Dodgers win 2020 World Series
By: Anthony Castrovince (MLB. com)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rays manager Kevin Cash raised his right arm, signaling for the bullpen. Tampa Bay starter Blake Snell bit his lip and shook his head. And the Dodgers smelled blood. The Dodgers are World Series champions for the first time since 1988 because they seized their moment when Snell's dominant Game
Rays manager Kevin Cash raised his right arm, signaling for the bullpen. Tampa Bay starter Blake Snell bit his lip and shook his head.
And the Dodgers smelled blood.
The Dodgers are World Series champions for the first time since 1988 because they seized their moment when Snell's dominant Game 6 outing was controversially cut short Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington. With a sudden offensive awakening against Rays reliever Nick Andersonin the sixth inning, the Dodgers won, 3-1, to claim their long-awaited crown and complete their domination of the shortest, strangest season in Major League Baseball history.
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 20 | LAD 8, TB 3 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 21 | TB 6, LAD 4 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 23 | LAD 6, TB 2 | Watch |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 24 | TB 8, LAD 7 | Watch |
| Gm 5 | Oct. 25 | LAD 4, TB 2 | Watch |
| Gm 6 | Oct. 27 | LAD 3, TB 1 | Watch |
"This team was incredible all throughout the year, all throughout the postseason, all throughout the quarantine," said Corey Seager, who drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth and became the eighth player to win the League Championship Series MVP and World Series MVP in the same year. "We never stopped. We were ready to go as soon as the bell was called. And once it did, we kept rolling."
It was a 2020 season of unprecedented challenges for all involved -- right up until its final game, when the World Series champs' starting third baseman, Justin Turner, was pulled prior to the eighth inning after receiving the results of a positive COVID-19 test midgame.
On the flip side was Randy Arozarena, who overcame a month of COVID-necessitated quarantine to become the Rays' surprise October hero (his first-inning homer in Game 6 was his record 10th of the postseason).
And yet, for all the unpredictability and obstacles, the Dodgers, winners of eight straight National League West titles and losers of the 2017 and '18 World Series, ended up right where so many expected when they pushed in their chips last offseason and placed Mookie Betts in their already loaded lineup.
They hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy for the first time in a generation.
"This is our year," manager Dave Roberts said during the on-field celebration, in front of an intentionally limited number of attendees at Globe Life Field. "We said it. This is our year. Everyone in this ballpark wearing Dodger blue, everyone all over the world wearing Dodger blue, never wavered. This is our year."
After a coronavirus surge in the States dramatically reshaped the length and look of the MLB regular season, the Dodgers mercilessly ran through their shuffled schedule with a .717 winning percentage (43-17) -- the fifth highest of the Modern Era, albeit in a 60-game season.
When a new-look postseason format asked more of the division winners, the Dodgers ran roughshod over the Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series and the division-rival Padres in the NL Division Series, and then overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Braves in the NL Championship Series.
And when the Rays threatened to push this neutral-site World Series to a Game 7 behind Arozarena's early homer and Snell's fantastic first two turns through the order, the Dodgers pounded down the door the minute it was cracked ajar.
That moment arrived in the sixth inning.
It's the moment that will forever define this Game 6.
With one out, Snell allowed a line-drive single to Austin Barnes -- just the third ball he had let out of the infield in 5 1/3 innings of wowing work in which all of his pitches were on point. Snell had thrown only 73 pitches and allowed only two hits.
"I believe in me, I believe in what I was doing," said a disappointed Snell, who also racked up nine strikeouts through four innings. "I didn't walk anybody. For most of that game, man, I was dominating every outcome possible."
But Cash showed fierce devotion to his pitching plan and went to his bullpen as the lineup turned over for a third turn. Immediately, the move to Anderson, who had allowed a run in six straight postseason appearances, backfired against Betts.
"I think at that point, I was like, 'I got a chance,'" Betts said. "Snell was rolling… I wasn't asking any questions, though. I was just like, 'Hey, your manager said you gotta go, next guy's coming in.' At that point, I tried to put an at-bat together and go from there."
