The New York Yankees lost the 2024 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one on Wednesday night in both heartbreaking and comical fashion. In a game that had seemed so promising early, the Yankees and their fans ended the night wondering what if. Baseball is often a game of inches and Game 5 was no exception. The whole series was no exception.
What if Freddie Freeman gets just a little less of that Nestor Cortes pitch in the tenth inning of Game 1? Never mind what if Aaron Boone brings in an actual reliever in that situation. What if Aaron Judge fields that fly ball cleanly in the fifth inning? Are the New York Yankees sitting here today with a 3-2 lead heading back to Los Angeles? We’ll never know.
Aaron Judge Was the Hero Until He Wasn’t
In the first inning, Aaron Judge saw exactly one pitch. It was a four-seamed fastball from Dodgers Starting Pitcher Jack Flaherty and Judge deposited it 403 feet into the right-center bleachers to score Juan Soto who had walked the at-bat before. It was the kind of moment New York Yankees fans had been waiting for the whole series and at the moment it seemed prophetic. Then in the fourth inning, Judge appeared on the stage again.
This time with a spectacular wall-crashing catch in the fourth inning, robbing eventual World Series MVP Freddie Freeman of what might have been a double to center. Surely this was the game and Aaron Judge was the man. Then the feel-good story turned into an epic tragedy. In the Dodgers half of the fifth inning, Third Baseman Enrique Hernandez led off with an innocuous single to right. New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole got Dodgers Center Fielder Tommy Edman to hit a fly ball to center. What happened next changed the course of the game and the series. Judge misplayed the fly ball.
Instead of there being one out and Hernandez on first, there were runners at first and third with nobody out. Instead of the ground ball by Dodgers Catcher Will Smith becoming an inning-ending double play, it was a fielder’s choice that left runners at second and third with just one out. Five Dodger runs later the game was tied and the script had flipped.
The New York Yankees Postseason Mishaps Added Up
A pitch here, a play in the outfield there, and the 2024 World Series might have been different. If Nestor Cortes pitches an inch better. If Aaron Judge plays that fly ball an inch better. If, if, and if. But isn’t that the case every year? By definition, one team has to win, and one team has to lose. This year the winning part was for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans. For the New York Yankees and their fans, the offseason will be full of what-ifs. The New York Yankees will now turn their attention toward 2025.
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