NEW YORK -- What started off so promising ended up with several amazing moments, but ultimately disappointing to pretty much everyone but Dodgers fans. And hey, I'm happy for Dodgers fans in general. I'm always going to be happy for fans getting to see their favorite team win the World Series. When it happened for me -- you'll hear more about it later -- it justified the lifetime of fan suffering. It's special. It's why we root.
In spite of that feeling of happiness in camaraderie, which happens every year, this series somewhat failed to live up to the hype. Game 1 was for the ages. It was legendary. We'd never before seen a walk-off grand slam in the World Series. It was amazing and ridiculous. I'll never forget watching the ball fly out toward right field, along with the reaction from the crowd and the music "I love L.A." hitting. The whole game leading up to that was great, too. My feeling of excitement rivaled a small handful of games that didn't feature my favorite team (2017 Game 5, 2019 Game 7, 2011 Game 6 come to mind).
Once the Dodgers hit back-to-back homers in Game 2, it felt pretty awesome. The Yankees made it interesting in the ninth inning of Game 2 as well. Then Freddie Freeman homered in the first inning of Game 3 and the air was just totally sucked out of Yankee Stadium. When the score was 4-0, it felt like 10-0. It was just helpless. Game 4 was fun, with the Yankees extending the series, but it ended up a blowout. Game 5 was pretty damn amazing, so we had excellent bookends but fluff in between.
How will we look back on this one? Obviously for Dodgers fans, it's one of the best ever, but it settles down with other five-game World Series and the best ones go six or seven. We can probably loop 1988 in here, too, with this being the Dodgers and Freddie Freeman having a Kirk Gibson-like moment. The Dodgers won that series in five games.
Anywho, let's rank the last 10 World Series and see exactly where it falls. Since we cut it off at 10, we lost one of the top-ranked World Series that we'd been ranking the last several years in the seven-game Giants-Royals battle in 2014. And we replaced it with a five-gamer? We haven't seen a seven-game series since 2019, after getting them in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. For shame. Alas, we march on.
10. 2020 - The COVID year
Here's what I wrote in 2022.
Look, the league did the best it could, but it just wasn't the same without seeing packed-to-the-gills home crowds living and dying with every big hit. The dramatic Rays comeback in Game 4 could have been an enduring moment, but they were essentially outplayed in five of the six games. The Dodgers' comeback in Game 6 seemed inevitable. It was a real title and the Dodgers were the best team start to finish that season, but I just can't get excited about this one in my memory.
Now reading this back, I'll disagree with my past self on one thing. It doesn't really feel like a "real" title. It followed a 60-game season that had no fans in the stands or anything at all. I don't feel bad saying it now that the Dodgers got this one in 2024. The Dodgers, though, get peeved about this.
9. 2023 - Rangers win their first
Game 1 was amazing. The Corey Seager game-tying bomb in the ninth and then the Adolis García walk-off homer in the 10th meant we were off to a roaring start. The Diamondbacks took Game 2 in blowout fashion and it looked like we might get a long series. No dice. A close, though mostly uneventful, Game 3 gave the Rangers the series lead and then they scored 10 runs through the third inning in Game 4 to make it a laugher. Game 5 had promise, but a four-run Rangers ninth closed things down.
8. 2018 - Red Sox roll
The Dodgers' only win was the 18-inning marathon that had several great moments but overall felt tedious. Game 1 had the late Eduardo Nuñez homer to put the Red Sox over the top. Game 2 had a Red Sox comeback in the middle innings. Game 4 had a Red Sox late-inning comeback. There were some really good games, but we only got five of them in all. Speaking of which ...
7. 2024 - Dodgers get a 'real one'
That walk-off slam is doing some heavy lifting here. This does feel a bit similar to 2018 because there were two great games, but some of the other stuff wasn't as competitive. I do want to point out that Game 4 was close until the Yankees went nuts in the bottom of the eighth. It bears repeating that Game 1 is one of the greatest World Series games of all time, too. That certainly moves the needle here and serves as a nice tiebreaker over 2018. I could even be persuaded it should be one spot higher.
