This is still the planet on which the Minnesota Twins and Arizona Diamondbacks won their most recent championships in 1991 and 2001 via walk-off RBI singles in Game 7 of the World Series.
So as incredible as Game 1 of the World Series was last night — when Freddie Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Fall Classic history to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-3 win over the New York Yankees — it was not the best World Series game ever played.
But it’s got a chance to be the most important and impactful World Series game this century.
“Those are the kind of things, when you’re five years old with your two older brothers and you’re playing Wiffle ball in the backyard, those are the scenarios you dream about — two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game,” Freeman said afterward. “For it to actually happen and get a home run and walk it off to give us a 1-0 lead, that’s as good as it gets right there.”
Especially for a sport hoping this World Series brings in some new fans, welcomes back some old ones and continues to embrace those who have remained faithful even while baseball has been dwarfed by football and basketball in the national consciousness.
A country conditioned to accept the idea that salary caps are necessary for competitive balance may not like what is represented by a World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees, who spent more than $550 million on payroll this season. But the importance of people tuning in to watch likely MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge — each of whom hit more than 50 homers — duel on the biggest stage cannot be underestimated, especially given the 10 lowest-rated World Series have all been played since 2008.
While Judge’s postseason slump continued as he went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts Friday, Ohtani’s two-out double with the Dodgers down 2-1 in the eighth began a compelling finishing kick that rewarded viewers while conjuring up memories of some of the most remarkable moments in baseball history.
Ohtani’s sprint for third after Gleyber Torres failed to corral the throw from right fielder Juan Soto was reminiscent of Johnny Damon stealing second and third base on the same ninth-inning pitch before eventually scoring the tie-breaking run in the Yankees 7-4 win in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series.
Torres nearly made up for his error in the top of the ninth, when everyone in America of a certain age yelled “JEFFREY MAIER!!!” after a Dodgers fan reached over the left field fence and caught his fly ball off Michael Kopech. Unlike Derek Jeter, who was credited with a home run despite Maier’s interference in the right field stands at Yankee Stadium during Game 1 of the 1996 AL Championship Series, Torres was credited with a double and was stranded at second when Judge popped out.
Another one of Jeter’s memorable moments was evoked in the 10th. With one out, two on and the Yankees up 3-2, left fielder Alex Verdugo flipped over the wall in foul territory while catching Ohtani’s fly ball. The grab offered a reminder of Jeter’s infamous diving catch into the Yankee Stadium left field seats during a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on July 1, 2004. (Even if Jeter didn’t really need to dive)
Freeman saved the best for last on the next official pitch. Following an intentional walk to Mookie Betts, Freeman — who has missed three playoff games due to a sprained right ankle — homered to the same part of the field and at almost the exact same time of night as Kirk Gibson did when the outfielder, hobbled by hamstring and knee injuries, hit his famous walk-off homer against Dennis Eckersley to give the Dodgers a 5-4 win in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
Gibson and Freeman are responsible for the only walk-off World Series homers hit by a trailing team.
“Might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve witnessed some great ones,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Freeman’s blast.
Gibson’s homer sparked a five-game World Series win for the Dodgers.
On a night when so much history was echoed and repeated, let’s hope a Fall Classic opener that was everything Major League Baseball and its fans — new, returning and old alike — could have asked for was just a beginning, and not the beginning of the end.
