October 28, 2024 • 27 mins
As the World Series heads to the Bronx for game 3 tonight, October 28, 2024, let's take a look back on the story of the first two games, which were played in L.A. The afterglow of game 1 is strong for Richard, who attended with his sister, and witnessed history when Freddie Freeman became the first person in Major League history to hit a walk-off grand slam homerun to win a World Series game, in a moment that mirrors the most-famous homerun in Los Angeles Dodgers history: Kirk Gibson's walk-off homer to win game 1 of the 1988 World Series. (And Richard called it.)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dodger Blue Dream is a completely independent production, and we
have finally, at long last, set up a way for
you to support that work. Visit Patreon dot com slash
Dodger Blue Dream. We've got stickers, we've got shirts, and
we're working on all kinds of fun news stuff. I'm
super excited about this because it's the first time I've
(00:23):
set something like this up again. That's patreon dot com
slash Dodger Blue Dream. Let's get onto this one.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Bitch. Time for Dodger. Kirkking Gibson.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Oh my god, Oh my god, you called it. It
hasn't even happened live on TV. I was listening to
the radio. Oh my god, you called it, Richard his
Kirk Gibson moment.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This is
already the best world series ever. It's z hasn't even
happened on the TV right now, it's about to happen.
Oh my god, I'm like living in the future. I
could tell it. Oh my freaking' gosh.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Got baseball can make you feel things, it can make
you believe in things, and it can blow your mind.
Already in this world series, I've seen things I wouldn't
even dare to dream about, except that if you listen
(01:31):
to this show, you know I kind of did call it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Dream That's the ball, right.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Failed said good Jimmy, make pretty game one of the
World Series.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
How about them Dodgers? What a game on Friday Night
and another great one on Saturday, and the Boys in
Blue are up in this best of seven series two
games to none.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
As the Fall Classic travels to New York.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Freddie Freeman stole the show on Friday Night with a
home run that will be remembered for as long as
baseball will be played, and one that means everything to
me knowing what Freddy has been through this season. It's
a story of overcoming, a story of persevering, and a
triumph of a champion. And as we get ready for
(02:40):
a guaranteed vibe shift as the Dodgers and Yankees travel
to the Bronx, I want to take a moment to
bask in the afterglow and look back on the first
two games of this series. And when we do, there
is one image Freddie Freeman, his right arm stretched out
high holding a black painted gloss bat, gleaming in the
(03:01):
lights of Dodger Stadium like a sword or a torch,
a statue of liberty pose as his walk off Grand
Slam home run ball to win Game one of the
World Series sales into the right field pavilion and Dodger
Stadium explodes, just like it did at the end of
(03:22):
Game one of the nineteen eighty eight World Series, except
I was there, and this is a moment I will
never ever forget. Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream. I'm Richard Parks.
The third Today's episode Let Freeman ring my brick Forgot
the story of Games one and two of the twenty
(03:43):
twenty four World Series.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Let's Go. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I just want to say, I'm so excited to be here.
I love you very much and so good to be
here with you for my first World Series.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I love you.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Friday night, I went to my first World Series game
with my sister Elizabeth after this just living on bonus time,
you know, and it was everything that I could have
hoped for and much much more. In lieu of a
(04:28):
ceremonial first pitch, there was a moment of silence for
Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers icon who died last
week at the age of sixty three, every time you pitch.
(04:53):
I knew that this game would be memorable, but I
couldn't have anticipated that I would be there to witness
a Game one that will go down in baseball history
with the Dodgers victorious, and the next day I'd happily
taken the game on my couch and watch the Dodgers
win again. The Boys in Blue are up two games
to none as the World Series heads to New York City,
(05:16):
and it already feels like we've seen so much contributions
from up and down the lineup. Great starts from Jack
Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, our Dowgs from the bullpen shutting
things down, and the Dodgers are just looking like the
better baseball team. But the story of this series so
far is this Game one and the extra inning heroics
(05:39):
of Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. With the stars and
stripes of old glory waving in the breeze, the Jumbo
tron flash and image of Freddy's face, blonde hair, crew cut,
pearly white veneer. He looks like Captain America. But if
(06:03):
you know what Freddy's been through this season, you know
he's a real person who this year was tested like
never before. Freddie's three year old son Max almost died
this year, and for the last month he's been playing
through pain with a sprained ankle. But Freddy didn't quit,
and his son is now on the mend, and he
(06:24):
found his way back to the team, and thank goodness
he did. The performance he would put on Friday night
felt like the climax in the theater play of the
twenty twenty four Dodgers baseball season. Our beloved national pastime
at its very best, and.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
I got to see it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
The box score for Game one says six to three,
but for a lot of this game it was way
closer than that. The Yankees had their ace on the mound,
Garrett Cole, and he looked very, very good. And you
all know that my biggest fear going into this series
was our starting pitching. And I want to give a
shout out to Burbank's own the Harvard Westlake alum Airwan
(07:10):
Smoothie make in Jack Flaherty, who ended up going five
and a third and giving up two runs, but he
really kept us in this game. It was actually the
Dodgers who drew first blood.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
My fastball spots towards the right fifth quarters.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So Kik triple to Wright on a ball that Juan
Soto misplayed, and Will Smith got the job done, lifts
it to right field, Soto Zoe getting a sack fly
to right to score Key k come Cernandez.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
Here comes Sodo's throw bang back, but he's in safe.