6. 2015 - A Royal title
Sometimes short series pack a mighty punch. Game 1 featured an inside-the-park home run from Alcides Escobar to start the bottom of the first and then Alex Gordon hit a game-tying bomb in the ninth. The Royals would win 14. In Game 2, Johnny Cueto finished what he started. Yes, a complete game from a World Series pitcher! When will we ever see one of those again? The Mets struck back with a blowout win in Game 3, which also included Noah Syndergaard brushing back Escobar and infuriating some of the Royals. An error opened the door for a late comeback by the Royals in Game 4 and then Game 5 had the whole Matt Harvey talking his manager into leaving him in for the ninth inning only to have it backfire thing. The Royals tied it on Eric Hosmer, who scored from third on a groundout and then won in the 12th. Overall, I think the five games were more hanging-in-the-balance types than the 2024 Fall Classic, so this one gets the nod in the five-game category.
5. 2021 - Soler Power
The three games in Atlanta were spectacular theater. The nail-biter in Game 3, the late comeback in Game 4 starring back-to-back homers from Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler. And then, somehow, the game the Braves didn't win at home started with a first-inning grand slam for Adam Duvall. Game 6 was a blowout with the Braves closing things down, but it was a quality series overall.
4. 2022 - Dusty gets his title
After the Astros went 7-0 on the AL side of the playoffs, the upstart Phillies stole Game 1 in extra innings. The Astros evened the count with early offense and a Framber Valdez gem. In Game 3, Citizens Bank Park was an absolute madhouse as the Phillies clubbed five home runs. Game 4 gave us the first-ever combined no-hitter. Game 5 went right down to the wire with Chas McCormick possibly making a series-saving catch. Game 6 was scoreless going to the sixth and then Kyle Schwarber homered. But in the bottom of the sixth, Yordan Alvarez destroyed a three-run homer and the Astros won Dusty Baker his first title as a manager.
3. 2017 - Astros win first title
I'm aware that this one is pretty polarizing. Maybe after this one, Dodgers fans will feel a little less scorned (though I doubt it). Putting aside the baggage, this was a great series. Clayton Kershaw dominated in 100-degree heat in Game 1. The Astros tied the game against elite closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth and then got back-to-back homers from Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in the 10th. Game 4 was tied going to the ninth and the Dodgers scored five to win it. Game 5 was the most absurd baseball game I've ever seen. In my post-game video, I was basically just in awe and I remember saying I've never witnessed anything like it. It was 13-12 in 10 innings with so many huge hits. Just thinking back about it is getting me excited again. Game 6 was great, though Game 7 was a bit of a letdown with the Astros grabbing a big early lead and the Dodgers never mounting a challenge. The Game 7 letdown puts this behind the top two, which had epic Game 7s.
2. 2019 - All the road wins
While I'll admit watching it unfold in person was relatively, mildly depressing -- seeing so many disappointed fans every single night -- it has to go down as a historic quirk that the road team won all seven games. The first two games were mostly great, with Adam Eaton and Juan Soto homering off Justin Verlander in the fifth of Game 6 to take the lead, which was outstanding. Strasburg went 8⅓ innings in that one to save the season, too. How about Game 7? The Astros had a 2-0 lead going to the seventh inning. Anthony Rendon homered and Soto walked. The Astros elected to use Will Harris instead of bringing Gerrit Cole in relief -- he was ready -- and Howie Kendrick homered off the foul pole. I'll never forget the sound of the pole echoing through a shocked Minute Maid Park. It was such an incredible moment.
1. 2016 - There is no curse
Yes, I'm a Cubs fan and I'm not pretending otherwise. That is absolutely a factor, but this was also a classic. The Cubs were down 3-1 in the series and desperately needed some offense, so Kris Bryant homered and Anthony Rizzo doubled, then Aroldis Chapman held a one-run lead with an eight-out save. There were the early fireworks in Game 6. And then, Game 7, which I think could argued as the greatest baseball game ever, so long as we consider the circumstances of the Cubs having no World Series since 1908 and the then-Indians having none since 1948. Dexter Fowler hit the only leadoff home run in Game 7 history, Jon Lester pitched great in relief, Chapman gave up a two-run, game-tying home run to Rajai Davis. There was a rain delay, then the Cubs rallied and won it all in extras, though the tying run got into scoring position for Cleveland. And, of course, Bryant slipped on the final out throw to first.
Legendary.
