NEW YORK −The Los Angeles Dodgers are finally getting their parade and considering how they’ve persevered through a litany of injuries, finding ways to win unconventionally all season, no one would be surprised if they showed up and their parade floats had flat tires.
“It hasn’t been easy,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “not at all.’’
Really, it was only appropriate that the Dodgers won the World Series, 7-6, over the New York Yankees, in a fashion that befits their season in front of a crowd of 49,463 at Yankee Stadium.
The Dodgers used eight different pitchers, a starter as their closer, and took advantage of a comedy of Yankee errors to pull off the greatest comeback in a clinching game in World Series history.
The Dodgers dominated the Yankees in every phase of the game, and it was on clear display in their clinching game, winning the Series 4-games-to-1.
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The Dodgers, who trailed 3-0 in the first inning and 5-0 in the third, tied the game in the fifth on three Yankee blunders and went onto win their second title in five years.
Only this time, they’ll have a parade to go with it. There was no celebration, no parade after the won it in 2020 during the pandemic with a 60-game shortened season.
This will be their first parade since their 1988 World Series title back in the days of Tommy Lasorda, Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser and Mike Scioscia.
“It’s historic for our franchise to win another World Series,’’ Roberts said, “certainly against a great organization as the Yankees. Just excited for our players, our fans.
“I believe in this group,’’ Roberts said. “I love this group.’’
What’s not to love about this resilient group?
They were hit with devastating injuries, 15 pitchers going on the injured list and All-Stars Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy sidelined for months at a time.
Instead of wilting, the Dodgers survived and are sitting atop the baseball world.
“You never foresee a season like we’ve gone through,’’ Roberts said, “but you’ve still got guys that are upright and are talented, and we’ve taken a hit. So, it’s an organizational kind of thing …
“It’s about getting the right players, the right people. Talent is a lot, but it’s not everything. You still have to be cohesive. I just think we do a great job of getting the right players in our clubhouse.’’
In many ways, says Roberts, his team reminds him of himself, who cemented his spot into the Baseball Hall of Fame with two World Series championships and four pennants.
“They’re just more talented, but they do remind me of me,’’ Roberts said. “I had the toughness, but I didn’t have the talent of Mookie Betts. I love people that fight. I don’t know if it’s my football background, but the playoffs, as I’ve said many times, it’s a fight. It’s a scrap. It’s a dogfight. It has to be that way.’’
And oh, did they fight.
The Yankees had a 5-0 lead in the third inning and were cruising with Gerrit Cole on the mound.
Then, along came one of the greatest meltdowns in World Series history.
Kiké Hernández led off the fifth inning with a sharp single to center for the Dodgers’ first hit of the game, setting up a trio of blunders that will haunt the Yankees all winter.
Tommy Edman followed with a routine fly ball to center fielder Aaron Judge, who had made a spectacular catch to rob Freeman of at least a double in the fourth inning. This time, just as he was about to make the routine catch, he momentarily took his eyes off the ball and it caromed off his glove. Hernández was so fooled that he was retreating back to first base and barely scampered to second in time.
Yankee first baseman Anthony Rizzo went to the mound to settle down Cole. Cole did his job, inducing a ground ball to shortstop Anthony Volpe, who went to his right and threw to third base trying for the force-out. Oops, the ball bounced in the dirt, off third baseman Jazz Chisholm’s glove and everyone was safe.
Cole, with his finest pitching of the night, struck out Gavin Lux for the first out. He then struck out Shohei Ohtani for the second out. And he was on his way to miraculously getting out of the jam when Betts hit a cue ball to Rizzo.
Rizzo scooped it up behind the bag, was ready to flip the ball to Cole at first, but Cole never moved. He thought Rizzo was taking it himself. Rizzo thought Cole was covering first. Everyone was safe and the first run scored.
Cole became unnerved. The next thing anyone knew, there was Freeman hitting a two-run single up the middle, making it 5-3. There was Teoscar Hernandez hitting a two-run double into the right-center gap, and just like that the game was tied.
The stadium became completely quiet with no one quite believing what they were seeing.
Cole then walked Max Muncy, and the inning mercifully ended, when Kiké Hernández grounded out to Volpe.
But the damage was done.
Cole still managed to stick around for 6 ⅔ innings, throwing 108 pitches, departing with a 6-5 lead, and the game became a battle of the bullpens.
The Dodgers opting to rest their high-leverage relievers while punting away Game 4, looked like geniuses.
They sent a carousel of relievers to the mound, inning after inning, keeping the game close as the night went on, finally taking the lead with two runs in the eighth inning, thanks to a catcher’s interference call on Austin Wells.
And then it was Walker Buehler, who started Game 3, to shut the door, setting off a celebration heard all the way to California.
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