Betts grounded a double down the left-field line to put runners at second and third. Then Anderson uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Barnes to score the tying run and advanced Betts to third. And when Corey Seager scooted a ground ball to first with the infield drawn in, Betts took off on contact and slid in safely at the plate, ahead of Ji-Man Choi's throw, to give the Dodgers the go-ahead run, 2-1.
"I guess I regret [the Snell move] because it didn't work out," Cash said. "But I feel like the thought process was right. Every decision that's made, that end result has a pretty weighing factor in how you feel about it. If we had to do it over again, I would have the utmost confidence in Nick Anderson to get through that inning."
Though the Dodgers' own pitching plan had some early difficulty in the form of Arozarena's first-inning homer off Tony Gonsolin, who was pulled after only five outs, the trail of six relievers trotted out by Roberts held the Rays scoreless for the remaining 7 1/3 frames. Alex Wood's two perfect innings allowed Roberts to align his most trusted options late.
Betts' monster solo shot in the eighth was an emphatic exclamation mark on his first season in Dodger blue, and Julio Urias' 2 1/3 perfect innings finished off the seventh World Series title in franchise history. As was the case in the only comparably short MLB season -- the 1981 campaign reduced by a work stoppage -- the Dodgers finished on top.
The Dodgers came into this year both angered and inspired by the Astros' sign-stealing scandal and what they felt was robbed from them three years ago. And though Tampa Bay's American League Championship Series triumph over Houston prevented a rematch, Los Angeles got what it felt was due. The Dodgers ended the third-longest streak of ring-less postseason appearances (13).
That they did it as the "home" team in the Rangers' brand-new ballpark, of all places, was even oddly appropriate, given that the Cooperstown-bound Clayton Kershaw finally shook off the pains of Octobers past about 15 miles west of his hometown.
"I've been to the postseason, I've lost every single year," Kershaw said. "To look up, I wish it was Dodger Stadium, but it feels like it right now with all these Dodger fans around. To see how happy these fans are, they've been waiting a long time, too… It's just a special feeling."
Kershaw has been with the Dodgers long enough to have the highlight of Kirk Gibson's Game 1 walk-off home run in 1988 burned on his brain. They've played that on repeat in Los Angeles for 32 years.
Now, there's a new sequence to sum up a Fall Classic. Instead of Gibson coming off the bench, it's Anderson coming out of the 'pen, and the 2020 Dodgers making magic all their own.
Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since 2004. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince.
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Here are 20 fun facts to know about the Dodgers’ World Series title and their clinching 3-1 victory over the Rays in Game 6 on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Dodger blue breaks through
1. The Dodgers had a .717 winning percentage in the regular season. That’s the second-highest for any eventual World Series champion, behind the 1909 Pirates, who won at a .724 clip. Those Pirates played 154 games, to the Dodgers’ 60.
2. The Dodgers had the best record in the Majors this year, too. It’s just the seventh time in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) that the team with at least a share of the best record in baseball went on to win the World Series. The Dodgers join the 2018 Red Sox, '16 Cubs, '13 Red Sox, '09 Yankees, '07 Red Sox and 1998 Yankees on that list.
3. Speaking of the Dodgers’ record, it’s not just that they were good in 2020 -- they’ve been quite good for a while. In fact, their .629 winning percentage over the past four seasons, including the playoffs, is the highest of any team in a four-year span in the Wild Card Era. They surpassed the 1996-99 Yankees, who had a .628 winning percentage. It is worth noting, however, that those Yankees won three World Series titles in that four-year span.
4. Just how good were the Dodgers in 2020? Only one team beat them in any series -- the Rockies, who won two out of three at Dodger Stadium in early September . That’s it.
5. Another way to look at the drought quenched by the Dodgers is that they finally had a postseason berth lead to a title. This win snaps a streak of 13 consecutive postseason appearances that did not result in them hoisting a World Series trophy, which is tied for the third-longest such streak all-time.
