Dave Roberts and Dodgers Silence the Haters for Good in World Series Win vs. Yankees

All of the negative comparisons to the 1990s Atlanta Braves and the devaluing of a World Series title won during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season are no more.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series champions in 2024.

In many ways, this feels like long-awaited vindication for a team that has spent more than a decade dominating for 162 games, only for its season to end in disappointing fashion time and time again in October.

Detractors will still want to point to the free-spending nature of the Dodgers organization, but it was the ability to do all the little things right that pushed this team over the top in its 7-6 Game 5 win against the New York Yankees.

It certainly didn't look like the Dodgers would be popping champagne when the Yankees built a 5-0 lead after three innings behind home runs from Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton.

Then things got weird.

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Absolute Chaos in Top of the 5th Inning

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While the Yankees offense was clicking, Gerrit Cole was also in complete control on the mound through four innings, keeping the high-powered Dodgers offense out of the hit column while needing just 49 pitches to record the first 12 outs of the game.

Then came a fifth inning for the ages.

Here's the full play-by-play of an inning Yankees fans will be thinking about all offseason:

• Enrique Hernández single
• Tommy Edman safe on error by Aaron Judge
• Will Smith safe on fielder's choice error by Anthony Volpe
• Gavin Lux strikeout
• Shohei Ohtani strikeout
• Mookie Betts infield RBI single (Cole failed to cover first base)
• Freddie Freeman two-run single
• Teoscar Hernandez two-run double
• Max Muncy walk
• Enrique Hernández fielders choice

With that, a 5-0 lead turned into a 5-5 tie, and Cole went from looking unhittable to laboring through a 38-pitch inning filled with high-stress offerings.

It was the perfect storm of mental mistakes and clutch hitting to give away what looked like a clear path to forcing Game 6 back in Los Angeles. The Dodgers' advantage in postseason experience was never more evident than in their ability to claw back into a lopsided game while their opponent folded under the pressure.

The Yankees took the lead back with a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly, but the momentum never left the Dodgers dugout. In the top of the eighth, they took the lead for good on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts.

It is now the largest comeback ever in a World Series clinching game.

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Dave Roberts Proves He's a Great Manager

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Deadline pickup Jack Flaherty was thrust into the role of de facto staff ace for the Dodgers playoff run when Tyler Glasnow hit the injured list down the stretch and Clayton Kershaw was unavailable. His performance had been a mixed bag all October.

He threw gems in Game 1 of the NLCS (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER) and Game 1 of the World Series (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER), but was shelled in a second start versus the New York Mets in Game 5 (3.0 IP, 8 H, 8 ER) and suffered a similar fate on Wednesday night.

The 29-year-old recorded just four outs, allowing four hits and four earned runs. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was forced to mix and match for the final 23 outs of the game.

• Anthony Banda: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• Ryan Brasier: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Michael Kopech: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Alex Vesia: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Brusdar Graterol: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
• Blake Treinen: W, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Walker Buehler: SV, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

He trusted closer Blake Treinen to throw a season-high 42 pitches over 2.1 scoreless innings. He pitched out of a jam that Brusdar Graterol got into in the sixth, went 1-2-3 in the seventh and gutted out an eighth inning where the tying run was in scoring position.

He then put the ball in the hands of Game 3 starter Walker Buehler to get the final three outs, despite an inconsistent season from the former front-line starter returning from Tommy John surgery. He struck out two of the three batters he faced and needed 16 pitches to nail down the save.

Even looking back to Game 4, Roberts made the wise decision to let Landon Knack and Brent Honeywell soak up innings in a lopsided loss, preserving all of his top arms when he needed every one of them.

It's easy to shine a light on the manager when those pitching decisions don't work out, and Roberts has been on the wrong end of that spotlight in the past when the Dodgers have come up short, but this was a master class from the manager's seat.

The World Series champions used a bullpen game instead of a No. 4 starter all postseason to mixed results, but when an unexpected bullpen game was thrust upon him in Game 5, he didn't flinch.

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Redefining the Dodgers' Legacy

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The Dodgers have won the NL West title 11 times in the past 12 years, and while this was their fourth trip to the World Series during that stretch, it was their first Fall Classic win outside of the abridged 2020 season.

That title didn't come with the usual celebration and parade, and haters widely interpreted it as less valuable than a full-season title.

The similarities to the Atlanta Braves teams that won 14 straight division titles in the 1990s and 2000s but only won one World Series during that span were all too easy to notice, but that narrative is dead.

The disappointment had been especially biting the last two seasons before this year's title run.

The 2022 Dodgers were a runaway freight train during the regular season, winning 111 games and posting a ridiculous plus-334 run differential, but they were dispatched by the rival San Diego Padres in four games in the NLDS.

They again reached 100 wins last season, only to fall to another NL West foe in the Arizona Diamondbacks, who swept them in three games after emerging from the Wild Card Round.

That disappointment served as the jumping off point for a spending spree that eclipsed $1 billion during the offseason, but it was the moves made on the fringe of the roster that had just as big of an impact during the playoffs.

From deadline pickup Tommy Edman winning NLCS MVP to the carefully assembled relief corps shouldering a significant load throughout the playoffs, all the pieces fell into place for this year's Dodgers team to finally climb to the top of the baseball world.

On the flip side, Ohtani and his $700 million contract were largely non-factors in the World Series. He went 2-for-19 with one extra-base hit and zero RBI, clearly slowed by a shoulder injury he suffered in Game 2. Slugger Max Muncy (0-for-16, 10 K) was also a non-factor.

With a stacked roster, money to spend and Ohtani set to return to the mound in 2025, the idea of a repeat feels very possible, as this could be an even better team next year.

Every dynasty has to start somewhere.

Now it's up to the Dodgers to continue to meet even loftier expectations as they set their sights on their 12th NL West title in 13 years and another title run in 2025.