Dodgers Best Yankees to Win 8th World Series Title

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers who defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 of the World Series to win their 8th championship in franchise history. 

The Dodgers were down 5-0 in the fifth inning when Yankees miscues by Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe as well as a miscommunication between Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo on a Mookie Betts groundball sparked a five-run rally. The Yankees would regain the lead on a sac fly by Giancarlo Stanton, but the Dodgers would answer with sac flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers the lead for good. 

To the surprise of no one, Freddie Freeman earned World Series MVP tying a World Series record with 12 RBI which was originally set by New York Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson in the 1960 World Series when the Bronx Bombers fell short to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Freeman hit HR in the first four games of the World Series including a walk-off grand slam in Game 1. He actually homered in six consecutive World Series games going back to 2021 when he was a member of the Atlanta Braves. 

Even diehard Yankees fans were hard pressed to root against Freeman, who aside from being among the most beloved players in MLB, had to leave the team during the summer to address his 3-year-old son Max's ordeal with Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The Dodgers won the first three games of the series. Although they were blown out last night 11-4, the lone Yankees victory was marred by a couple of lame fans who tried to rob Mookie Betts of his glove. 

All 8 of the Dodgers' World Series have come in the past 70 years. The Dodgers won their first World Series title in 1955 against the Yankees while they were still based in Brooklyn. Their remaining titles have been in L.A. - 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988, 2020 and now 2024. Of course, the championship in 2020 came during the COVID shortened season in which no fans were permitted during the regular season with limited seating capacity in Globe Life Park in Texas and no celebration to boot. So, actually this will be the first time L.A. gets a World Series parade in 36 years. 

And if the Dodgers look to the sky during the parade they might see Fernando Valenzuela smiling upon them as they sing Randy Newman's "I Love L.A.".