In a nation grappling with electoral turmoil, the looming specter of civil unrest, and the ever-present danger of nuclear conflict, the revival of its most cherished sports rivalry offers a much-needed diversion. The Yankees versus the Dodgers. Whether the games are played in the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Los Angeles, these two teams have together crafted an anthology of unforgettable, magical moments across their World Series encounters spanning over eight decades. This year's renewal, which kicked off on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, has already etched its own distinctive mark in history.
Freddie Freeman made history by becoming the first player in major league annals to secure a World Series victory with a walk-off grand-slam home run, propelling the Dodgers to a 6-3 triumph in the 10th inning. 'It might be the greatest baseball moment I've ever seen,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts remarked, 'and I've seen some incredible ones.' Freeman is one of six former Most Valuable Players on the combined rosters of the two teams, a record for a World Series. Among them are the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and the Yankees' Aaron Judge, who have collectively won the American League's three previous MVP awards, with Ohtani representing the Los Angeles Angels. They are part of a constellation of stars that also includes Juan Soto, Mookie Betts, and Gerrit Cole.
However, before the first pitch was thrown, the sold-out crowd of 52,394 was united in mourning. Fernando Valenzuela, a beloved All-Star pitcher and Spanish-language broadcaster for Dodger fans, passed away on Tuesday due to cancer at the age of 63. The American and California flags at center field and atop the upper deck were flown at half-mast. At the main entrance to Dodger Stadium, the large welcoming sign transformed into a miniature shrine adorned with flowers, votive candles, Mexican flags, and banners.
A tribute video accompanied by live Mariachi music played before the game, featuring montages of Valenzuela pitching, hitting, signing autographs, and even jumping over lassos with Mexican vaqueros. Dodger players donned uniforms with a black sleeve patch bearing his name in white above his jersey number, 34, in blue with white trim. Instead of throwing out the first pitch, two of Valenzuela's former teammates, Steve Yeager and Orel Hershiser, both wearing jerseys with his number, honored his career by placing the baseball on a '34' stencil at the back of the mound. This was followed by a moment of silence, which fans ended by chanting Valenzuela's nickname, 'Toro, toro!'
No sporting event in Los Angeles would be complete without the presence of entertainment figures. Friday night's crowd included Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Lawrence, John Legend, Billie Eilish, Finneas, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The game featured a tense pitching duel between the Yankees' Cole and the Dodgers' Jack Flaherty, a strategic chess match with relief pitchers as the pieces, and Judge—who led the majors in home runs, runs batted in, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS—striking out three times in five at-bats. Leads were taken and lost.
In the sixth inning, after Giancarlo Stanton's two-run home run gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead, some fans near the left-field foul pole continued a local tradition by tossing a beach ball among themselves. Even the home team's video hosts grew impatient, with one female host shouting into her microphone, 'I need you to act like you're at the World Series. This is what you wanted,' as the Yankees made a pitching change in the bottom of the seventh. A recorded, animated message before the bottom of the eighth sounded more emphatic: 'Wake up, LA!'
The fans roused in the eighth inning when Ohtani lined a double off the top of the right-field wall, then advanced to third base when second baseman Gleyber Torres mishandled Soto's throw. Betts followed with a sacrifice fly that sent Ohtani home and tied the game at 2-2. The Yankees regained a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th. But in the bottom of the inning—with the bases loaded, two outs, and the fans chanting his first name—Freeman delivered the ultimate thrill by launching Nestor Cortes' first pitch, a 92mph fastball, halfway up the right-field bleachers.
As the crowd erupted and the ball soared, Freeman held his bat high and began walking to first base. Once the ball cleared the outfield fence, he started trotting, exchanging a low five with first-base coach Clayton McCullough, pointing toward left field, and smiling as he tossed his batting helmet off while jogging down the third-base line. He stomped on home plate and received jubilant hugs from his teammates. Then Freeman went to his father sitting near home plate, and the two men clasped hands through the netting in celebration.
As he relished his home-run trot, Freeman said he was 'just kind of floating.' 'Those are the kind of things, the scenarios you dream about when you're five years old with your two older brothers and you're playing wiffle ball in the backyard: two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game,' he recalled. Freeman's father played a crucial role in his son's journey beyond wiffle ball.
'If he didn't throw me batting practice—if he didn't love the game of baseball—I wouldn't be here playing this game,' the first baseman said. 'He's been throwing me batting practice since I can remember. He still throws me batting practice. My swing is because of him. My approach is because of him. I am who I am because of him.'
Yet, just three days before Freeman made his mark on America's most storied athletic rivalry, Flaherty essentially noted that one home run does not define a Series. 'It's going to be a grind,' Flaherty said. 'It's going to be hard fought between both sides, and at the end of the day, we're going to give everything that we got.' Elated fans along the left-field concourse—including strangers exchanging high fives—might respond with the word they were chanting as they left Dodger Stadium: 'Fred-dee, Fred-dee, Fred-dee!'
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
