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The Los Angeles Dodgers finally proved to a skeptical fanbase that with all of the multi-year, multi-million dollar investments, they could finally be champions and show that 2024 would be different by winning the World Series against the New York Yankees. But the team’s job was to prove that they could win it all, so no one should regret having any doubt about a team with those high expectations because it was their job to deliver and earn that trust back. 

Back in March of this year, I wrote an opinion piece about how, despite the addition of Shohei Ohtani with visions of World Series rings dancing around Dodger fan’s heads, people should not be too emotionally invested in the team due to their disappointing and sub-par postseason performances in the past, which sent the team packing early in October without a ring.  

The piece never said that the Dodgers would not win a championship with Ohtani, or that the fanbase wrote off the team because of past postseason failures. It simply said that the playoff track record warranted criticism and cautioned fans not to have their bleeding Dodger blue hearts bleed out. Their track record included five 100-plus regular seasons without a championship, an exceptional lineup of superstars like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts that choked in October, and an Ohanti coming off of elbow surgery with no MLB postseason experience.     

Ohanti’s first year as a Dodger was remarkable and historic. He hit 54 home runs, had 59 stolen bases, and had a .310 BA. He made history by being the first and only player to hit 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases. Suffice it to say, he showed no signs of discomfort with his elbow post-surgery this year. But, In the postseason, Ohtani’s performance was subpar at best. He played 16 payoff games with only three home runs, a .230 BA with no stolen bases. Although he did have his moments, like hitting a three-run home run in Game 1 of the NLDS, that moment alone was not why the Dodgers paid him $700 million for the next 10 years. 

The Dodgers did perform well in the postseason which included tying a postseason record of 33 consecutive scoreless innings, and with Freeman hitting the first-ever walk-off grand slam home run in World Series history. However, the Yankees helped the Dodgers get to that championship as well. One moment was in Game 5 of the World Series, in the fifth inning the Yankees were up 5-0 committed two errors, and miscommunicated on a routine field play which allowed the Dodgers to tie the game. In the end, the Dodgers won and began to “start the party,” according to Broadcast announcer Joe Davis. 

During the Game 5 broadcast, Davis mentioned Dodgers manager Dave Roberts who described the difference in the team this year. Roberts said we were talented, but not always tough. That phrase seemed to encapsulate what the Dodgers had lacked throughout the years. Those battle scars of anger and humiliation must have woken up the team to no longer go home earlier in October. Through grit and luck, they came back from a five-run deficit to win it all in New York and show that toughness in front of viewers and fans worldwide. 

That said, the Dodgers finally answered those critics with a World Series victory. No more “Mickey Mouse” arguments to be made for a roster that beat three formidable teams in the playoffs and scored a total of 95 runs all through October baseball. This resulted in the Dodgers having their first full-season World Series championship since 1988 and their eighth overall in franchise history, and it made people like me believe in their postseason capabilities again. Congratulations to the team that took responsibility for their actions and finally put their million-dollar money machine where their mouths were.

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