The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees to win their eight World Series pennant on October 30, with stellar performances by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Freddie Freeman.
During the 2023 offseason, the Dodgers spent over $1 billion to help go to the World Series. They signed Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year $700 million contract and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract.
The Dodgers also felt that Yamamoto was not enough, so they went out and traded for Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot from the Rays for Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca. They then signed Glasnow to a five-year, $136.5 million contract.
Before the trade deadline, the Dodgers went out and traded for key pieces. They traded away third basemen Miguel Vargas, Short stop Alexander Albertus, and short stop Jeral Perez in a three-team trade with the White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals, for right-handed pitcher Micheal Kopech from the White Sox and short stop/outfielder Tommy Edman and right-handed pitcher Oliver Gonzalez from the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Dodgers traded right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty from the Tigers for catcher Thayron Liranzo and short stop Trey Sweeney. Finally, the Dodgers traded for center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and cash for left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough.
The season was looking good for the Dodgers, until the injury bug hit the team. They lost eight of their starting pitchers to injuries. The main pitcher that they lost was Tyler Glasnow to right elbow tendinitis. Before his injury, he pitched a 3.49 era with a record of 9-6 with 168 strikeouts and 134 innings pitched.
On September 19, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a playoff spot off a 20 – 4 win from the Marlins. They won with one of the best games in MLB history. Shohei Ohtani went 6-6 with 3 HRs, 2 SBs, and 10 RBIs. His third homerun granted him the first ever 50 homerun – 50 SBs season. 11th NL West division title in the last 12 years.
“So, you got to give a lot of credit to the guys that were there from April to September,” Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said to MLB.com about his team’s perseverance throughout the season. “They really carried us, gave everybody time to get healthy and come back. And, you know, we don’t have everybody we want. But I think we have enough to do something special.” The Dodgers finished the season going 98-64, winning the NL west by 5 games and having the best recorded in the MLB, which clinched them a first-round bye.
The Dodgers played the San Diago Padres in a best out of 5 games, in the National League Division Series. The Dodgers have a season record of 5-8 against the Padres.
The Dodgers won the first game 7-5 off an Ohtani solo homer in the second inning. The Dodgers then lost game 2 to the Padres 10-2. Fernando Tatis Jr went 3-4 hitting 2 homeruns and driving in 3 runs. The Padres cared that momentum into game 3 with a 6-5 win. Fernando followed up his performance from game 2 with a two-run homerun. With their backs against the walls, the Dodgers fought back with an 8-0 win in LA.
The last game of the National League Division Series was a win or go home for both teams. All the pressure was on the Dodgers for their big offseason acquisitions. Game 5 started with a boom, as Enrique Hernández hit a homerun in the 2nd inning. The game ended with a Dodgers 3-2 win in LA punching their ticket into the National League Championship Series.
The New York Mets came into Los Angeles with all the momentum just beating one of the best teams in the MLB, the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers held the Mets to 0 runs in game 1and game 3, with a 9-0 win in game one and an 8-0 win in game 3. The Dodgers carried their momentum from game 3 into game 4 winning 10-2.
With most hope taken from the Mets, they came back and won game 5 12-6. The Dodgers came into game 6 with a 3-2 lead, only needing one win to send themselves to the World Series. The Dodgers won the NLCS with a 10-5 win over the Mets placing them in contention for the World Series title for the first time since 2020.
Freddie Freeman won the World Series MVP by hitting 5 homeruns and driving home 12 runs. Compared to hitting 0.200, 0 HRs, and 2 RBIs in the rest of the postseason combined.
The last World Series the Dodgers won was in 2020 against the Rays. They were not able to have a parade due to the pandemic.
This time, they team had its first parade in 28 years.
