“Start the party, Los Angeles, your Dodgers are World Series champions!” The call was heard around the world as seven-year veteran Walker Buehler came in relief to strike out former Dodger Alex Verdugo on a knuckle-curveball to win the World Series. Fireworks could be heard all around Los Angeles on a cold night on Thursday, October 30th. They had finally won a championship in a full season, validating their 2020 World Series win.
After making the playoffs the past twelve years, the Dodgers had been constantly labeled as “chokers” for falling short often. This label started after they lost the 2017 World Series to the Houston Astros. Despite the sign-stealing scandal, the Dodgers still had this series held against them. Making the playoffs for twelve seasons straight meant nothing if they could never win a World Series.
This past offseason, the Dodgers went on a spending spree. They signed two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani to a ten-year, $700 million contract. Instead of them paying him $700 million per year, Ohtani deferred $680 million to be paid after his contract ended, making him earn two million every year for the next decade instead of the $70 million. The next few players the Dodgers signed and traded for (Yohsinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Teoscar Hernández) deferred most of their contracts as well. Instead of having a payroll of over one billion, they only had one of $277.5 million. This allowed them to stay under the luxury tax (a penalty that teams face when they exceed a payroll of $237 million).
During the regular season, the Dodgers won 98 games on the way to their eleventh division title in the past twelve years to make the playoffs. They were facing the Padres in the National League Division Series, an opponent they lost the regular season series to 5-8 in thirteen games, as well as the National League Division Series to in 2022. Despite this, they won the series 3-2 in five games. They then won the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets 4-2 in six games, with Tommy Edman winning MVP of the series. In the World Series, the Dodgers faced the New York Yankees, an opponent who had defeated them in the World Series in eight of their twelve appearances with each other. However, this year was different, with the Yankees falling in five games to the Dodgers, with Freddie Freeman winning World Series MVP.
The Dodgers now have eight World Series championships, tying them for fifth-most in baseball history. This offseason, the Dodgers look to retain the same championship core in hopes of winning back-to-back titles. Notable free agents include Walker Buehler, Jack Flaherty, Kiké Hernández, Teoscar Hernández, Joe Kelly, and Blake Treinen. The Dodgers’ World Series win ends years of frustration and sets them up to defend their title next season.