Standout performers
6. Cody Bellinger now joins his father, Clay, as a World Series champion. Clay played for three teams that won the World Series -- the 1999 Yankees, 2000 Yankees and '02 Angels -- though he only appeared in the Series for the 2000 club. They are the eighth father-son duo to both win at least one title as players, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, joining Ray and Bob Boone, Pedro Borbon Sr. and Jr., Sal and Drew Butera, Dave and Chris Duncan, Jim and Mike Hegan, Julian and Stan Javier and Ed and Scott Spiezio.
7. Mookie Betts homered in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers an insurance run. It was a 434-foot homer, tied for the fifth-longest he’s hit since Statcast began tracking in 2015. Betts also homered in Game 5 of the ‘18 World Series, when the Red Sox went on to clinch. He became the ninth player to homer in multiple World Series clinchers, and just the second to do it with different teams -- joining Reggie Jackson.
8. For Betts, this is another item for the trophy case -- which already includes the aforementioned 2018 World Series, as well as the ‘18 American League MVP Award. He’s the first MVP Award winner to win a World Series title with multiple franchises, according to Elias.
9. Corey Seager , who hit .400 in the Fall Classic, was named World Series MVP, a series after he won the equivalent honor for the NLCS. He’s the eighth player to win LCS and World Series MVPs in the same postseason, and the first since Madison Bumgarner in 2014. The others include David Freese (2011), Cole Hamels ('08), Livan Hernandez (1997), Orel Hershiser ('88), Darrell Porter ('82) and Willie Stargell ('79).
10. Seager became the sixth shortstop to win the World Series MVP Award and the first since Edgar Renteria in 2010. The others were David Eckstein in '06, Derek Jeter in '00, Alan Trammell in 1984 and Bucky Dent in '78.
11. Clayton Kershaw , who debuted for the Dodgers in 2008, finally won his first World Series title. After numerous trials in his postseason career, he finished the '20 playoff campaign with a 2.93 ERA in five starts.
Records approached and set
12. It was a postseason unlike any we had seen before, in many ways. And that was true through the final out of the final game. The Dodgers used seven pitchers in their Game 6 victory, the most used by a winning team in a nine-inning World Series clincher, and it is tied for the most used by the winning team in a World Series clincher of any length, with the 1992 Blue Jays, who clinched their title in 11 innings in Game 6.
13. Another record we saw set on Tuesday was for strikeouts in a nine-inning World Series game. The Dodgers and Rays combined for 27 strikeouts in Game 6, breaking a record previously shared by the Mets and Yankees in Game 3 of the 2000 World Series and the Dodgers and Yankees in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series.
4. The teams combined to hit 21 home runs in this Series, tied for the third-most in any Fall Classic with the Angels and Giants in 2002. The only teams to combine for more homers in a World Series were the Dodgers and Astros, with 25 in ‘17, and the Astros and Nationals, with 22, in ‘19.
15. The Dodgers hit 12 homers in the World Series, tied with the 1956 Yankees for third-most. The only World Series teams with more were the 2017 Astros (15) and ‘02 Giants (14).
Wrapping up the Rays
16. In what turned out to be the final game of his sensational postseason, rookie Randy Arozarena came through yet again for Tampa Bay. His go-ahead homer in the first inning was his 10th big fly of the postseason, extending the record he broke back in Game 4. No other player has hit more than eight homers in a single postseason, and Arozarena also now owns the Rays’ career postseason home run record after his first year with the team.
17. Arozarena’s 2-for-4 game extended his own records for hits (29) and total bases (64) in a single postseason, the latter now 14 ahead of any other player. His 14th extra-base hit this postseason also tied David Freese (2011 Cardinals) for first in that category.
18. One of the big stories of Game 6 was Rays manager Kevin Cash pulling starter Blake Snell with one out in the sixth inning. But before that, Snell authored quite a game, giving up just two hits, walking none and striking out nine. After also racking up nine K’s in Game 2, Snell became only the 10th pitcher to have two such games in a single World Series -- the first since the Marlins’ Josh Beckett in 2003.
19. The Rays finished the postseason scoring 67.1 percent of their runs via homers, the highest such rate by a team in a single postseason (minimum 10 games). The prior record belonged to the 1998 Indians, who scored 63.2 percent of their runs via homers during that postseason.
