After one of the strongest seasons in professional baseball history, the Los Angeles Dodgers took home the coveted Commissioner’s Trophy.
This is the seventh World Series victory in the team’s franchise history, the first since 1988.
Los Angeles has been to the playoffs eight consecutive times. This year, though “plagued” by the global pandemic, ended differently for the team.
The opposing team, the Tampa Bay Rays, were battling for their first ever World Series Title. Both teams were the first seed in each of their conferences, and both teams were red hot coming into Arlington.
The Dodgers started off the best-of-seven series with three straight wins and needed only one more to take home the trophy. The Rays were unwilling to go home peacefully, winning game four 6-4 and game five 8-7.
Game six featured Rays’ Left-Handed Pitcher Blake Snell, who pitched six scoreless innings against the talented LA offense. With the score 1-0 in the sixth, Rays manager Kevin Cash questionably pulled Snell, who was replaced by reliever Nick Anderson.
This is when LA bats came to life. The Dodgers scored two off of Anderson, and another off of reliever Pete Fairbanks. The final score was 3-1, and the Dodgers had won it all.
The World Series MVP was Dodgers’ shortstop Cory Seager. Seager batted .328 throughout the postseason with eight home runs and 20 runs batted in.
“To know what it feels like to lose,” Seager told the New York Times , “and be able to rebuild and come back and rebuild and stay focused. It’s special.”
Manager Dave Roberts coached the Dodgers. This is the 48-year-old’s first World Series title after coaching the Dodgers for five years.
This was the first World Series for future Hall Of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw’s career earned run average (ERA) is 2.43, which sits with some of the greatest pitchers of all time. His 2020 ERA was 2.17, which was quite impressive for the 32-year-old.
