NEW YORK – It was a World Series full of firsts. The first-ever walk-off grand slam in the series was launched by Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman 36 years after Kirk Gibson blasted one over the left-field wall to turn a loss into a win for the Dodgers, and it was the first time a team that trailed 3-1 in the World Series came back to win a game.
LOS ANGELES – With their backs to the wall and the Commissioner’s Trophy in sight, the Dodgers went all-in on the process that got them from a shaky start to a National League pennant and into this World Series. Even when their high-leverage relievers were holstered to preserve the lead, they kept going with the plan that brought them this far. And when the plan unraveled in a big way, it was an inning of epic desperation that produced one of the greatest denouements in Fall Classic history.
It was the kind of inning that gives baseball fans a reason to be so grateful for the best-of-seven format, introduced in 1905 after the NL champion Giants refused to play the AL champion Boston Pilgrims and remained the only year (until a players’ strike canceled it in 1994) the World Series wasn’t played. A couple of misplays by the Yankees and a little more scheming by Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts spelled trouble for the Dodgers, but they still made it through with an outfield juggling act.