Another Title To LA

It has been a crazy last couple of weeks in the sports world for the city of Los Angeles. First the Lakers win the NBA title, and now, for the 7th time in their history and first since 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers are champions of the baseball world. LA had the best record in baseball during this shortened season, and capped it off with a title, beating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games.

Two things stuck out about this series. One was how well the Dodgers played over the course of the six games. The other was how poorly Kevin Cash handled his pitching staff in game six, but more on that a little later.

For Los Angeles, this was a bit of a redemption. This was the third time in the last four years that the Dodgers had played in the fall classic, having lost to the Astros in seven games in 2017, and then again to the Red Sox the next year in five games. Last year they didn't make it out of the divisional round, losing to Washington in five games. So this was a big step for LA to finally get over the hump and capture a title that had been waiting 32 years to get back to LA.

What was the big key for the Dodgers to winning the series? For one thing it was the hitting of Corey Seager, who was named MVP of the series. Seager became just the eighth player to be named MVP of both the World Series and League Championship Series in the same year. The numbers in the World Series speak for themselves. He hit .400 in the series (going 8 for 20 at the plate with 6 walks) two homers and five RBI. It wasn't just the offense that had it going for LA, the pitching was a big factor too, more so late in the series. The starters and the pen had done a good job shutting the Rays bats down over the final two games of the series.

Speaking of which, there's a lot you can get into from the other side of the coin. First off, can somebody please explain to me what happened to the Tampa offense after the final two games of the series? two runs on seven hits in game five and just one run on five hits in game six. The Rays offense went ice cold and couldn't manage to do squat with runners on base or even in scoring position. They had noting really going in the latter half of the series. Arozarena, Kiermaier, Diaz and Margot were the only ones who hit with consistency in the Tampa Lineup and Arozarena and Kiermaier were the only ones who produced much of anything in the six games.

Hitting seemed to be the biggest killer of the Rays at the end of the series, but there is one thing that a lot of people were talking about that overshadowed a little that lack of production. it was Kevin Cash's decision to pull starter Blake Snell at 73 pitches after five an a third innings in game six. I know he gave his standard explanation about not wanting Snell face the Rays order the third time through, but come on man. The hell with analytics. Just for once I'd love to see a manager say screw it and just let his guys go out and play. I think that's been a big part of the game and its starting to ruin the game a little. But that's another argument for another time.

Los Angeles took full advantage of the Tampa mistakes and walked away with a title. After being a brides made in each of their last two World Series trips, the Dodgers finally get to be the Bride. Congrats to the Dodgers on picking up their seventh World Championship!