One zero Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
But then the Yankees big three, well, actually the big
two because Aaron Judge, the presumptive American League MVP, he
hasn't been hitting at all.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Judge miss out swinging for the third tie.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It was Soto who singled to center to lead off
the sixth, and then John Carlos Stanton another Notre Dame
High School.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Golf's one way back there scraping the sky.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
They give it a Yankee.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Side hit, a four hundred and twelve foot moonshot into
the left field pavilion, and that's what chased Flaherty out
of the game. Two to one Yanks in the sixth.
But then in the eighth, all right center.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Field, Soda on the n of the track gets off
the top of the wall.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Show hey, he got his first World Series hit. Another
bad play by Sodo, and show he is at third, so.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Way oh Tani tech starred ninety.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Massive feet and in the next at bat, Mooki drove
him in with the sackfly.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
That's finds it to center field.
Speaker 6 (08:41):
It's judge to pull it end, but it's tied, as
Booky Bets drives in and show.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Hey Tani tie game at Two's a great game, neck
and neck. Tit for tat. And here's where it gets interesting.
Let's go to the top of the tenth inning. Blake Trinan,
one of our most feroci Dowgs, comes in out of
the bullpen to face Jazz Chisholm Junior, the speedy Yankees
(09:06):
third baseman, who reaches on a single.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
There goes jos no throw from Will Smith.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Trianon's got a slow movement out of the stretch and
Jazz Chisholm steals second and third and now stress.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Off the infield. They're gonna have to bring him in
grapa diving stop. Edman can't get it out of his
slave and the Yankees sick to.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Lead trying and finishes the top of the tenth. But
now it's three two Yanks last up. The Dodgers gotta
get it done in the bottom of the tenths or
the game's over. To lead off the bottom of the tenth,
Will Smith flies out to right. Then Gavin Lux works
a walk and Tommy Edmund reaches on an infield single
(09:48):
on a ball Yankee second basement. Glaber Torres couldn't make
a play on, which could have gone for two. Edmunds
on first, and Chris Taylor comes in to pinch run
for Lux at second. And guess what time it is.
That's right, it's showtime.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Shohei Otani is announced as the batter, and Yankees manager
Aaron Boone calls to the bullpen for left handed pitcher
Nasty Nestor Cortes, who hadn't pitched in a ballgame in
thirty seven days. Let's dig in on the Nester decision
because it will prove to be pivotal, and Nessor had.
Speaker 6 (10:30):
Not pitched since September eighteenth.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Why did you like him in that tenth enner?
Speaker 7 (10:34):
Just like the matchup?
Speaker 1 (10:35):
A reporter asked Boone about his decision in a postgame interview.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
The reality is he's been throwing the ball really well
the last few weeks, as he's gotten ready for this.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
I knew with one out.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
There would be tough to double up show Hey if
Tim Hill gets him on the ground and then move
him behind him. His tough match up there, So.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Boone says he liked the matchup.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Lefty on lefty.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Generally speaking, that's a disadvantage to a handed batter, and
over the course of his career, Shohey was just two
for twelve against Nasty Nestor Cortetes. When asked how that
factored into his decision, Boone said, a little bit. Now
on the flip side, Nestor hadn't pitched for over a month,
(11:18):
he was coming off an injury, and here he is
coming in with two men on and just one out
with the one run lead in the bottom of the
tenth inning, with the winning run on base in the
World Series, to face the greatest baseball player on planet Earth.
The Yankees had another lefty in their bullpen. His name
(11:40):
is Tim Hill. The basic difference between Nestor and Hill
is that Nestor's more likely to get a strikeout. With Hill,
a hitter is more likely to make contact, and as
Boone said, show Hay will be tough to double up.
He's fast, so he's bringing in Nestor to go for
the strikeout, but not just one strikeout, has to get
(12:00):
two and Major League Baseball has a three batter minimum rule.
Any pitcher must face at least three batters before they
can be taken out of a game, the only exception
being if the inning ends before they do so. Boonie's
bringing Nasty Nestor in to face sho Hey Otani and
Mookie Betts and if either of them gets on Freddie
(12:23):
Freeman the MB three, three of the greatest hitters alive.
Even a base hit could be a killer. Runners on
first and second, three to two ballgame. Nasty Nester with
his doe eyes and his pitch black mustache. The one
thing that I know about his backstory. He takes the
(12:45):
subway home from the ballpark after games at Yankee Stadium,
sho Hey Otani striding.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
To the plate.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
I don't know if you ever love a matchup against Otani,
but you know, you know, I felt like, yeah, I
felt like Nestor could give a certain shot at show.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Hay stands in. Nestor gets the sign and the pitch says.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Is lifted the left field. Verdugo runs over and makes
the grab.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Did he hold on? He did?
Speaker 6 (13:19):
Alex Verdugo makes the crap he goes out of plate,
but they get Otani on one pitch.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
On a foul ball that goes the opposite way off
the end of show Hayes bat Yankees left fielder Alex
Verdugo makes a spectacular running catch, getting clotheslined by the
low wall in foul territory off of left field and
spilling over ursover into the stands. This was a majorly
deflating moment. On one pitch, Nasty Nester had gotten sho
(13:54):
Hey Otani to pop out, and the Dodgers were down
to their final out just like that, but because Alex
Verdugo's momentum carried him over the wall all the way
into the seats and out of play, a relatively obscure
baseball rule official Baseball rule five point zero nine A
(14:17):
one meant that the Dodger runners on first and second
were awarded an additional ninety feet, meaning now there were
runners on second and third, the potential tying and go
ahead runs in scoring position and Mooki Bets coming to
the plate.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Waved off Aaron Boone in the training stat and somewhat
fittingly here, you know, with all the talk about show. Hey, Ochani,
you now have Mooki Bets come into.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
The plate to the plate and Yankees manager Aaron Boone
makes his second pivotal decision of the bottom of the
tenth inning. With first base open, Boonie holds up four
fingers walking Mookie Betts, himself an MVP incredible hitter who
happens to be zero for five lifetime against nasty nester.
(15:08):
But Boonie wanted to set up the force out at
any base and take his chances lefty against lefty against
fab five Freddie.
Speaker 8 (15:18):
The good news here for Dodgers' Freddie Freeman doesn't necessarily
have to do anything but get a single and jogged
the first but beating something out of the ground will
be limited because of his ankle.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
If you've been following along with this show, you know
that Freddy is playing hurt. He rolled over his ankle
running out a ground ball to first base during the
Dodgers NL West clinching win at home in late September,
and so this entire postseason, Freddie has been playing through pain.
He even occasionally spends the night at the ballpark with
(15:59):
a member of the training staff to keep up with
the treatments he needs to do just to be able
to stay in the lineup, and he hasn't played in
every single game this postseason, even though Freddie is famous
for playing day in and day out in an age
where that is a rarity. But if you've been listening
to this show, you also know this season Freddie made
(16:21):
an exception for that habit when his three year old
son Maximus, was stricken by a rare neurological condition called
Gillam bare sendra.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Freddy Freeman was scratched from the lineup.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Today he is headed back. Child who had just days
before been doing front flips, woke up one day with
a limp and by Monday night he couldn't walk anymore.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
We took him everywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
A lot of people are telling us and telling us
it was transiit cinevitis. Then he was paralyzed at one
point from the neck down, hospitalized on a ventilator, and
so Freddie took some time away from the team to
be at his son's side.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
So speaking, one of your kids said later, fighting.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Max's incredible recovery and Freddy's return to the team was
one of the most inspiring stories to come out of
the twenty twenty four baseball season, the entire team started
wearing t shirts that read Max Strong, and it was
also the subject of our episode Freddie's Return. It's been
said that during the regular season, Freddy's ankle injury would
(17:37):
have placed him on the il.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
For four to eight weeks.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
While a sprained ankle in no way compares to the
harrowing experience Freddy went through with his son Max. Both
of these are examples of the grit Freddie Freeman plays with.
Freddy could have quit baseball this year, and he could
easily be sitting out this postseason, again against his own wishes.
(18:01):
He's had to stay out of a couple games, but
with the World Series on the line, Freddie has found
a way to stay in the lineup. He wants to
help his team, and as a hobbled Freddie Freeman strolled
to the plate with the game on the line in
the bottom of the tenth inning of the World Series
Game one at Dodger Stadium, it was impossible not to
(18:25):
think of Game one of the nineteen eighty eight World
Series when another hobbled, left handed hitting MVP came to
the plate in the bottom of the ninth in the
same situation.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
And toos coming up.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
In nineteen eighty eight, the last year that the Dodgers
won a World Series, that was followed by a parade
in the streets of Los Angeles, the Dodgers faced the
Oakland Athletics in Game one at Dodger Stadium. Kurt Gibson,
who was the National League MVP that year, had hurt
his leg in the National League Championship Series against the Mets,
(19:06):
the same franchise that the Dodgers just beat to make
it to the World Series this year. And while he
was so badly hobbled that he didn't make the start
that day, Gibson made an appearance in the bottom of
the ninth inning with two outs as a pinch hitter
against Ace oakland A's reliever Dennis Eckersley, with Vince Scully
on the call. With too bad leg, the bad left hamstring,
(19:29):
and the swollen right knee, and with two out, do
you talk about a roll of the dice? This is it.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
Sach's waiting on deck for the game right now, is
at the bight fly ball in the right veil. She
is gone.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
And he hit the most famous home run in Los
Angeles Dodgers' history, a walk off, game winning blast into
the right field pavilion that sent the stadium into a
frenzy as Gibson rounded the bases, pumping his fist, laboring
with a bad limp, and after Gibbey's incredible home run,
the Dodgers went on to beat the heavily favored Oakland
(20:14):
A's with the team that also included Fernando Valenzuela.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Happened, has happened.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
And so now with all of that context, you can
see why for weeks I've been hesitantly suggesting to friends that, hey,
with the Dodgers facing the Mets again and the CS
and a hobbled left handed hitter playing through pain in
the postseason a team leader, maybe the stage is set
for Freddie Freeman's Kirk Gibson moment. I even said it
(20:49):
on an episode of this show, because it's pretty much
a distillate of what a Dodger blue dream means to me.
