Crazy 2024 World Series
The 2024 World Series Was Crazy… Hello everybody and welcome back to the 2nd blog of js9innings media. The MLB season is officially over as the Los Angeles Dodgers are 2024 World Series champions. I am a Dodgers fan so this World Series win meant a lot and it is something I will never forget. The amount of happiness and joy I had on the night of October 30th, 2024 will probably never ever be topped as watching the Dodgers win the World Series is one of the best moments of my life. Next I want to talk about the World Series.
Image courtesy of Mark Mitchener, BBC Sport Senior Journalist / BBC
The 2024 World Series was an anticipated World Series with a lot of high hopes. The two most historical franchises, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers in MLB finally get to face off in the World Series for the first time in 43 years. So it is fair to say a Yankees vs Dodgers World Series was hyped up to the maximum.
Game 1 of the 2024 World Series was an instant classic. It is by far one of the greatest games I have ever watched and it ended in one of the greatest ways ever. The score was close the entire game. The score was 2-2 in the top of the 9th. Yankees Gleyber Torres hit a ball that was caught by a fan. Everyone thought it was a home run but the fan reached over the fence to catch the ball which interfered with the game and Gleyber Torres was given a double. I have never seen something like that happen ever, especially with how significant the moment was. Then, Dodgers Freddie Freeman came up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and 2 outs as the Dodgers were losing 3-2. Freeman has been battling a nasty ankle injury which has made it hard for him to run and swing the bat, but Freeman wanted to play and he went onto hit a walk off grand slam to end the Game 1. This walk off grand slam was the first time ever a player did this in the World Series. This home run was very similar to Dodgers Kirk Gibson back in 1988 when Kirk Gibson came out as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Gibson was battling two bad leg injuries and he could barely run. People were questioning why he was in the game. Well, Gibson went onto hit an improbable walk off home run to win the game and the Dodgers went onto win that World Series. The best part about these two home runs is that they both happened at 8:37 pm pacific time. You cannot write a script better than this!
Image courtesy of Brent Maguire / MLB
The Dodgers went onto win Games 2 and 3 without any problems as they completely dominated the Yankees. The Dodgers got two quality starts out of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler and now find themselves one win away from winning the World Series. Then the Yankees blew out the Dodgers in Game 4. The Yankees put up 11 runs on the Dodgers. The Dodgers had a bullpen game as they only had three starting pitchers this World Series because all their other starters were injured. The Dodgers elected to use their worst pitchers and practically punted the game away to save a well rested bullpen for Game 5. Now onto Game 5, this strategy by the starters seemed to not work at first. Dodgers starter, Jack Flaherty who pitched brilliantly in Game 1, got rocked and was taken out of the game after recording only four outs. It looked like the Dodgers plan completely backfired as the Dodgers started using their best bullpen arms in a 5-0 game. The Dodgers did not have a hit going into the 5th inning until Enrique Hernandez hit a single off Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole. The next batter, Tommy Edman, hit a ball to Aaron Judge who somehow dropped the most routine flyball you will ever see. After that, Will Smith got on base with an error by Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. Then Mookie Betts came up to the plate with 2 outs and hit a ball to first base. It was a routine play but Gerrit Cole and Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo thought each other would cover the bag and because no one covered the bag, Mookie Betts made it safely at first base making the score 5-1. The Dodgers went onto tie the game in that inning showing the Yankees sloppy baseball would go on to hurt them. The Dodgers went on to score two more runs and in the bottom of the 9th, the score was 7-6 Dodgers. The problem is, the Dodgers were out of bullpen arms so they had to turn to Game 3 starter Walker Buehler to close out the game. Walker Buehler went on to close the game and made himself a Los Angeles icon and won the Dodgers the 2024 World Series. Game 5 became an instant classic and will be remembered as one of the craziest games we have ever seen in baseball history. The 2024 MLB World Series was a series to remember for Dodgers fans and Yankees fans will want to forget this series happened.
Image courtesy of Tom Verduci / Sports Illustrated