Going into game four of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a 3-0 lead over the New York Yankees. No team has ever recovered from being down 3-0 in a World Series.
The Dodgers thrilling win in game one set the tone for the series. The Yankees led that game 3-2 in the 10th inning, but the Dodgers came back, winning the game 6-3 in extra innings on a walk-off grand slam by first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Game two was dominated by a stellar start from Dodgers rookie pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He went 6.1 innings only allowing one hit and one run while striking out four. In that time, Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman went back-to-back for the Dodgers to give them a 4-0 lead. The Yankees managed to cut the lead in half after the two home runs to make it close, but the Dodgers ultimately prevailed.
The Dodgers game 3 victory was yet again dominated by Freddie Freeman as he hit another go ahead home run. The Dodgers again took the lead early, and won despite a late-game push from the Yankees.
The Game 4 matchup was a virtuous, clean game for the Yankees. They fell behind early on due to yet another home run by Freddie Freeman. That blast earned him the record for the most consecutive World Series games with a home run. However, the Yankees then scored 11 unanswered runs which was led by a grand slam by young Yankees star Anthony Volpe. A gritty performance from a multitude of Yankees pitchers led to a win in game 4.
In Game 5, the Yankees raced to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, spearheaded by a two-run home run by Aaron Judge, which was followed up by a home run by Jazz Chisolm Jr. The Yankees scored two other runs on a run-scoring single by Alex Verdugo and a home run from Giancarlo Stanton.
However, in the fifth inning, the Yankees defense collapsed. Judge dropped an easy fly ball which was followed up by a missed throw from Volpe to load the bases with no one out. Yankees star pitcher Gerrit Cole then struck out two consecutive Dodgers. After inducing a ground ball to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Rizzo lazily fielded the ball and with nobody covering first, the Dodgers scored. The Dodgers capitalized on these mistakes on a two-run single by Freddie Freeman, and a two-run double by Teoscar Hernandez. The Yankees managed to retake the lead on a sacrifice fly. In the eighth inning, the Dodgers scored two runs on a couple of sacrifice flies to stun the New York crowd. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to secure the eighth world championship for Los Angeles.
Meridian students expressed mixed opinions regarding the result of the World Series. For example, freshman Marshall Vogel-Rogers was “Disappointed that the series had to be between two of the richest teams in the league.”
The MLB does have a salary cap, but they can truly spend as much money as you want. If you go over the luxury tax, it impacts the teams draft position and other factors. Teams like the Dodgers and the Yankees always have one of the highest payroll.
Junior Rex Macalester expressed a similar opinion “It feels like one of these teams is always winning [the World Series]” He isn’t far off, the Yankees have won 27 world championships and the Dodgers have now won 8.
This series is the 12th time that these two storied franchises have played in the World Series. They played against one another in 5 out of 10 World Series’ from 1947 to 1957. Those were the original greats of the game when Jackie Robinson was facing off against players like Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra. Now it’s Aaron Judge against Shohei Ohtani. Every series between these two juggernauts has been entertaining, and this one has proved no different.