I was six years old in nineteen eighty eight, but
I wasn't at Dodger Stadium, and I wasn't yet following baseball.
(21:09):
It was very shortly thereafter that I fell so deeply
in love with the Dodgers and baseball. Just a little
late to the party. And the only time the Dodgers
have won the World Series since nineteen eighty eight was
twenty twenty, and because of COVID, the games weren't played
at Dodger Stadium and La didn't get to celebrate with
(21:29):
a parade.
Speaker 8 (21:31):
Something out in the Brown will be limited because of
his ankle.
Speaker 6 (21:39):
Now, the kind of at bat that every kid that
plays baseball dreams of one day having you tell yourself, right,
all right, bottom of the ten bases loaded, World Series.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
One run game, Dodgers Yankees.
Speaker 6 (21:52):
Reality for Freddie Freeman right here tailor the time run
Edmund the winning rule, Coorts has deliveries, fren hits.
Speaker 9 (22:03):
Upot right, things gone, jud made free dangs.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
It felt like a tidal wave of ecstasy had crashed
into the stadium and swept us away. We're dancing, we're singing,
we're hugging strangers.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Well, I don't love.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Bat flips, but this was such a good bat flip.
He knows it's gone. He raises his bat like the
statue of Liberty and watches the home run ball disappear
into the right field pavilion and then he just gently
releases his grip and the bat falls to the ground,
the first ever walk off Grand Slam in World Series history.
(23:18):
To think of what he's been through this year makes
it so much more meaningful that it was Freddie who
won the game for us. It makes you want to
persevere in the face of whatever your problems are and
to be a champion the way that man is. I
love Freddie Freeman, and you know he has it all.
(23:38):
Even a person like that will run into harrowing challenges
in his life and it's about how you deal with them.
He went through all of that and found a way
to give himself a chance to blow our minds. The
way that he did that is inspiring. And Kurt Gibson
hit that home run at eight thirty seven pm, and
(23:59):
Freddie Freeman hit his home run at eight thirty seven pm. Obviously,
without trying to jinx anything, it just feels like this
is our year, and I just feel fortunate that I
was there. And that vibe continued the next day with
another great game with a lot of the same themes.
Freddie hit another home run. He went back to back
(24:22):
with Tao and Tommy Edmond hit one out two a
stellar outing from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up just one hit,
a solo home run to Juan Soto, and the Yankees
had just one hit into the eighth inning on Saturday night.
And it's not just that we're playing better defense. Nobody
has questioned a single move by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
(24:45):
And the vibes in the city are so high. Every
time I leave the house, I have multiple conversations about
the Dodgers with strangers, and the way this feels communal
in the ballpark and throughout the entire city is a
reminder that we we all go through stuff and we
deserved to feel good sometimes. So let's enjoy this, Los Angeles.
(25:07):
Don't be afraid to let yourself feel good when things
are going great. Dave Roberts top step wrapping a long
word for word with ice Cube to good day. Come on,
that's pure la damn right. It was a good day.
But of course now we're headed for a vibe shift.
(25:30):
Game three of the World Series kicks off tonight at
five eight, very specifically Pacific time. But it's not on
the best Coast. It's in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium,
and we've got Walker Buehler going up against Clark Schmidt.
The Yankees lineup hasn't been doing a whole lot, and
we've shut Aaron Judge down completely, but now they got
(25:52):
the home field advantage. First time the World Series is
being played in the Bronx since two thousand and nine,
and they got the short porch out there where. If
the Yankees lineup gets to Bueller, it's something to watch
out for, because the plan is to pitch a bullpen
game for Game four, and let me give you a tip,
watch out for the turtleneck Brent Honeywell Junior. If he's
(26:13):
coming in to eat innings. Hopefully he's able to give
us some length and save the Dowgs in the bullpen,
the high leverage guys, because if needed, we're staying in
New York for Game five, which would be played on Thursday.
A two zero lead sounds commanding, and of course the
odds are greatly in our favor in this best of
seven series. But if you know anything about postseason baseball,
(26:37):
you know the momentum can shift like that Dodger Blue
Dream is written and produced by Me Richard Parks. The
third original music in this episode by William Ryan Fritch,
Jonathan Snipes the Blasting Company, and by Me. Production assistance
(26:59):
on this episode from Tyler Hill and Elizabeth Parks Kibbie.
Special thanks to Thomas Batty, Eli Horowitz, Caitlin Esh, Jordan Bass,
and Brian Hidalgo, whose voice you heard at the top
of the show, sounding as excited as we all felt
when Freddie hit that one out. If you like Dodger
(27:20):
Blue Dream, please check us out on Patreon. Go to
patreon dot com slash Dodger Blue Dream. We've got stickers,
we've got shirts, and we finally set up a way
for you to support this independent production. We'll be back
soon with more episodes. Thank you very much for listening.
