Back To Back In LA

It was so nice in Los Angeles, they decide to do it twice! For the first time since the turn of the century, we have a team that has won back to back World Series championships, as the Los Angeles Dodgers knocked off the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games. This marks the 2nd consecutive title for the Dodgers, third in the last six seasons, and ninth in franchise history.

And there's a lot of interesting notes to take out of this series.

We went into the series saying that good pitching will always beat good hitting, and that's what the Dodgers did as the series went along, at least when it mattered the most. The Jays out hit and out scored the Dodgers as the series moved along. Scoring over the course of the series was 34-26 in favor of Toronto, as was hits,75 to 53 in favor of the Jays. Toronto woke up in the opener of the series, and then again in games four and five. They managed to knock around Blake Snell in both of his starts as during the course of the series. Then there's the play of series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He went 3-0 in this series alone, with a 1.02 ERA in 17.2 innings and striking out 17 total hitters. He managed to pitch in game seven, after having pitched before in game six. That's what turned the tide in the series. Los Angeles couldn't do much in the way of hitting as the series went along, but they got it done when it mattered the most.

It's been 25 years since we had a repeat champion. The Yankees were the last team to do it, having won three in a row from 1998-2000. It's one of the hardest things in sports to do, repeating as champions. The Dodgers managed to pull it off, and win their third in six seasons. And to make this season seem a little more amazing is that the Dodgers managed to do it with the injury bug hitting the rotation early on in the season. By the time they got to the playoffs, the pitching staff was at full strength.

And not to take anything away from what the Blue Jays did in this series. They managed to have those bats come through at key moments in this series. And this Jays team has a bright future to come back on another deep run, as most of the lineup is in tact for next year. Bo Bichette is the only big name from this team that's set to hit the free agent market as of this writing. So there's plenty of hope that the Jays could get back there again next season. They were just out done by the better team in this one, when it mattered the most.

And if you're like me, this World Series had a ton of first or records that were set or broken. Toronto's pinch hitter Addison Barger hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history in Game 1. Game 3 lasted 18 innings, tying the record for longest World Series game by innings, tied with Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. It also became the second-longest World Series game in terms of time (behind the same 2018 game). Toronto's utility player Ernie Clement broke the record for most hits in a single postseason with 30. Additionally, the Dodgers were the first team ever to trail in the 9th inning of a World Series Game 7 on the road and come back to win, with Rojas and Smith setting Game 7 home run firsts in the 9th and in extra innings.

Congratulations to the Dodgers on winning the World Series!