by Macade Maxwell, co-Sports Editor

The Los Angeles Dodgers, a regular powerhouse in the regular season, left their mark on the 2024 MLB Postseason, finishing as World Series Champions.

From the beginning of the offseason, it was evident that the Dodgers were going to be something special this year, signing two-way superstar free-agent, Shohei Ohtani, and Japanese pitching prodigy, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

The Dodgers finished the regular season with an outstanding 98-64 record and clinched their twelfth consecutive postseason playoff appearance. Backed by a whopping $241 million payroll, it was certain that the Dodgers were going to make some noise in the Fall. 

Although the Dodgers were highly favored, they were short-staffed. Key pitchers like Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Glasnow and Bobby Miller were absent, meaning that their dangerous lineup was going to have to produce runs from batters one through nine. 

Their postseason run began with a 2022 National League Division Series (NLDS) rematch against the San Diego Padres. The Padres won the matchup that year, but the Dodgers were going to make sure the outcome was different this year. 

The Padres weren’t going down without a fight. After the Dodgers took game one, the Padres bounced back and won two straight, giving them a 2-1 series lead. One loss from elimination, the Dodgers refused to let the moment get too big for them, winning the next two games to advance to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) against the New York Mets.

The NLCS was yet another rematch for the Dodgers. The last time these two teams faced each other in the playoffs was in the 2015 NLDS, which the Mets won in five games. The Mets, who had recently upset the Phillies, were on a hot streak, despite being postseason underdogs. 

The Mets certainly gave the Dodgers a run for their money, but the Dodgers offense was too strong. They managed to tally 52 runs throughout the entire series. Despite lacking depth, the Dodgers bullpen came through and held the Mets, who have the highest payroll in the majors, down. In a series-clinching game six, the Dodgers put up ten runs, sending the Mets back home and advancing to the World Series.  

The World Series couldn’t have been a better match-up, a clash of titans between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. Game one did not disappoint. In the bottom of the tenth, down 3-2, Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Dodgers a 1-0 series lead, setting the tone for the series. 

The Dodgers would take the next two games thanks to stellar performances by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman, Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers’ pitching staff, as they took a commanding 3-0 series lead and found themselves on the brink of what could have been a rare sweep. The last time this happened was when the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers back in the 2012 World Series. But the Yankees weren’t going to let that happen at Yankee Stadium. Their bats came alive with an 11-4 victory in game four. 

Finding themselves down five runs early in game 5, it was thought by many that the Dodgers just wanted to come back to Los Angeles to win it all in their own stadium. But the offense came alive in the fifth inning with the help of some lackluster New York defense, putting up five runs against Yankees ace, Gerrit Cole. The Dodgers would then put up two more insurance runs, as Dodgers’ reliever Blake Treinen put the Yankees’ bats to sleep.

In the ninth inning, Manager Dave Roberts decided to turn to Walker Buehler, who had an extremely rough year after coming back from Tommy John Surgery. After retiring two, former Dodger Alex Verdugo stepped up to the plate, representing the final out. Buehler was determined to close the game out. After not even knowing whether or not he was going to make the postseason lineup, there he was getting the final three outs of the World Series. 

As the final out was recorded, the city of Los Angeles erupted in cheers and fireworks, as the Dodgers came out on top as the 2024 World Series Champions. 

The Dodgers lived up to all the hype this season, and with this being their second World Series win in the past four years, there is still much more in store for this dominant Dodgers dynasty.