(27:41):
Let's go Dodgers.
Dodger Blue Dream is a completely independent production, and we
have finally, at long last, set up a way for
you to support that work. Visit Patreon dot com slash
Dodger Blue Dream. We've got stickers, we've got shirts, and
we're working on all kinds of fun news stuff. I'm
super excited about this because it's the first time I've
(00:23):
set something like this up again. That's patreon dot com
slash Dodger Blue Dream. Let's get onto this one.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Bitch. Time for Dodger. Kirkking Gibson.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Oh my god, Oh my god, you called it. It
hasn't even happened live on TV. I was listening to
the radio. Oh my god, you called it, Richard his
Kirk Gibson moment.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This is
already the best world series ever. It's z hasn't even
happened on the TV right now, it's about to happen.
Oh my god, I'm like living in the future. I
could tell it. Oh my freaking' gosh.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Got baseball can make you feel things, it can make
you believe in things, and it can blow your mind.
Already in this world series, I've seen things I wouldn't
even dare to dream about, except that if you listen
(01:31):
to this show, you know I kind of did call it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Dream That's the ball, right.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Failed said good Jimmy, make pretty game one of the
World Series.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
How about them Dodgers? What a game on Friday Night
and another great one on Saturday, and the Boys in
Blue are up in this best of seven series two
games to none.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
As the Fall Classic travels to New York.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Freddie Freeman stole the show on Friday Night with a
home run that will be remembered for as long as
baseball will be played, and one that means everything to
me knowing what Freddy has been through this season. It's
a story of overcoming, a story of persevering, and a
triumph of a champion. And as we get ready for
(02:40):
a guaranteed vibe shift as the Dodgers and Yankees travel
to the Bronx, I want to take a moment to
bask in the afterglow and look back on the first
two games of this series. And when we do, there
is one image Freddie Freeman, his right arm stretched out
high holding a black painted gloss bat, gleaming in the
(03:01):
lights of Dodger Stadium like a sword or a torch,
a statue of liberty pose as his walk off Grand
Slam home run ball to win Game one of the
World Series sales into the right field pavilion and Dodger
Stadium explodes, just like it did at the end of
(03:22):
Game one of the nineteen eighty eight World Series, except
I was there, and this is a moment I will
never ever forget. Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream. I'm Richard Parks.
The third Today's episode Let Freeman ring my brick Forgot
the story of Games one and two of the twenty
(03:43):
twenty four World Series.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Let's Go. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I just want to say, I'm so excited to be here.
I love you very much and so good to be
here with you for my first World Series.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I love you.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Friday night, I went to my first World Series game
with my sister Elizabeth after this just living on bonus time,
you know, and it was everything that I could have
hoped for and much much more. In lieu of a
(04:28):
ceremonial first pitch, there was a moment of silence for
Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers icon who died last
week at the age of sixty three, every time you pitch.
(04:53):
I knew that this game would be memorable, but I
couldn't have anticipated that I would be there to witness
a Game one that will go down in baseball history
with the Dodgers victorious, and the next day I'd happily
taken the game on my couch and watch the Dodgers
win again. The Boys in Blue are up two games
to none as the World Series heads to New York City,
(05:16):
and it already feels like we've seen so much contributions
from up and down the lineup. Great starts from Jack
Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, our Dowgs from the bullpen shutting
things down, and the Dodgers are just looking like the
better baseball team. But the story of this series so
far is this Game one and the extra inning heroics
(05:39):
of Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. With the stars and
stripes of old glory waving in the breeze, the Jumbo
tron flash and image of Freddy's face, blonde hair, crew cut,
pearly white veneer. He looks like Captain America. But if
(06:03):
you know what Freddy's been through this season, you know
he's a real person who this year was tested like
never before. Freddie's three year old son Max almost died
this year, and for the last month he's been playing
through pain with a sprained ankle. But Freddy didn't quit,
and his son is now on the mend, and he
(06:24):
found his way back to the team, and thank goodness
he did. The performance he would put on Friday night
felt like the climax in the theater play of the
twenty twenty four Dodgers baseball season. Our beloved national pastime
at its very best, and.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
I got to see it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
The box score for Game one says six to three,
but for a lot of this game it was way
closer than that. The Yankees had their ace on the mound,
Garrett Cole, and he looked very, very good. And you
all know that my biggest fear going into this series
was our starting pitching. And I want to give a
shout out to Burbank's own the Harvard Westlake alum Airwan
(07:10):
Smoothie make in Jack Flaherty, who ended up going five
and a third and giving up two runs, but he
really kept us in this game. It was actually the
Dodgers who drew first blood.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
My fastball spots towards the right fifth quarters.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
So Kik triple to Wright on a ball that Juan
Soto misplayed, and Will Smith got the job done, lifts
it to right field, Soto Zoe getting a sack fly
to right to score Key k come Cernandez.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
Here comes Sodo's throw bang back, but he's in safe.
