Game One

This was one for the ages.

For the first time in a good many years [checks baseball-reference.com—just since 2013, not counting the mini-season of 2020, not as long as I thought] the World Series is between the teams with the best regular season record in each league, the first time in Commissioner Rob Manfred's even-more-playoff-teams era that no Wild Card teams are involved, and the first time since 1981 that the TV network got their dream matchup of bicoastal big market clubs the Dodgers and Yankees.

That last point is only important to marketers and Manfred (who is nothing but a money-grubbing shill of the highest Ferengi order), but the others are good indicators that we were going to get a solidly competitive Series, and, boy, did Game One deliver.

Scoreless through four and a half innings, Los Angeles finally broke through with a triple by postseason god Enrique Hernández and a sacrifice fly from Will Smith. Then the Yankees immediately came back when ALCS MVP Giancarlo Stanton crushed a two-run homer in the 6th off an inside-half-of-the-plate curveball with little to no break, no doubt causing Michael Schur—the great TV writer and co-host of The Poscast—to unleash a torrent of screamed obscenities at Dodger pitcher Jack Flaherty, who blithely ignored Schur's scouting report. That report has helpfully been transcribed by my friend and fellow Poscast listener Erik, please to enjoy and perhaps forward to Dodger manager Dave Roberts.

Mookie Betts drove in Shohei Ohtani with another sac fly to tie it in the 8th, and we went to extra innings at 2-2. New York took the lead in the top of the 10th thanks to a single, steal of 2nd, steal of 3rd, and hard grounder to short that was oh-so-close to being an inning-ending double-play. Then in the home 10th the magic happened.

Flyout. Walk. Single. Yankee manager Aaron Boone makes a pitching change, opting to bring in one Nestor Cortes. Cortes, the onetime truly awful Seattle Mariner but somehow great starter for two years in the Bronx before reverting to the mean, was fresh off the injured list, having had a flexor tendon issue and was appearing in a game for the first time in a month. Curious choice. Cortes' first pitch was a hanger he got away with, as Ohtani fouled out thanks to a fine catch after tumbling into the seats by New York left fielder Alex Verdugo—which still went marginally against the Yankees because Verdugo threw the ball back before returning to the field of play, which is illegal and awarded the runners an extra base, not that anyone watching the telecast knew that unless they were very keen-eyed and caught third-base umpire Mark Ripperger's gestures upon Verdugo's throw since Fox broadcasters Joe Davis and John Smoltz were blissfully unaware and said nothing about it and the broadcast's director chose to stay with closeup camera shots that excluded the baserunners and the onscreen graphic didn't change from showing runners first and second to runners second and third. The Yanks then intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases for Freddie Freeman with two out (a questionable move, but I agreed with it from the New York point of view; the mistake had already been made by bringing in Cortes, first base was vacant thanks to Verdugo throwing the ball back from the stands on Ohtani's foulout, and bypassing Mookie for a lefty-lefty matchup and a slower batter-runner made sense). Cortes' second pitch was a midrange fastball to the lower-inside portion of the zone, aka the lefty happy zone. Belted into the right field bleachers for a game-ending grand slam homer. Pandemonium ensued at Chavez Ravine.

While reminiscent of 1988 Game One, with the iconic Kirk Gibson walkoff homer, this one was probably more exciting all the way from start to finish. Classic.

Game Two tonight. Rodon vs. Yamamoto. Advantage LA.