This was a true Hollywood story.
Game 1 of the World Series lived up to the hype and the billing of a Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Yankees Fall Classic, and Freddie Freeman was the hero.
With the bases loaded, two outs and his Los Angeles Dodgers trailing by a run, 3-2, in the bottom of the 10th inning, in one of the most highly anticipated World Series in recent memory, Dodgers first baseman Freeman turned on an inside heater from Nestor Cortes, watched it go and kissed it goodbye, a 423-foot monster of a homerun, sending the Dodgers to a captivating 6-3 victory and a 1-0 lead in the World Series over the New York Yankees in Game 1.
“I felt like nothing,” Freeman said. “Just kind of floating.”
It was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
Freeman has been fighting and gutting it out playing injured all postseason after spraining his ankle during the last week of the regular season. He did not post a single extra-base hit in the NLDS or NLCS, and he took some days off to rest the ankle, then hit a grand slam and a triple on Friday.
“When you’re 5 years old with your two older brothers and you’re playing whiffle ball in the backyard, those are the scenarios you dream about — two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game,” Freeman said. “For it to actually happen, and get a home run and walk it off to give us a 1-0 lead, that’s as good as it gets right there.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe play was eerily similar to the Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics. In both instances, a first baseman slowed considerably by an injury, delivered a homer to win the game. Gibson’s, 36 years later, still brings back beautiful memories and resonates through Dodgers history, and this one will have the same effect down the line through generations, if the Dodgers can find a way to seal the deal in the next few games.
There was plenty of drama and excitement before the grand slam as well. You could cut the tension with a knife. The Dodgers broke the seal off the scoreboard with the first run, but the Yankees responded with a gigantic homer from one of their power hitters, Giancarlo Stanton. Both starting pitchers, Gerrit Cole and Jack Flaherty, who grew up in California, had good starts, but when Flaherty came out of the game, he was in line for the loss.
Shohei Ohtani sparked the game-tying rally in the eighth inning, smashing a two-bagger, taking third on an error and scoring on a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly. The Yankees nearly took the lead in the ninth, but a Gleyber Torres fly ball caught by a fan ended up being ruled a double.
“I know everybody’s focused on Ohtani, Ohtani, Ohtani,” Cortes said. “We get him out, but Freeman is also a really good hitter. I just couldn’t get the job done today.”
In the top of the 10th inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. small-balled the Yankees to the lead. He singled off top Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, used his elite speed to swipe second and third, then scored on an RBI fielder’s choice from Anthony Volpe. It could have been a huge win for the Yankees on the road, but it ended up being history for the Dodgers.
The series continues with Game 2 on Saturday, with Los Angeles’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto and New York’s Carlos Rodón scheduled to start.
