With the New York Yankees winning the 2024 American League Pennant and the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2024 National League Pennant, the 2024 World Series was supposed to be an epically historical baseball matchup. You have the two biggest media markets in New York and Los Angeles. You have stars on the field like Judge, Soto, Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, and Cole. You have the celebrities in the stands and the media frenzy and the wonderful history of these two franchises when the Dodgers roamed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn prior to moving to Los Angeles. It was a matchup that Major League Baseball’s sponsors dreamed about. On paper, it was supposed to be one of the best World Series in recent memory.

For me, it never got there. It never lived up to the hype. By Game 3, the Series was over as the Los Angeles Dodgers went up by a commanding 3-0 lead. For me, I would argue that the epic, late inning grand slam that Freddie Freeman hit in Game 1 pretty much ended the hopes of the Yankees and their fans. Inserting a starting pitcher to face three of baseball’s best hitters in a critical Game 1 situation with a slim lead in the bottom of the 10th inning? Someone who has not been in a competitive game, starting or relieving, in over a month? And throwing a non-competitive pitch to an all-time hitter like Freeman in a clutch situation? That was a very surprising decision by Yankee’s management and it proved to be wicked costly. I think it set the tone for the entire series, one which the Dodgers won rather easily, in my opinion.

Two great teams competing on the ultimate stage – a 7 game series to determine a World Series Champion – with the entire baseball world watching. So, how did the teams’ fare? Again, my opinion, not that great. Here are some stats to back up the lack of excitement in my fingers as I am typing this article:

• Runners in scoring position, RISP – here is an important stat and a surefire way to get the fans involved. Runners at 2nd and 3rd, just itching to come home. Well, in the 2024 World Series, we had a lackluster performance by both clubs. The NYY went 9 for 45 with RISP, hitting at a .200 clip. The LAD didn’t fare much better, clocking in a .184 after going 7-38 with RISP.
• And to pile on here, how about total runners left on base? Remember the old saying, “runners left on base tend not to score?” NYY left a whopping 43 runners on base in 5 games. In pivotal Games 1 and 5, the NYY left 11 and 12 runners on base, respectively. LAD left 29 runners on base, including 10 runners in their victorious Game 5. For the Series, the NYY scored a total of 24 runs. The LAD, they scored 25 runs. A lot of runners got on base for both squads but did not reach the most important base – home plate.
• Each team, the NYY and the LAD, struck out 34 times for the 5 game Series. The NYY struck out 13 times in Game 1, 11 more in Game 3. Without even checking, I am guessing that many of these K’s were in pivotal situations with runners on base or in scoring position. The drama was there, the players just didn’t live up to the hype. Far too many strikeouts on non-competitive swings. Let’s face it, it’s not like each team boasted multiple Cy Young Award caliber pitchers. Cole, Buehler, maybe. But the rest of the group, including relievers – no way. The best pitcher on both teams didn’t even throw a pitch, Shohei Ohtani. Far too many strikeouts really deflated my interest, especially those in high stress situations with RISP.
• And finally, how about that gigantic matchup of gigantic MLB stars – Aaron Judge of the NYY vs Shohei Ohtani of the LAD. Judge never showed up, batting a majorly sub-standard .184 with a zillion strikeouts and one major league error in Game 5 that really sealed the NYY’s fate. Ohtani was better, but not that great hitter that we have all been accustomed to. After hurting his left shoulder sliding into 2nd base in Game 2, he was just not the same player. It was a big time ho-hum matchup that had but a few sparks but mostly fizzle.

Honestly, I watched about 50% of each game in the 2024 World Series, turning it off when I became disinterested by the play on the field, the non-competitive swings, the lack of clutch hitting, and the substandard pitching. If these were the best two teams in Major League Baseball in 2024, wow the game is in real trouble. I think the NY Mets vs LAD series was way better. Heck, the San Diego Padres vs LAD series was even better. I watched most of those games from first pitch to last out. I was really bummed out when the Cleveland Guardians failed to advance. Same can be said for the NY Mets. I think a NY Mets vs Cleveland Guardians World Series would have been way better. In the end, I was really hoping for a better World Series because on paper, it was set to be legendary. Instead, it was merely legendary on the hype alone.