One zero Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
But then the Yankees big three, well, actually the big
two because Aaron Judge, the presumptive American League MVP, he
hasn't been hitting at all.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Judge miss out swinging for the third tie.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It was Soto who singled to center to lead off
the sixth, and then John Carlos Stanton another Notre Dame
High School.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Golf's one way back there scraping the sky.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
They give it a Yankee.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Side hit, a four hundred and twelve foot moonshot into
the left field pavilion, and that's what chased Flaherty out
of the game. Two to one Yanks in the sixth.
But then in the eighth, all right center.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Field, Soda on the n of the track gets off
the top of the wall.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Show hey, he got his first World Series hit. Another
bad play by Sodo, and show he is at third, so.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Way oh Tani tech starred ninety.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Massive feet and in the next at bat, Mooki drove
him in with the sackfly.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
That's finds it to center field.
Speaker 6 (08:41):
It's judge to pull it end, but it's tied, as
Booky Bets drives in and show.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Hey Tani tie game at Two's a great game, neck
and neck. Tit for tat. And here's where it gets interesting.
Let's go to the top of the tenth inning. Blake Trinan,
one of our most feroci Dowgs, comes in out of
the bullpen to face Jazz Chisholm Junior, the speedy Yankees
(09:06):
third baseman, who reaches on a single.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
There goes jos no throw from Will Smith.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Trianon's got a slow movement out of the stretch and
Jazz Chisholm steals second and third and now stress.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Off the infield. They're gonna have to bring him in
grapa diving stop. Edman can't get it out of his
slave and the Yankees sick to.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Lead trying and finishes the top of the tenth. But
now it's three two Yanks last up. The Dodgers gotta
get it done in the bottom of the tenths or
the game's over. To lead off the bottom of the tenth,
Will Smith flies out to right. Then Gavin Lux works
a walk and Tommy Edmund reaches on an infield single
(09:48):
on a ball Yankee second basement. Glaber Torres couldn't make
a play on, which could have gone for two. Edmunds
on first, and Chris Taylor comes in to pinch run
for Lux at second. And guess what time it is.
That's right, it's showtime.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Shohei Otani is announced as the batter, and Yankees manager
Aaron Boone calls to the bullpen for left handed pitcher
Nasty Nestor Cortes, who hadn't pitched in a ballgame in
thirty seven days. Let's dig in on the Nester decision
because it will prove to be pivotal, and Nessor had.
Speaker 6 (10:30):
Not pitched since September eighteenth.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Why did you like him in that tenth enner?
Speaker 7 (10:34):
Just like the matchup?
Speaker 1 (10:35):
A reporter asked Boone about his decision in a postgame interview.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
The reality is he's been throwing the ball really well
the last few weeks, as he's gotten ready for this.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
I knew with one out.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
There would be tough to double up show Hey if
Tim Hill gets him on the ground and then move
him behind him. His tough match up there, So.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Boone says he liked the matchup.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Lefty on lefty.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Generally speaking, that's a disadvantage to a handed batter, and
over the course of his career, Shohey was just two
for twelve against Nasty Nestor Cortetes. When asked how that
factored into his decision, Boone said, a little bit. Now
on the flip side, Nestor hadn't pitched for over a month,
(11:18):
he was coming off an injury, and here he is
coming in with two men on and just one out
with the one run lead in the bottom of the
tenth inning, with the winning run on base in the
World Series, to face the greatest baseball player on planet Earth.
The Yankees had another lefty in their bullpen. His name
(11:40):
is Tim Hill. The basic difference between Nestor and Hill
is that Nestor's more likely to get a strikeout. With Hill,
a hitter is more likely to make contact, and as
Boone said, show Hay will be tough to double up.
He's fast, so he's bringing in Nestor to go for
the strikeout, but not just one strikeout, has to get
(12:00):
two and Major League Baseball has a three batter minimum rule.
Any pitcher must face at least three batters before they
can be taken out of a game, the only exception
being if the inning ends before they do so. Boonie's
bringing Nasty Nestor in to face sho Hey Otani and
Mookie Betts and if either of them gets on Freddie
(12:23):
Freeman the MB three, three of the greatest hitters alive.
Even a base hit could be a killer. Runners on
first and second, three to two ballgame. Nasty Nester with
his doe eyes and his pitch black mustache. The one
thing that I know about his backstory. He takes the
(12:45):
subway home from the ballpark after games at Yankee Stadium,
sho Hey Otani striding.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
To the plate.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
I don't know if you ever love a matchup against Otani,
but you know, you know, I felt like, yeah, I
felt like Nestor could give a certain shot at show.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Hay stands in. Nestor gets the sign and the pitch says.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Is lifted the left field. Verdugo runs over and makes
the grab.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Did he hold on? He did?
