Last week, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games in one of the best World Series in modern history.
Now that the hoopla has died down, let’s hear from two Dodger fans with their reaction to the Dodgers winning the 2024 World Series.
Bat Flips & Nerds Dodgers contributor Freddie Law-Keen shares his thoughts after we first hear from Dodging Sleep podcast co-host Ian Blease.
Ian Blease
There were many heroes in Dodger Blue this postseason. Those that stepped up and came through in their moment, along with more consistent performers such as Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tommy Edman and Walker Buehler. However, there’s one player in particular who will be happier than everyone now that the sun has set on the 2024 season.
Clayton Kershaw was visibly emotional at the victory parade, proclaiming himself a “Dodger for life” while recognising that his own contribution was minimal this year due to injury. The future Hall of Famer lays a strong claim to be the best pitcher of his generation but, time and time again, the Dodgers couldn’t get the job done when he was in his prime. So there’s something akin to poetic justice that, now his body is not up to the task, his team were able to carry their war horse over the line and give him another day in the sun.
In doing so, they also put to bed any doubts about this team being able to perform over a full season – their only previous championship coming in the COVID-affected 2020 season. These are not doubts that I share – the game was strange that year – but, ultimately, it was the same for everyone and the Dodgers came out on top.
Now imagine how good this team would have been if they hadn’t lost 2,158 days to injury over the course of the season!
Ian Blease is the co-host of the Dodging Sleep podcast, and can be found on Twitter @Bleasedog.
Freddie Law-Keen
Down 4-0 watching the TV alone around 1am, my girlfriend woke up and came to check on me.
“It’s not going well, Jack got pulled in the 2nd inning, and their bats look hot”, I said.
Right as she sat down to join me, Giancarlo Stanton took a ball deep to put the game at a seemingly insurmountable 5-0 with Gerrit Cole cruising. My girlfriend left to go back to bed as the game entered the top of the 4th.
I joked, “I’ll be joining you shortly.”
She replied, “You never know a miracle might happen”.
Only an hour later, as Blake Treinen struck out Anthony Rizzo, it dawned on me. A miracle was happening – we were three outs away from winning the World Series, and I needed to wake my girlfriend back up.
When Buehler’s curveball was swung over by Alex Verdugo, and this rollercoaster of a game and marathon of a season had concluded, I had her to celebrate with as the Dodgers became World Series champions. We hugged and laughed, celebrating together, and I was brought back to 2020. That time, I was in my flat in Manchester, celebrating alone. Justin Turner was removed from the game in the 9th for COVID protocols, only media were allowed in the stadium in Texas, and rivals commented that the win would forever be worth less due to the circumstances that led the team there.
This celebration was about togetherness, personally for me being able to share in the moment with my girlfriend, and for the team and their families, and, most importantly, for the Dodger fans worldwide. After being denied a large celebration in the year LA became champions of the MLB and NBA in 2020, Dave Roberts asked us after this year’s win, “Who wants a parade?”
The cheer from LA was deafening.
Freddie Law-Keen is the LA Dodgers’ contributor for Bat Flips & Nerds, and can be found on Twitter @FLK_Sports.
Conclusion
It was clear from the moment Shohei Ohtani was signed to the most expensive contract in the history of sport late last year that the Dodgers were going all-in to win the World Series in 2024, as they wanted to maximise the talents of existing roster members like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman while they could.
Now, Betts is the only active MLB player to have won three World Series (one with the Boston Red Sox and two with the Dodgers), while Freeman is now a multi-Word Series winner, having previously won The Fall Classic with the Atlanta Braves in 2021. After seven previous seasons of disappointments with the Dodgers’ cross-city rivals the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani can finally call himself a World Series champion too.
Congratulations to everyone in the Dodgers organisation.
Now, let’s get ready for 2025!
Featured image – Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times
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