20. Home runs were prominent throughout this postseason from all teams, and we ended up with 51.3 percent of runs scored that way. That’s the third-highest rate in a single postseason behind 1956 (53.4) and ‘57 (52.1), and the highest in any year since the playoffs expanded to multiple rounds in ‘69, according to Elias.
Thanks for posting this. Been a Dodger fan my whole life and have suffered through since 88!
Lakers AND Dodgers in one year!
I'm ecstatic!
I think the stat I find most telling is the Dodgers' two-strike hits and two-out runs. They scored more with two outs than Tampa did total runs.
So much for Tampa's vaulted bullpen, which was really supposed to give them their best chance.
To me Tampa looked like one of our pre - 2004 Red Sox teams - built for nothing but the long ball.
I am glad for the Dodgers. I like the teams with a long history and the Dodgers meant so much to the NL.
I think the Dodgers will be there for a few more years. Got Mookie all sewed up. Next big name coming up will be Seager, but I figure LA will resign him.
Dodgers have a phenomenal farm system and will have a steady stream of fresh talent to integrate or trade for proven talents.
Eight straight Division crowns. Yup, it could very well be another dynasty.
I can see Walker Buehler winning a couple of Cy Youngs and Mookie winning a couple of MVPs over the next 10 years or so.
They definitely have the weapons. If they play together they win. In Baseball momentum has a lot to do with winning.
Damn!!! I sure miss watching baseball, although I grew up being a hockey fan listening to Foster Hewitt announcing the Leafs' games when they used to win. Although they did show the WS on cable TV I didn't bother to watch it - I think maybe I would only have watched if the Blue Jays or the Cubs were playing. I have to get my BB fix by watching movies like The Natural or Moneyball.
Sadly, Maple Leaf Gardens is but a memory.
I have to get my BB fix by watching movies like The Natural or Moneyball.
I still think "Pride of he Yankees" was the best ever.
My most exciting lifetime moment in sports was during a baseball game, rather than hockey. What was your most exciting lifetime moment in sports?
There were many.
I guess I could single out the 1987 World Series. (Hopefully not giving too much away about me) I had bet $2,000 on the Twins to win that Series. Starting with the first game, - I began betting individual games as well. I only bet the Twins in those games - only for $2,000 each. It turned out that I bet them in every one of their home games. The Series went seven games with the home team winning every game. I was stunned to learn after it was over, that it was the first time in World Series history that the home team won every game in a seven game series. I collected $10,000 when it was over and my bookmaker said "I only wish I could do what you have just done."
I was very fond of that series!
The only times I ever bet on any game or sport was on JaiLai in Florida, only gambled during a weekly poker game with a bunch of friends - one dollar limit, and of course gambled the few times I went to Vegas. Two great Vegas stories. My father once told me that the worst thing that could happen to you was to bet on a horse to win the first time you ever laid a bet at your first horse race and it wins - you could get hooked on it. The first time I went to Vegas, and the first time I ever used a slot, I bought ten one dollar tokens, and the first time I put one in the slot, I won a hundred. You couldn't drag me away from the slots after that. The next story was the next time I was in Vegas for a convention, and on the last day, the last time I was in the casino, I had ten $10 tokens left. I called my wife in Toronto and she said put them on number 18 on the roulette table, so I went there and the croupier was just going to start the game, and I saw the square for number 18 was piled up with others' tokens so there was no room for mine, so I put my tokens on another number, and number 18 won. I would have won $3000.
As for my most exciting moment in sports. I was in the SkyDome and watched Joe Carter with 2 strikes and 2 out hit the 7th game 9th inning line drive into the left field stands that won the Blue Jays' back-to-back 2nd World Series. It was like an explosion - I cannot describe the pandemonium. It was the very exact situation as in The Natural when Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) hit one into the stadium lights at the end of the movie.
Very well known adage....One that it usually true.