Speaker 6 (13:19):
Alex Verdugo makes the crap he goes out of plate,
but they get Otani on one pitch.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
On a foul ball that goes the opposite way off
the end of show Hayes bat Yankees left fielder Alex
Verdugo makes a spectacular running catch, getting clotheslined by the
low wall in foul territory off of left field and
spilling over ursover into the stands. This was a majorly
deflating moment. On one pitch, Nasty Nester had gotten sho
(13:54):
Hey Otani to pop out, and the Dodgers were down
to their final out just like that, but because Alex
Verdugo's momentum carried him over the wall all the way
into the seats and out of play, a relatively obscure
baseball rule official Baseball rule five point zero nine A
(14:17):
one meant that the Dodger runners on first and second
were awarded an additional ninety feet, meaning now there were
runners on second and third, the potential tying and go
ahead runs in scoring position and Mooki Bets coming to
the plate.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Waved off Aaron Boone in the training stat and somewhat
fittingly here, you know, with all the talk about show. Hey, Ochani,
you now have Mooki Bets come into.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
The plate to the plate and Yankees manager Aaron Boone
makes his second pivotal decision of the bottom of the
tenth inning. With first base open, Boonie holds up four
fingers walking Mookie Betts, himself an MVP incredible hitter who
happens to be zero for five lifetime against nasty nester.
(15:08):
But Boonie wanted to set up the force out at
any base and take his chances lefty against lefty against
fab five Freddie.
Speaker 8 (15:18):
The good news here for Dodgers' Freddie Freeman doesn't necessarily
have to do anything but get a single and jogged
the first but beating something out of the ground will
be limited because of his ankle.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
If you've been following along with this show, you know
that Freddy is playing hurt. He rolled over his ankle
running out a ground ball to first base during the
Dodgers NL West clinching win at home in late September,
and so this entire postseason, Freddie has been playing through pain.
He even occasionally spends the night at the ballpark with
(15:59):
a member of the training staff to keep up with
the treatments he needs to do just to be able
to stay in the lineup, and he hasn't played in
every single game this postseason, even though Freddie is famous
for playing day in and day out in an age
where that is a rarity. But if you've been listening
to this show, you also know this season Freddie made
(16:21):
an exception for that habit when his three year old
son Maximus, was stricken by a rare neurological condition called
Gillam bare sendra.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Freddy Freeman was scratched from the lineup.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Today he is headed back. Child who had just days
before been doing front flips, woke up one day with
a limp and by Monday night he couldn't walk anymore.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
We took him everywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
A lot of people are telling us and telling us
it was transiit cinevitis. Then he was paralyzed at one
point from the neck down, hospitalized on a ventilator, and
so Freddie took some time away from the team to
be at his son's side.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
So speaking, one of your kids said later, fighting.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Max's incredible recovery and Freddy's return to the team was
one of the most inspiring stories to come out of
the twenty twenty four baseball season, the entire team started
wearing t shirts that read Max Strong, and it was
also the subject of our episode Freddie's Return. It's been
said that during the regular season, Freddy's ankle injury would
(17:37):
have placed him on the il.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
For four to eight weeks.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
While a sprained ankle in no way compares to the
harrowing experience Freddy went through with his son Max. Both
of these are examples of the grit Freddie Freeman plays with.
Freddy could have quit baseball this year, and he could
easily be sitting out this postseason, again against his own wishes.
(18:01):
He's had to stay out of a couple games, but
with the World Series on the line, Freddie has found
a way to stay in the lineup. He wants to
help his team, and as a hobbled Freddie Freeman strolled
to the plate with the game on the line in
the bottom of the tenth inning of the World Series
Game one at Dodger Stadium, it was impossible not to
(18:25):
think of Game one of the nineteen eighty eight World
Series when another hobbled, left handed hitting MVP came to
the plate in the bottom of the ninth in the
same situation.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
And toos coming up.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
In nineteen eighty eight, the last year that the Dodgers
won a World Series, that was followed by a parade
in the streets of Los Angeles, the Dodgers faced the
Oakland Athletics in Game one at Dodger Stadium. Kurt Gibson,
who was the National League MVP that year, had hurt
his leg in the National League Championship Series against the Mets,
(19:06):
the same franchise that the Dodgers just beat to make
it to the World Series this year. And while he
was so badly hobbled that he didn't make the start
that day, Gibson made an appearance in the bottom of
the ninth inning with two outs as a pinch hitter
against Ace oakland A's reliever Dennis Eckersley, with Vince Scully
on the call. With too bad leg, the bad left hamstring,
(19:29):
and the swollen right knee, and with two out, do
you talk about a roll of the dice? This is it.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
Sach's waiting on deck for the game right now, is
at the bight fly ball in the right veil. She
is gone.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
And he hit the most famous home run in Los
Angeles Dodgers' history, a walk off, game winning blast into
the right field pavilion that sent the stadium into a
frenzy as Gibson rounded the bases, pumping his fist, laboring
with a bad limp, and after Gibbey's incredible home run,
the Dodgers went on to beat the heavily favored Oakland
(20:14):
A's with the team that also included Fernando Valenzuela.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Happened, has happened.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
And so now with all of that context, you can
see why for weeks I've been hesitantly suggesting to friends that, hey,
with the Dodgers facing the Mets again and the CS
and a hobbled left handed hitter playing through pain in
the postseason a team leader, maybe the stage is set
for Freddie Freeman's Kirk Gibson moment. I even said it
(20:49):
on an episode of this show, because it's pretty much
a distillate of what a Dodger blue dream means to me.
