Series was nothing short of an exciting final event for the season. With the Los Angeles Dodgers emerging victorious, let’s take a dive into each of the five games and the key players of the series:
Game 1:
The 2024 World Series was kicked off by Brad Paisley’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Jack Flaherty earned the starting pitcher position for the Dodgers, while Gerrit Cole started for the Yankees. Both pitchers held the game scoreless through the first four innings. However, the Dodgers were on the board first with a sacrifice fly from Will Smith scoring Enrique Hernández in the bottom of the fifth. The Yankees responded in the top of the 6th with a Giancarlo Stanton two-run homer. Shohei Ohtani doubled in the 8th, allowing Mookie Betts to hit an RBI sacrifice fly to tie the game at two apiece. Game 1 eventually moved into extra innings, with each team holding the other scoreless in the ninth. The Yankees took the lead in the 10th. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and stole both second and third, Anthony Rizzo was intentionally walked, and Anthony Volpe hit an RBI force-out to score Chisholm Jr. With the Yankees leading 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers were able to load the bases. Freddie Freeman stepped up to the plate and hit a walk-off grand slam to secure a 6-3 Game 1 win for LA. Freeman’s walk-off grand slam became the first ever in a World Series Game 1.
Game 2:
Game 2 featured Los Angeles’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto and New York’s Carlos Rodón as the starting pitchers. The Dodgers scored first off Tommy Edman’s solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd. Juan Soto answered for the Yankees with his own solo homer in the 3rd inning. This tie did not last long, as Mookie Betts’s single in the 3rd was followed by Teoscar Hernández’s 2-run homer and Freddie Freeman’s solo homer. The Dodgers went up 4-1 over the Yankees. The bottom of the 7th was eventful, with LA’s star player Shohei Ohtani suffering a left shoulder subluxation that caused him to leave the game early. It was later confirmed that Ohtani would fully recover and play in Game 3 after a few days of speculation. The Yankees had one last push in the top of the 9th. Juan Soto led off with a single and advanced to second off a wild pitch. Giancarlo Stanton grounded to outfield, scoring Soto to bring the Yankees within 2 of the Dodgers. However, closer Alex Vesia held off New York to give Los Angeles a win and a 2-game lead in the series.
Game 3:
Moving back to the East Coast, Clarke Schmidt (NY) and Walker Buehler (LA) were the starting pitchers for Game 3. Once again, Freddie Freeman hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st to give the Dodgers an early lead. Tommy Edman walked and scored off Mookie Betts’s single in the top of the 3rd to extend the lead to 3. The Yankees attempted to score in the fourth, but Anthony Volpe was thrown out at the plate. The Dodgers add another run to their lead in the 6th. Hernández was batted in by Gavin Lux’s single. The Yankees do end up on the board, thanks to Alex Verdugo’s two-run homer following Anthony Rizzo’s single. However, New York stranded five base runners over the next three innings to end the game. With the Dodgers capturing their third straight win of the series, the Yankees are left in a “win or go home” scenario entering Game 4.
Game 4:
Tensions were high for Game 4 in New York, with their season hanging by a thread. Luis Gil was the starting pitcher for the Yankees, and the Dodgers pitched a bullpen game, with Ben Casparius earning the starting position. For the fourth consecutive World Series game, Freddie Freeman hit a homerun, scoring two runs in the 1st. The Yankees earned one run from Verdugo’s RBI groundout that scored Anthony Volpe. In the bottom of the 3rd, Anthony Volpe created a major momentum for the “Pinstripes” with a grand slam to give New York a 5-2 lead. Will Smith homered for LA in the 5th, and Tommy Edman scored off a beaten-out fielder’s choice by Freeman. A 5-4 game was quickly taken over by the Yankees. Wells hit a solo homer in the 6th, and five more runs were scored in the 8th including a three-run homer by Gleyber Torres for New York. Pitcher Tim Mayza closed out the game, securing a massive 11-4 win for the Yankees. New York became the first team since the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 to force a fifth game and avoid being swept after losing the first three games in a World Series.
Game 5:
The series remained on the East Coast for game five, with Gerrit Cole earning the starting pitcher position for New York and Jack Flaherty for Los Angeles. The Yankees were on the board first, with Aaron Judge hitting a two-run homer and Jazz Chisholm Jr. tacking on a solo homer. The Yankees extended their lead over the Dodgers in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Anthony Volpe doubled and scored off Verdugo’s RBI single. Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo homer to make the lead five. The Yankees entered the fifth inning with a sizable lead; however, a series of defensive errors allowed the Dodgers to earn some of the runs back. These errors included Aaron Judge dropping a routine fly ball for his first error of the season. Mookie Betts earned an RBI single with the bases loaded, making the score 5-1. Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single, and Hernández doubled to score two runners and tie the game. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Yankees responded to the Dodgers’ five unanswered runs with Giancarlo Stanton’s sacrifice fly that scored Gavin Lux. However, the Dodgers were not done yet. Hernández led off the 8th inning with a single, Tommy Edman earned an infield single, and Will Smith was walked. With the bases loaded, reliever Luke Weaver was sent in for the Yankees. Gavin Lux’s sacrifice fly scored Hernández and tied up the game at six apiece. Shohei Ohtani, rather quiet in the earlier innings, reached on a ruled catcher’s interference. Mookie Betts stepped up and hit a sacrifice fly to score Tommy Edman and give the Dodgers a one-run lead over the Yankees. Los Angeles’s game three starter, Walker Buehler, closed out the game, pitching a perfect 9th inning and securing a World Series championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers. What seemed like a game going New York’s way was quickly turned around.
Freddie Freeman was awarded the MVP for the 2024 World Series. Freeman tied the series record of 12 RBIs, 4 of which came from his game-one walk-off grand slam. The Dodgers’ victory was the team’s first appearance and win since 2020.