I had ten $10 tokens left. I called my wife in Toronto and she said put them on number 18 on the roulette table, so I went there and the croupier was just going to start the game, and I saw the square for number 18 was piled up with others' tokens so there was no room for mine, so I put my tokens on another number, and number 18 won. I would have won $3000.
I'm sure you thought about that for a long time.
As for my most exciting moment in sports. I was in the SkyDome and watched Joe Carter with 2 strikes and 2 out hit the 7th game 9th inning line drive into the left field stands that won the Blue Jays' back-to-back 2nd World Series. It was like an explosion - I cannot describe the pandemonium. It was the very exact situation as in The Natural when Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) hit one into the stadium lights at the end of the movie.
That was really amazing from a player with such a short career and never to finish a season with as much as a .300 BA. An unlikely hero!
Perhaps, but a hero where I come from. I read recently that people still talk to him about that hit.
No doubt, I'm sure! It is what he will always be remembered for.
Another story about that game. The day after it I was at the fan appreciation day at the SkyDome, and it was a full house, with the players in the middle of the field on the mikes. Carter said: "Last year we did it for Cito (Cito Gaston, their manager) and this time we did it for Paul." Paul Molitor, a great ball player, had never been able to get a WS ring, something he wanted so badly to have before he was soon to retire. He had just joined the Blue Jays during that season in the hopes of accomplishing it, and he did. He was the second runner on base when Joe hit that ball, so since the Jays were one run down, it was Paul who touched first base that put the Jays one run ahead of the Phillies. I often razz A.Mac about that game.
Good point. He got the ring there and later got into the Hall of Fame. Nice story.
Great memories!
Ooops. Just re-read what I wrote. It was when Paul touched HOME PLATE that put the Jays one run ahead, not first base.
Never liked the Dodgers. Them and the Yankees and lately the Red Sox act as if they are entitled.
Agreeing with you here
Fun series to watch. Dodgers had too many guys on offense that could, and did, make a difference. Not mentioned above (maybe they are but I missed...other than Turner, who is mentioned only for COVID)...Turner, Muncy, Pederson, Hernandez, Taylor...
As for the decision to pull the pitcher...the sports writers would be going nuts if he had left him in and he had given up 2 runs, and instead of telling everyone how good he was doing before the pull, they'd be citing statistics that show hitters are better the third time they've seen you, and arguing that he should have been pulled. I agree with the move. Hind sight, as they say, is 20/20.
In my opinion, the Rays have been playing on house money anyway, and they have been playing like they don't care about losing house money...which is why the series was fun to watch to begin with. You couldn't script a better end to game 4.
The metrics said to pull him. His ERA the third time through a lineup was over 12.00.
I love the Dodgers, and it has been a long time since they won. I was wondering if it was going to happen while I was alive!
The metrics, in small sample sizes, aren't that helpful
Snell passed the eyeball test of how his stuff was playing. When he's on like that, he's their best pitcher and deserved to be on the mound. Cash should have let the Dodgers try and beat their best.
Oh, I would have definitely left Snell in, at least until he gave up the lead.
But the metrics is how Tampa makes decisions, and it got them the second best record in baseball.
Dodgers were just too disciplined at the plate for the most part and had a much deeper team, especially offensively.
the rays offense was shit without Arozarena, who had one hell of a Series.
But I am a Dodger fan, and who knows if Betts wouldn't have doubled off of Snell?
I get it, I just think metrics help more over the long hall and in making big picture decisions like roster construction.
When it comes to in a in game situation everything is too unique. The quality of Snell's stuff last night, how tired he is etc. I think at that point the eyeball test and looking at how Anderson has fared recently rather than over the whole season makes keeping Snell in a pretty easy choice. I think it's easy to overthink the situation sometimes and the Rays outsmarted themselves.
who knows if Betts wouldn't have doubled off of Snell
That's the beauty of these things, you never know.
In an elimination game? Sixth inning? Maybe in the third, but not in the sixth, of game six, in a 1-0 ball game.
Cash gave Snell about as much leash as I would expect, he let him put the tying run on. Had he let him give up the lead after that...they'd be calling for Cash's head.
Which is why he was back on the mound in the sixth to start with. Had he not given up a hit, he would have likely pitched to Bett's.
