Dodgers World Series Champions for the First Time Since ‘88
On the night of Tuesday, October 27th 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers left Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas as Champions of this weird, shortened season/expanded playoff. What a ride! Throughout the Postseason, the Dodgers took care of business. They are the Dodgers World Series Champions TM after a 43-17 regular season, sweeping the Brewers, and sweeping a young and exciting San Diego Padres team. After sweeping those first two rounds and gaining all the momentum in the world, the Braves brought them back down to earth. Atlanta pushed the Dodgers to the brink, giving LA everything they ever could have wanted. The Dodgers managed to prevail in a tightly fought ALCS and eeked out a Game Seven victory by one run.
Once arriving in the World Series, LA seemed to have everything under their control for the most part, aside from a close Game Two loss and a Brett Phillips heroic hit compounded by a couple of mental errors. The Dodgers always seemed to come through whenever needed. As predicted in my previous article, this Game Six win gives the historic and world-renowned Dodgers their seventh World Title and their first since all the way back in 1988.
Throughout the first 5 and 1/3 innings in game 6, Tampa Bay Ace Blake Snell managed to embody that control that the Dodgers displayed for most of the series. The only run of the game up to this point was postseason All-Star Randy Arozarena’s 10th homerun since the playoffs begun. The Dodgers looked to continue slumping right up until Rays’ Manager Kevin Cash surprisingly rose out of the dugout, rose his right arm, and signaled for the bullpen after only 73 pitches from his team’s Ace. The Dodgers World Series championship was now possible; they immediately scored two and pounced on the slumping reliever Nick Anderson as soon as Snell left the contest.
The Dodgers’ two 6th inning runs came from a timely, down the line double from fan-favorite Mookie Betts, which put runners on second and third with only one out, and with the help of Anderson’s wild pitch to tie the game, it only took a ground ball to first base off the bat of World Series MVP Corey Seager to score Betts and take the lead. Betts then went on to give the Dodgers another insurance run in the bottom of the 8th with a solo shot of his own.
Julio Urias secured the outs in undramatic fashion in the top of the ninth and the Dodgers World Series wait was finally over! The Dodgers are back on top!
Throughout the Series, and postseason as a whole, the Dodgers World Series roster was loaded. The star studded lineup gets a lot of the credit as chicks dig the long ball, but the pitching deserves plenty of credit. Aside from a rough Game 4 in which they gave up 8 runs, the pitching staff kept the aforementioned offense in the game and gave them a chance to be the heroes each and every night. The starters gave quality outings, Clayton Kershaw finally overcame his past postseason demons, and the bullpen — headed by Alex Wood’s scoreless innings, Brusdar Graterol, Julio Urias’s late game dominance — helped pave the way to history.
2020 really has been a rollercoaster of a year in general. This global pandemic has been so hard on everyone and we should all just be grateful we got to get back to a little bit of normalcy, were able to sit down, and watch a little bit of the national pastime that we all love. Here’s to the 2020 MLB season, everything it brought, and to the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship run!
-Alex Wolfe
