The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees on Oct. 25 to solidify themselves as MLB champions.
“It was between two old-school teams that have been successful for a long time,” said Mrs. Sharri Clifford, a seventh-grade history teacher for the Trailblazers.
The Dodgers and Yankees faced off with each other in the Fall Classic for the 12th time in history, but for the first time in over 40 years. The boiling rivalry from the mid to late 1900s continued, as the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in five games.
This was the Dodgers’ eighth World Series win, tied for fifth-best in the MLB. The Yankees, who won a league-best 27 World Series, made their 41st World Series.
“Freeman hits the ball to right field. She is gone!” Those were the words of commentator Joe Davis, who made the call as Freddie Freeman rocketed a walk-off grand-slam, the first in World Series history. Down to their final out in the tenth inning, down by one, with the bases loaded, Freddie Freeman stepped up to the plate. Nestor Cortes took one pitch to get out the NL MVP. But he wasn’t able to get out Freeman, who came up swinging big on the first pitch, and he did not miss.
“Gibby, meet Freddie,” said commentator Joe Davis after the homerun. He was referring to Kirk Gibson, who hit a walk-off home run for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series, exactly 36 years ago.
“So cool,” said Mrs. Clifford. She is an avid Orioles fan, having played softball as a kid and cheered on Cal Ripken Jr.
Freddie Freeman carried the Dodgers to their World Series trophy. He homered in the final two games of the 2021 World Series before smashing four homers in the first four games of the series for an MLB record 6 straight World Series games with a homer.
Jack Kushin, Majestics, seventh grade says, “Homering in six straight World Series games is wild.”
This hitting plus elite defense helped Freddie Freeman win World Series MVP.
Eli Tyler, a seventh-grader on the Majestics, said that Freddie Freeman totally deserved it after having his son get sick. His son was diagnosed with Max’s Guillain-Barré Syndrome Diagnosis.
“Great to see him get his feet wet, and I hope his son gets better,” he said. Eli was disappointed by the outcome, though, as he is a Yankees fan.
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani got injured sliding into second base during Game 2, but he ended up still playing Game 3. It was later determined it was a shoulder subluxation which is a partial dislocation Ohtani batted just .105, the third lowest batting average in the series for either team.
Grant Thompson, seventh, Majestics, said that Ohtani did not perform to his expectations.
“Mookie and Freeman really stepped up,” said Grant, who is a big-time Dodgers fan.
Eli had similar reactions to Ohtani’s injury.
“I think that Ohtnai’s injury negatively affected the Dodgers, but Freddie Freeman made up for it,” Eli said. “Freddie Freeman is one of the most impressive baseball players.”
Aaron Judge, the now two-time AL MVP, also hit a mega slump. The powerful Yankees superstar holds the single-season AL home run record with 62 of them in a single season. He only hit one in the World Series, and it came too late.
The Dodgers starting pitchers combined to allow just a 1.67 ERA. This was mainly because of a one-run outing from Yoshiobu Yammamoto and a shutout outing from Walker Buehler. Buehler also closed Game 5, making him the first pitcher to start and save a game in the World Series.
Juan Soto had already won a World Series as a National in 2019, and he was trying to make it his second. After having a stint with the Padres, Soto, who signed with the Yankees last winter, had an .500 OBP. This means he reached base an one out of every two times he batted in the World Series.
This superstar is just 26, meaning he still has a lot more years ahead of him. Set to hit the market, many teams are attempting to sign him.
“Soto should come back to the Nationals,” said Jack. Jack, who lived his whole life in Northern Virginia, liked the Nats; they are his hometown team.
In the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series, the Yankees were in full control of the game, leading 5-0 and on the verge of winning back-to-back games to force a Game 6. Gerrit Cole was one out away from getting his first out of the inning when Tommy Edman hit a weak fly into the center.
“That was the easiest play of Judge’s life,” said Jack.
Judge didn’t have an error all year, but he committed one in the biggest stage. Will Smith, the next batter, hit a routine groundball right to shortstop Anthony Volpe, but he bounced the throw, and third baseman Jazz Chisolm Jr. was unable to pick it.
After Cole struck out Gavin Lux and Ohtani, Betts grounded one right at first baseman Anthony Rizzo. This should have been an easy play as Rizzo was supposed to flip the ball to Cole for the last out of the inning. Instead, Gerrit Cole didn’t cover first, and Kike Hernandez scored from third. The Yankees now lead 5-1.
World Series MVP Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single into center field, and suddenly it was a 5-3 ballgame. But the inning wasn’t over, as Teoscar Hernandez lined one off the wall into center field to drive in two more runs, tying the game up. The Dodgers went on to win the game to be World Series Champions.
