Fundamental Baseball Cost New York Yankees World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers Take Advantage of Yankees Miscues to Win World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 2024 World Series Champions and take nothing away from what they did this season. Los Angeles was the better team and the best team won the World Series. However, simple FUNDAMENTAL baseball basics continue to haunt a flawed New York Yankees roster.
It was going to be impossible to pull off what the 2004 Boston Red Sox did in the World Series. Los Angeles had too much power in their lineup, but the Yankees won Game 4 and were up 5-0 in Game 5 heading into the fifth inning of play.
The bats woke up in Game 4. Aaron Judge found his swing again and it appeared the Yankees were taking the World Series Trophy and the Los Angeles Dodgers back to LA. But in an instance it all changed in a blink of an eye.
After making a great catch in the top of the 4th inning, Aaron Judge took his eye off the ball when Tommy Edman hit one into centerfield. We are all taught from a young age to watch the ball into the glove. And on plays like that turn your glove and watch the ball into the glove.
Judge tried to do it the hard way and a routine error gave the Dodgers one of three extra outs in the 5th inning. Now instead of one out with a runner on first it is runners on first and second and nobody out.
Then Anthony Volpe, who was the hero in Game 4, tried to get a force out at third on a Will Smith grounder. That is the right play, but because Enrique Hernandez is running the bases so aggressively and had a good jump off second, Volpe one-hopped the throw to Jazz Chisholm, who was unable to handle it.
Now the bases are loaded and there is nobody out. Gerrit Cole, who was throwing a no hitter, and the Yankees had no hit the Dodgers from the 5th inning of Game 4 up until this point gifted the Dodgers another extra out. However, Cole seemed unphased by the situation.
Cole then threw back to back trikeouts of Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani and now he was one out away from getting out of the jam. And as John Smoltz did so brilliantly on the broadcast, he pointed out that Cole’s mindset can’t change and can’t think like I’m an out away from getting out of a jam.
Well, that is exactly what happened. Cole was gassed up at that point. However, there is no excuse for the fielding error that followed. Another Yankee killer Mookie Betts hit a slow grounder to first, and this led to a miscommunication between Anthony Rizzo and Cole.
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Both thought the other was going to cover the bag. Now, the ball takes a little spin to the second base side of first, but there is no excuse for Rizzo to not charge the ball. Cole should have covered first for the play, but he couldn’t run at that point, he is gassed.
This leads to the first Dodgers run. Up until this point, Cole was pitching well and the Dodgers had no answers. Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts might be thinking about how he will use his bullpen. Would he use his big guns or other guys.
Instead it is a brand new ball game.
And who else but World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, who had a home run in four straight games in the 2024 World Series, and a homer in six straight World Series games dating back to his days with the Atlanta Braves, as he hit a two-run single off of Cole to make it 5-3.
Then Teoscar Hernandez followed with a game-tying two-run double to the left-center gap over Judge’s head. The Dodgers were given six outs in the Top of the 5th inning in Game 5 and took advantage of them.
You can’t give a team like the Dodgers extra outs. They are too good not to make you pay. Similar to the days of when the New York Yankees won four World Titles in five years.
But the Dodgers have been taking advantage of the Yankees errors all serious. Game 5 was a microcosism of the entire season for the Yankees. All year the Yankees relied on the home run and could not play small ball. At times they could. They did in it in the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians. However, their flaws were exposed by the Dodgers.
The Yankees could not run the bases properly. They had poor defensive mechanics in the field. New York relied too much on analytics and let guys in management make baseball decisions on the field. Go back to Game 1, Gerritt Cole did not need to come out after 88 pitches.
Instead, Dodgers tie the game, and Aaron Boone used a cold pitcher in Nestor Cortes to face Freeman in Game 1 in the Bottom of the 10th inning. What happens home run. Game 3. Gincarlo Stanton poor base running costs the Yankees a run.
But the Yankees could not run the bases at all this season. Again fundamental errors cost the New York Yankees the World Series. Yes, the Dodgers were the better team and deserved to win, but the Yankees shot themselves in the foot too.
The Yankees have to built a team not a roster that can work together to move the lineup along. Not to just be a power hitting team because in the playoffs good pitching beats good hitting every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
New York benefited from an easy path to the World Series. Now it is back to the drawing board for Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone and the rest of the staff.
It will be an interesting off-season in the Bronx, but maybe just maybe they need to work on the basics when Spring Training opens so it does not cost them another Champoionship.
We can say that judge blunder was a big part… but in reality.. Cole not covering first base was the true start of their demise and cost them all that momentum!