If you would have told the Dodger Fan base that their team would win the world series in 2024, you would not get a hint of surprise. During the off-season, the Dodgers organization splurged on several big impact players to bolster their roster. The biggest of these impact players to start, the former Angel Shohei Ohtani, a player hailed for both his impressive hitting ability, and uniquely, his all star caliber pitching. Ohtani was caught in the middle of several MLB teams such as the Toronto Blue Jays, but eventually decided to ink a record breaking 10 year contract worth $700 million with LA according to ESPN. After a deal that would typically end off season spending for most teams the Dodgers continued to stack talent upon talent onto their roster, signing Japanese phenom pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a massive 12 year contract worth $325 million (via ESPN) along with Rays star pitcher Tyler Glasgow, and Mariners slugger Teoscar Hernandez.
After adding these acquisitions to an already star studded Dodgers team, a World Series win felt inevitable. However, feast became famine as the team was ravaged by a laundry list of injuries, with pitchers such as Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan, and Dustin May all being subject to season ending complications. By the time the MLB postseason came rolling around, the Dodgers appeared to be a battered underdog with many fans ready to accept another early exit from the playoffs. Feelings of dread among fans only worsened when top of the lineup hitter Freddie Freeman exited a game on September 26th against the San Diego Padres after rolling his ankle in an attempt to avoid a tag, just two weeks before the playoffs were set to begin.
The Dodgers were certainly down, but not out, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was able to masterfully make use of the teams relief pitchers such as Blake Trienen, Anthony Banda, and Michael Kopech to work around their serious lack of starting pitchers. What seemed like their flaw became their saving grace as the Dodgers relief pitchers were able to deliver, silencing the Padre bats in an 8-0 win, to push for a game 5. After defeating San Diego, the team’s good performances only continued from then on, defeating the New York Mets in a 4-2 series.
It had been 4 years since the last time the Los Angeles Dodgers made it to the World Series in 2020, after years of unsuccessful playoff runs the team was ready to take on the challenge once again. Their opponent? The New York Yankees, an explosive team with a long history of playoff success that had made quick work of their opposition during the postseason. In comparison with LA, New York looked like a power house with many sports experts predicting a comfortable Yankees World Series win. This prediction looked like it would be set in motion Game 1 as the Yankees led 3-2 with 1 out away from taking the first game of the series and an injured player in Freddie Freeman up to bat. First pitch, the improbable happened, Freddie Freeman with a bases loaded and a sprained ankle blasts a baseball into deep right field for a historic home run, winning the first game for LA. As Freeman hobbled around the bases the momentum seemed to shift in the Dodgers favor, and they would carry it with them defeating the Yankees in 5 games. In what can only be described as a storybook season, the Dodgers played through injury and grief with the passing of beloved player Fernando Valenzuela to bring the celebration back to Los Angeles. As Dodgers Announcer Joe Davis said it best during a game against the Mets, the Dodgers were “bruised and tested, but still unbroken”.