I was six years old in nineteen eighty eight, but
I wasn't at Dodger Stadium, and I wasn't yet following baseball.
(21:09):
It was very shortly thereafter that I fell so deeply
in love with the Dodgers and baseball. Just a little
late to the party. And the only time the Dodgers
have won the World Series since nineteen eighty eight was
twenty twenty, and because of COVID, the games weren't played
at Dodger Stadium and La didn't get to celebrate with
(21:29):
a parade.
Speaker 8 (21:31):
Something out in the Brown will be limited because of
his ankle.
Speaker 6 (21:39):
Now, the kind of at bat that every kid that
plays baseball dreams of one day having you tell yourself, right,
all right, bottom of the ten bases loaded, World Series.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
One run game, Dodgers Yankees.
Speaker 6 (21:52):
Reality for Freddie Freeman right here tailor the time run
Edmund the winning rule, Coorts has deliveries, fren hits.
Speaker 9 (22:03):
Upot right, things gone, jud made free dangs.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
It felt like a tidal wave of ecstasy had crashed
into the stadium and swept us away. We're dancing, we're singing,
we're hugging strangers.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Well, I don't love.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Bat flips, but this was such a good bat flip.
He knows it's gone. He raises his bat like the
statue of Liberty and watches the home run ball disappear
into the right field pavilion and then he just gently
releases his grip and the bat falls to the ground,
the first ever walk off Grand Slam in World Series history.
(23:18):
To think of what he's been through this year makes
it so much more meaningful that it was Freddie who
won the game for us. It makes you want to
persevere in the face of whatever your problems are and
to be a champion the way that man is. I
love Freddie Freeman, and you know he has it all.
(23:38):
Even a person like that will run into harrowing challenges
in his life and it's about how you deal with them.
He went through all of that and found a way
to give himself a chance to blow our minds. The
way that he did that is inspiring. And Kurt Gibson
hit that home run at eight thirty seven pm, and
(23:59):
Freddie Freeman hit his home run at eight thirty seven pm. Obviously,
without trying to jinx anything, it just feels like this
is our year, and I just feel fortunate that I
was there. And that vibe continued the next day with
another great game with a lot of the same themes.
Freddie hit another home run. He went back to back
(24:22):
with Tao and Tommy Edmond hit one out two a
stellar outing from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up just one hit,
a solo home run to Juan Soto, and the Yankees
had just one hit into the eighth inning on Saturday night.
And it's not just that we're playing better defense. Nobody
has questioned a single move by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
(24:45):
And the vibes in the city are so high. Every
time I leave the house, I have multiple conversations about
the Dodgers with strangers, and the way this feels communal
in the ballpark and throughout the entire city is a
reminder that we we all go through stuff and we
deserved to feel good sometimes. So let's enjoy this, Los Angeles.
(25:07):
Don't be afraid to let yourself feel good when things
are going great. Dave Roberts top step wrapping a long
word for word with ice Cube to good day. Come on,
that's pure la damn right. It was a good day.
But of course now we're headed for a vibe shift.
(25:30):
Game three of the World Series kicks off tonight at
five eight, very specifically Pacific time. But it's not on
the best Coast. It's in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium,
and we've got Walker Buehler going up against Clark Schmidt.
The Yankees lineup hasn't been doing a whole lot, and
we've shut Aaron Judge down completely, but now they got
(25:52):
the home field advantage. First time the World Series is
being played in the Bronx since two thousand and nine,
and they got the short porch out there where. If
the Yankees lineup gets to Bueller, it's something to watch
out for, because the plan is to pitch a bullpen
game for Game four, and let me give you a tip,
watch out for the turtleneck Brent Honeywell Junior. If he's
(26:13):
coming in to eat innings. Hopefully he's able to give
us some length and save the Dowgs in the bullpen,
the high leverage guys, because if needed, we're staying in
New York for Game five, which would be played on Thursday.
A two zero lead sounds commanding, and of course the
odds are greatly in our favor in this best of
seven series. But if you know anything about postseason baseball,
(26:37):
you know the momentum can shift like that Dodger Blue
Dream is written and produced by Me Richard Parks. The
third original music in this episode by William Ryan Fritch,
Jonathan Snipes the Blasting Company, and by Me. Production assistance
(26:59):
on this episode from Tyler Hill and Elizabeth Parks Kibbie.
Special thanks to Thomas Batty, Eli Horowitz, Caitlin Esh, Jordan Bass,
and Brian Hidalgo, whose voice you heard at the top
of the show, sounding as excited as we all felt
when Freddie hit that one out. If you like Dodger
(27:20):
Blue Dream, please check us out on Patreon. Go to
patreon dot com slash Dodger Blue Dream. We've got stickers,
we've got shirts, and we finally set up a way
for you to support this independent production. We'll be back
soon with more episodes. Thank you very much for listening.
(27:41):
Let's go Dodgers.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.