Snell was one of their best pitchers, and the guy they brought in had a TERRIBLE post-season, giving up runs in 7 straight outings, I believe.
So you're saying he was due to have a good outing...?
I don't know, other than the move wasn't surprising. Making a pitching change, before the roof collapses, is always a game of what ifs.
Yeah, I think you want your best pitchers pitching to the most batters. Snell was pitching lights out, Anderson had been struggling. A single hit is not a red flag to me.
No more than you are claiming that Snell was due to be hit in that game.
I was surprised based on the way Snell was pitching THAT day.
I understand that is how Tampa does things, based on metrics and stats. It got them to the WS with the second best record in baseball, so it worked for them. All managers come under fire for removing or not removing pitchers.
Personally, I would have gone with my best available, and the reliever he brought in was far from it.
I agree, and I'm really not arguing either side of it. I think you can easily make a case for leaving him in. I just think its funny that people are claiming its the worst decision ever made. I've seen worse.
I was thinking more along the lines of Dumb and Dumber...so you're saying there's a chance.
Rays did a damn good job, and I think Cash deserves a lot of credit. LA, IMO, was the better team hands down. Again, my point is that this is not, as some sports writers are claiming, the worst decision ever made.
No, not the worst decision ever made.
Every manager is criticized for leaving in a pitcher too long or taking him out too early.
Dodgers were the better team in almost every facet of the game.
Interestingly, this was the only the third Series with the two best records in it in the last 21 years.
Rangers or Astros?
Game 6, 2011 series comes to mind for questionable decisions. Washington chose to throw around Berkman, who, in my opinion, was a good candidate to hit into a game ending double play, with Pujols on 1st. As it went, 4 not even close pitches to Berkman, to put the tying run on, and get the hottest hitter of the series closer to the plate. David Freese was that year's Cory Seager. He would have been the last guy I wanted near the plate as a manager. The rest is history. Freese hits a triple to tie it in the 9th, and ends it with a homer in the 11th. I told my wife Washington was messing up, as soon as I saw they were pitching around Berkman in the 9th. Again, easy to armchair these things.
It seems like there was another time he threw around Berkman that series, and got burned.
Regardless, it was a good series.
Not sure what you are asking, but if it is who I cheer for, it is the Dodgers my whole life.
Rangers would be my favorite American League team, and I used to go to a lot of their games when I lived closer. When the Dodgers visit, I root for them, of course!
We moved back to Texas the same year the Senators became the Rangers and moved to Arlington. We moved from Falls Church, VA right outside DC, so I knew who everyone on the team was way before any of my new friends could keep up.
At the old Ranger Stadium back in the day (late '70's early 80's), you could actually bring coolers into the park, just no cans or bottles. We made margaritas in plastic bottles and said it was green Kool-Aid. Bleacher seats were $5, and the girlfriend I had at the time was a Ranger fanatic, so we usually saw every team visiting during homestands.
I would enjoy going to games more if this is the way we could do it. That's flippin awesome.
Dodgers? Very enjoyable series for you then. That's a fun group of guys to watch. What a tough line-up to throw to.
A whole lot cheaper, for sure!
I can't wait until next season so I can go to the new stadium--it looked awesome!
Yes. Took me a half game, and question from my son about where they were playing the NLDS, before I figured out where they were.
I think the format worked this year. As a player, I'd want to play at home, in front of my home crowd...I think. Who knows?
Always better with a raucous crowd at Dodger Stadium, but Texas was a second home to them!
Back in the day, 1965, I was home on leave from the Army and friends got me tickets to two of the games in LA.
Those were the days, Kofax, Drysdale, Fairly, Wills, Davis, Roseboro etc etc and my all-time favorite, ''Sweet Lou Johnson''.
Dodgers won the series 4 to 3 vs the Twins.
After the games, we went to Red's Bar on North Broadway in LA.
It was a great World Series. My closest friends and I, five of us who are native Angelenos and have known each other since we were kids, had a blast watching and group texting during each game. It was a lot of fun and a welcome distraction from everything else going on.