Jordan Heinrich ’26
EE Staff Writer
The 2024 MLB Postseason was filled with exciting moments and major surprises. The Postseason began with shocking eliminations of the most favored teams: the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, and Milwaukee Brewers.
The New York Mets pulled off a miracle, after being dead last in the National League standings, they came back to win the NL Wildcard spot against the Milwaukee Brewers. The magic continued for the Mets in the National League Eastern Division Series against the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets won the series 3 games to 1, advancing the the National League Championship Series against the best team in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Arguably the most exciting series in the playoffs was the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres in the National League Western Division Series. In a hard fought 5 game series, the Dodgers managed to pull off the win and advanced to the NLCS.
The Mets luck ran out in the NLCS against the Dodgers. The Mets were able to win 2 games but they were out-matched by the Dodgers outstanding lineup.
The games of the American League Division Series were highly competitive. The Detroit Tigers were an unlikely team to make the playoffs. After being second to last in the American League standings, the Tigers roared back to clinch a Wildcard spot for a showdown against the Houston Astros. The Astros were the favorites to advance to their 9th consecutive postseason run. The Tigers showed no fear and swept the Astros in the Wildcard Series.
The Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles, both of which have some of the youngest players in baseball, also faced off in the Wildcard Series. The Orioles went into the series in second place in the American League East and were the favorites to advance. However, they were unable to hold off the Royals who swept the Orioles in the series. The Royals advanced to the American League Division Series against the best team in the American League, the New York Yankees. The ALDS showcasing the Yankees and Royals was a blowout series, with the Yankees winning the divisional title in 4 games.
The Cleveland Guardians were first place in the American League Central Division. The Guardians took on the Tigers in the American League Division Series. The series was 5 games of outstanding baseball. The Guardians were able to surpass the Tigers and advance to the American League Championship Series to face off against the New York Yankees.
The ALCS was 5 games of back and forth baseball. Despite the quietness of some of the Yankee bats, especially the MVP of the American League, Aaron Judge, the Yankees advanced to the World Series for the first time in 15 years. The MVP of the Championship Series was Giancarlo Stanton who hit 4 home runs in the series. In game 5 of the series, Juan Soto’s 3-run homer in the 10th inning sent the Yankees past the Guardians 5-2 and into the World Series for the 41st time.
The heavily anticipated matchup between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers was set for the World Series. This rivalry has met a record 11 times in the MLB World Series, dating back to 1941. The series also hosted the 2 best players in baseball, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.
The Dodgers were favored going into the series. The series opened in LA with both teams’ ace pitchers on the mound. It was a hard fought game that went into the 10th inning, but because of a questionable decision by Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, with bases loaded for the Dodgers, Yankees bullpen arm Nestor Cortes gave up a grand slam to Dodgers first baseman, Freddie Freeman.
The Yankees’ struggles continued with another Dodger win in game 2. The series then went to New York for games 3 through 5.
The challenges for the Yankees persisted in game 3 with pitching difficulties and silent bats, the Dodgers took a 3-0 series lead despite an injury to their star play Shohei Ohtani. Game 4 was a must win game for the Yankees. The Yankees took full advantage of the Dodgers bullpen game with the bats coming to life including a grand slam from shortstop Anthony Volpe. The Bronx Bombers took game 4 with an 11-4 win.
With the team and fans energized and their ace on the mound, Gerrit Cole, the Yankees were ready to win their final home game of the season sending the World Series back to LA. The Dodgers also had their ace on the mound but this time the Yankees jumped to an early 5-0 lead, knocking him out in the 2nd inning.
The game fell apart for the Yankees in the 5th inning due to many fielding errors and bad plays allowing the Dodgers to tie the game. The Yankees were able to pull ahead briefly, but in the final innings of the game the Dodgers scored 3 more runs which secured them the World Series title.
The World Series MVP was Freddie Freeman whose outstanding stats were a .300 batting average, 4 homeruns and 12 RBI. On the other hand, Shohei Ohtani had a terrible World Series going 0-29. This win was the Dodgers 8th World Series title in franchise history. As for the Yankees disappointing loss, there are many questions to be answered and decisions to be made going into the off-season.