Dodgers Win the World Series!!!
An emotional blog by Will at Overdue Sports
First off, I wrote this well in advance because I knew once that 27th out was recorded, I would not be able to gather my thoughts in the professional manner I conduct myself in here. I couldn’t be happier, in a year where I thought the injury bug that plagued the Dodgers roster all season would be their downfall, they ran through the gauntlet of October capping it all off with a gentleman’s sweep of the Yankees.
Clearly, Game 4 was a disaster and Jack Flaherty’s meltdown early in Game 5 had me prepping for Friday and scrap this one. Thanks to what was quite possibly the worst defensive inning I’ve ever seen from a Major League Baseball team, the Dodgers crawled back into it and took the cake after finally getting through Gerrit Cole. Chasing Kahnle loading the bases against Luke Weaver down a run in the 8th, with a spectacular at bat by Gavin Lux resulting in a game-tying sacrifice fly. Catchers interference to reload the bases… and Mookie Betts DELIVERS with a sac-fly to take the lead. Blake Treinen showed nothing but heart with that outing, the most pitches he’s thrown all season with 40+ to cap off a strikeout against Rizzo with the tying run on second. My favorite player, Walker Buehler slams the door on one days rest after his Game 3 start, enough to make a grown man cry.
Back to the celebration because HOLY SHIT THE DODGERS WON THE WORLD SERIES! Not only is this one incredibly sweet, but it’s the first (real) World Series win of my life time.
This is my second full season covering the MLB, the first with the Skippers View, and I got to write about my favorite team all season through the playoffs and watch them dogpile as the last team standing. This goes deeper than just one year of being a “journalist” for my favorite team, I’ve been a diehard baseball and Dodgers fan since I could walk. I remember my dad teaching me about who Vin Scully was as we’d listen to every Dodger game possible in the car driving to baseball games, rooting for guys like Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, Chad Billingsly, and so many more. I grew up on it. My entire life has revolved around baseball from entering this world with a bat and glove, to playing through college. I live and breath those 108 stitches. I’ve never seen a team of mine win a championship, and to experience the first one at 26, while pursuing my passion of sports writing though the whole year with them? Feels like a movie.
Freddie Freeman clearly deserves every bit of the World Series MVP for a diabolical performance in hitting not only the biggest postseason home run in Dodgers history (move aside Gibby), but proceeding to leave the yard in four of give games of the series, on a bum ankle. He is truly one of the most likable guys in the League, watching him celebrate with his dad after the walkoff, it was all so surreal. As much as it must hurt Braves fan, he’ll go into the Hall a Dodger.
The pitching couldn’t have been any better, Flaherty was electric in Game 1 and gave a ton of length, Yamamoto gave a masterclass to prove he’s worth every bit of that $325M contract, and Walker Buehler looked like vintage Walker. Legit made me want to shed a tear, after all the hate my favorite player in baseball has gotten all season coming off of not one, but two Tommy John surgeries, and to give length with the best stuff he’s shown since 2022. AND slammed the door on the World Series on just one days rest to commence the dogpile of all dogpiles. Poetic. Please resign him as soon as this is over.
The bullpen was spectacular too. Treinen, Kopech, Vesia, masterclasses all series. Even Honeywell and Knack eating quality innings in Game 4 to save the bullpen was incredible. All you non-Dodgers fans may complain about buying talent, and building a superteam while not acknowledging how much homegrown talent they have, and have had over the last 10 years, I’ll reference the tweet below after the dominant performance ALL POSTSEASON from the bullpen.
While Ohtani was more or less a non-factor no thanks to the shoulder injury, the rest of the depth picked up so much slack not only at the plate, but in the field. Tommy Edman was a ball magnet all series and was spectacular defensively and stayed hot after taking home the NLCS MVP. Let me remind you, he didn’t play a single game this season until AUGUST. That’s a gamer. Kike Hernandez could hit .100 for the remainder of his regular season career and as long as he shows up in October he’ll always have a spot on the roster, he’s as clutch as it gets in this League.
At the end of the day, the Boys in Blue performed on the biggest stage, and I couldn’t be more proud, or happier about it. Feels surreal watching your favorite team win the whole damn thing, and covering it as a self proclaimed “journalist.” As always, I’ll be covering Dodgers baseball all offseason, I’m gonna enjoy this one for a while. GO BLUE!
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