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Summary:
- The LA Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 10-5 in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
- The National League champions are preparing to play against the New York Yankees in a dream World Series matchup on Friday at Dodgers Stadium.
- LA last celebrated a championship win in 1988; now, the Dodgers are only four wins away from the winners’ parade.
The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ season kicked off in South Korea embroiled in a gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter.
As the year progressed, they were plagued by injuries, with every starting pitcher sidelined at some point.
Yet, there they stood on Sunday night, celebrating another trip to the World Series at Dodger Stadium as “I Love LA” echoed through the crowd.
For the fourth time in eight years, the Dodgers are National League champions, defeating the New York Mets 10-5 in Game 6 of the NLCS.
Now, they will face the New York Yankees in a dreamy LA VS NY World Series matchup starting Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s Been a Fun Ride”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said
It’s been a fun ride, There’s a great focus with our guys, a hunger, and a real good compete and fight. Personally, I am just fortunate. I have a lot of great people around me, most importantly the players.
The sellout crowd stayed late, savoring the moment rather than rushing to beat the traffic.
Dodgers infielder Enrique Hernandez spoke about the significance of celebrating at home:
They show up for us year in and year out on a daily basis. Our fan base travels as good as any fan base in all of baseball. To be able to do it at home kind of means everything to us because we get to celebrate with them.
The Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, but due to COVID restrictions, there was no parade.
The city hasn’t had a championship celebration since 1988, when the Dodgers last triumphed over the Mets in the NLCS before shocking the Oakland A’s in the World Series.
Now, they’re just four wins away from finally hosting that long-awaited parade.
Roberts believes in his team, despite the season’s many challenges, including losing key players like starter Tyler Glasnow.
Everybody was panicking because we got a lot of injuries, It was the one time that we felt like we were down as a team.
said Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez.
The Meeting That “Changed Everything”
Roberts called a rare team meeting, delivering a powerful message that resonated throughout their playoff run.
“The message basically was I can’t believe more in them than they believe in each other”, Roberts explained, adding he “just felt” they had “enough talent in the room to do that”.
The Dodgers took the advice and fueled their surge into October.
“The one meeting changed everything“, Teoscar Hernandez commented. “We realized that we have the potential, that we have the players, that we’re still the Dodgers”.
The team’s trade deadline acquisition of Tommy Edman also proved pivotal. Edman not only filled in as the starting shortstop but became the NLCS MVP, driving in a franchise-record 11 runs during the series.
Now, the Dodgers are heading to the World Series with only three healthy starting pitchers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty, and Walker Buehler, and an injured All-Star first baseman in Freddie Freeman, who sat out for the second game of the series.
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