photo cred: billboard.com

The World Series is an annual best-of-7 professional baseball series that determines the champion of each season. It is usually one of the most anticipated and most-watched championships in pro sports. This year’s matchup was between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. It’s as if a US Olympic baseball team was divided into two teams. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman versus Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jazz Chisholm – aka the matchup of the century!

The showdown began on October 25th with game one at Dodger Stadium in LA. The City of Angels also hosted game two on October 26th. Finally, games three, four, and five were played at Yankee Stadium. This is the first time in 43 years these teams have faced off in the World Series. And this year’s series was a historic one for sure! 

In Game One alone, not only did it go into extra innings in the World Series for the first time since 2018, but it also ended in the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history, delivered by the 2024 World Series MVP, LA Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman. Following Freeman’s heroic grand slam, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead to the series. Despite the 6-3 loss, the Yankees’ best point in this game was their defense, particularly Alex Verdugo, who made a crazy grab in the bottom of the 10th.

On October 26th, in the midst of a night of sports in LA, the Dodgers took game two 4-2. “The night of sports” refers to the fact that on the same night as game two, USC football was playing at home AND the Los Angeles Lakers were als in o playing their 3rd regular-season game at Crypto Arena. Needless to say, LA was buzzing that night. Highlights from game two include Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Enough said. The LA starter gave up one hit with four strikeouts in 6 ⅓ innings pitched, marking his best start in his US career.

The Dodgers surged to the top once again in game three, securing the win 4-2, signaling to the fans that the Commissioner’s Trophy might soon be headed to LA. That statement was soon tested in game four when New York decided to take matters into their own hands and get the win 11-4. After a five-run eighth inning, it became clear that the Yankees were going to clinch their first win of the series. This game also included three of New York’s nine home runs in the series. These home runs were delivered by Gleyber Torres, Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells. 

This surprise win had fans of both teams asking themselves, “Could the Yankees really pull it off?” The answer came on October 30th when the teams met at Yankee Stadium once again, marking what could be the final matchup of the series to decide the champion of the MLB. Heading into game 5, tensions were high. Will the Yankees get their second win and force game 6, or will the Boys in Blue come into it ready to take home their eighth WS title? Well, from the first pitch to the bottom of the fourth inning, many assumed that the Yankees had it in the bag, for they were up 5-0 on the Dodgers. This is when most people stopped watching because it ‘wasn’t a battle’ anymore. To those people, respectfully, have you learned nothing?

Come the top of the fifth inning, the Dodgers decide it’s time to show up, and the Yankees defense decides they’ve shown up for too long. After holding Los Angeles scoreless for four innings, Cole suddenly dropped the ball. Six-time All-Star, American League Cy Young Award winner, and three-time All-MLB First Team pitcher Gerrit Cole gave up five runs in one half inning to tie up the game 5-5. Of course, when this happened, everyone saw the notification on social media and immediately turned the game back on. From that point, the Dodgers ended up coming out on top, beating the Yankees 7-6. This thrilling series will be remembered for its historic moments and the intense rivalry that kept fans on the edge of their seats. It was a great effort from both teams and definitely a movie for the fans.

Thank you, baseball; see you in April.