NFL
By George Lopez
The Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped the 2024 season with an epic come-from-behind 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees in game five of the World Series. This marked the Dodgers 2nd world championship since 2020. In his tenure as Dodgers manager, this was Dave Robert’s finest job leading the team.
Following an offseason that saw the Dodgers sign Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez, and trade for Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers entered 2024 with high expectations of winning the World Series.
Throughout the season, the team was beset by injuries to their starting rotation. Manager Dave Roberts was forced to rely on his bullpen more than the team envisioned when they broke from training camp. The bullpen consistently answered the bell when called upon this season. The starting rotation was so decimated that they went into the postseason with only three healthy starters. Roberts knew the team was going to lean heavily on the bullpen throughout their playoff run.
Despite the injuries the Dodgers suffered this season, the team ended the season with an MLB-best 98 wins and entered the playoffs looking to exercise the demons of recent playoff failures. In the NLDS they squared off against division rivals San Diego Padres. With a healthy and full rotation, most “experts” predicted the Padres would send the Dodgers home in the Divisional round for the 3rd consecutive year. After falling behind 2-1 against the Padres, the Dodgers summoned the heart of a champion most did not believe they possessed. Forced to go with a bullpen game in a must-win game 4, the Dodgers relief pitchers threw their finest game in shutting out the Padres. Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed that up by out-pitching Yu Darvish in a winner-take-all all-game 5 in leading the Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over the favored Padres. The series win gave the Dodgers more confidence heading into the NLCS against the New York Mets.
Facing a tough and determined New York Mets team, the Dodgers sent a message when Jack Flaherty threw 7 innings of shutout baseball in a game 1 victory. The Mets evened the series with an impressive offensive showing in game two. In a crucial game 3, Walker Buehler pitched an inspiring 4 shutout innings, throwing tough pitches to get out of a jam. Flaherty had a difficult performance in game 5 with the Dodgers looking to clinch the series as the Mets were able to force a game 6 back in Los Angeles. The Dodgers once again turned to their bullpen and they answered the bell, leading the Dodgers to a 10-5 victory and the NL Pennant with a birth in the World Series against the New York Yankees.
Major League Baseball and baseball fans around the country have been waiting 43 years to see the Dodgers and Yankees meet up in the Fall Classic. The two teams featured the presumed MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. Game one lived up to the hype. Both starters, Gerrit Cole for the Yankees and Jack Flaherty of the Dodgers were at their best while on the mound. The game went into extra innings where the Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the 10th. Down to their last out, the Dodgers loaded the bases with Freddie Freeman up to bat. Freeman hobbled with an ankle injury suffered at the end of the season, took Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes’s first pitch into the right field pavilion for a walk-off grand slam, the first in World Series history. With Freeman hobbled by an injury, his homerun to win game one reminded Dodger fans of Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homerun in game 1 of the 1988 World Series against the A’s. Freeman was selected as the World Series MVP, batting .300 with 4 home runs and tied a World Series record with 12 RBIs.
Going into the World Series, the Yankees were seen as having the better starting rotation. Outside of Flaherty’s struggles in game 5, the Dodgers rotation outperformed the Yankees starters in games 2 and 3 as Yamamoto and Walker Buehler outpitched Clarke Schmidt and Carlos Rodon leading the Dodgers to a 3-0 series lead. The Yankees, determined not to be swept, played inspired ball in an 11-4 victory forcing a game 5.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole was masterful through the first 4 innings, holding the Dodgers hitless as the Yankees built a 5-0 lead. The wheels fell off the Yankees victory bus as the Dodgers were able to take advantage of the Yankees’ miscues and score 5 runs to tie the game. The Dodgers were able to pull ahead in the 8th inning with two sacrifice fly balls by Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts. Game 3 starter Walker Buehler was brought into the 9th inning to close out the game and give the Dodgers their 8th championship in franchise history.
Throughout the season and the playoffs, Dave Roberts was able to lead the Dodgers through the ups and downs of a trying season. The Dodgers were forced to use 17 different starting pitchers and only two starting pitchers exceeded 100 innings pitched for the entire season. The bullpen was taxed this season. Roberts was able to press the right buttons all season and the team responded time and time again. Navigating and leading the team to a championship while dealing with injuries and adversity and keeping the players focused on and realizing the team’s ultimate goal of winning a championship was the finest job Roberts has done as a manager of the Dodgers.
