2024 World Series recap

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in five games in the 2024 World Series, clinching the series on Wednesday in the teams’ first meeting in the Fall Classic since 1981.

It was the Dodgers’ second championship in the last five years as they spoiled the Yankees’ return to the World Series for the first time since 2009.

When the big stars didn’t show up, other faces and ratings in the U.S. and Japan did.

Stars come out dim

The leagues’ likely MVPs, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, couldn’t showcase their abilities in the World Series, finishing a combined 6-for-37 with just one home run.

Everything went wrong for Judge in the first three games, as he went 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts.

He hit a two-run homer in Game 5 for his first World Series big fly, but he’ll be more known for his defensive miscue in the fifth inning that helped the Dodgers get back in the game.

Ohtani can’t be blamed for his struggles in a World Series in which he went 2-for-19, as he suffered a minor shoulder subluxation in Game 2 after a stolen base attempt.

Ohtani was given the green light to continue playing, but his swing was off and he couldn’t move his injured arm when running the bases.

It was another MVP who helped take almost all of the Dodgers’ load, though.

“Gibby, meet Freddie!”

That was Fox’s Joe Davis’ call of Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1, which brought back memories of Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.

It was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history, and it began a historic run for the Dodgers’ first baseman, who would go on to win World Series MVP.

Freeman tied Bobby Richardson’s World Series RBI record by driving in 12 in the five games and homered in each of the first four games, a new record.

Freeman had been dealing with a right ankle sprain since late September, similar to how Gibson dealt with a torn hamstring and strained MCL during the 1988 Fall Classic.

When he wasn’t homering, Freeman, who had to take some time to attend to his son Max in July, continued raking Dodgers to the plate with a key hit as part of Game 5’s fifth inning, one that turned the momentum on its head.

Little things harm the Yankees

Game 5 saw the Yankees’ slip-ups magnify with their season on the line.

They came out to an early lead with Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. going back-to-back in the first inning, then added a couple of support runs for Gerrit Cole in the second and third.

It all began going downhill in the fifth inning, beginning with Judge dropping a Tommy Edman fly ball, then Anthony Volpe bouncing a throw to third base on a Will Smith ground ball that Chisholm couldn’t come up with, helping load the bases with no one out.

Cole looked like he would escape unscathed after striking out Gavin Lux and Ohtani, but a miscommunication with Anthony Rizzo on a Mookie Betts grounder to first base led to the Dodgers scoring their first run.

Freeman and Teoscar Hernández followed up with two-run hits to tie the game as part of a five-run inning, all of those runs unearned.

That was all for the fifth, but the mistakes continued later for the Yankees.

In the eighth inning, reliever Tommy Kahnle couldn’t command his changeup, loading the bases on two hits and a walk.

Closer Luke Weaver entered, then gave up sacrifice flies to Lux and Betts to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead they wouldn’t relinquish, with Walker Buehler claiming the save to clinch the Dodgers their championship.

When the Yankees couldn’t make defensive plays or timely pitches, the Dodgers took advantage by putting the ball in play and letting it unravel from there.

Ratings rise high

In many ways, this World Series’ ratings reached highs not seen since the 2016 Fall Classic between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland.

Game 4’s 16.7 million viewers was the most since 2016’s Game 4, and Game 3 even beat out Monday Night Football with an average of 13.64 million viewers compared to 14.3 million.

The U.S. wasn’t even the leader in viewership, though, as Japan had a big-time opportunity to showcase its passion for the game with Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto representing Japan.

For each of the first two games, Japan averaged 15.2 million viewers compared to the U.S. viewership of 14.5 million.

With the games beginning around 9 a.m. JST, breakfast was high time for many Japanese fans who watched the games.

What’s next?

The Yankees will face the free agency of Juan Soto, Torres and multiple bullpen arms, most notably, and options for Cole, Rizzo and Weaver.

They could stand to look for an infielder if Torres doesn’t re-sign to find Chisholm’s long-term place in the field and to supplant DJ LeMahieu if he returns, and they also need to figure out what their bullpen will be like.

The Dodgers will have Jack Flaherty, Kiké Hernández, Teoscar Hernández, Buehler and three relievers due to hit the open market, and Clayton Kershaw with a club option.

The Dodgers need to sort out their rotation with last season’s pile of injured arms and who’ll be the long-term shortstop with Betts back in the outfield.

Owen Klein is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu.