Original subtitles

As a player, I understood the magnitude of this series.

First baseman, number five, Freddie Freeman.

Here we go from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Welcome to the 2024 World Series.

You just can't predict this sport.

This is so hard to do. There's Hall of Famers that have never even won a

championship.

There's only one champion every year.

And go for something that is not guaranteed, even if you give it

you've got. It takes grit. It takes toughness.

It's baseball's two most legendary franchises, the two best teams in

what feels like a gift of a far classic. For years, as a kid watching the

Yankees playing the World Series, that excitement, the emotion is something

definitely special.

Number 99.

If you would have told me back then when I was five years old I'd be in a World

Series with the Yankees, be the captain of the Yankees, I'd probably never would

have believed it.

Your whole life, everything you do is to win a World Series, but I

didn't realize how bad I really did want it until you get there and until you

can taste it.

Baseball is what I know and in my blood.

This is what I poured my life into.

Very blessed to be able to go play for it all with these guys on this stage.

We're playing at Dodgers -Yankees World Series, the two best teams in baseball.

That was the whole focus of the baseball world.

Then I get to be a part of it.

There's a lot of people in baseball who have kind of been waiting for a matchup

with this much excitement and hype and build up to it.

You got two of the most iconic brands in all of sport.

The two best offenses left.

Everything that you could possibly ask for in a World Series you have here.

Merry baseball Christmas.

That's what it feels like.

It's going to be the 12th time these two teams have met in the history of

baseball. The most of any two teams in the sport.

These are two franchises whose histories, it's kind of remarkable how

intertwined they've been.

Going all the way back to when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.

Ability then to succeed in October, always revolving around their inability

beat the Yankees.

And here comes Robinson, trying to steal home.

He's safe, says the out. The Dodgers finally got over that home and beat

And even though they're now on different coasts, those matchups have been

probably one of the more memorable moments in history.

Reggie Jackson has seen two pitches, and he's in a boat in the sea.

Even though they haven't played in four decades now, getting this matchup

resurfaces a lot of that history.

These are the two teams that have the most

star power in MLB history.

You think of some of the greatest moments throughout baseball, they were

Yankees or Dodgers.

The tying run is at second base.

High fly ball into right field.

She is gone.

The impossible has happened.

And going into this matchup, you have two of the biggest players in not only

baseball right now, but all of sports. Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge.

Since one high.

Indeed to center field. He got it!

Aaron Judge's 2024 season is statistically the greatest right -handed

season of all time.

A grand slam!

He really inspires the people around him and makes them better, and that's

exactly what a captain of a team should be. I would definitely go to war every

day for that guy.

Deep left center. Judge leaping!

The only player that rivals Aaron Judge is Shohei Ohtani, who is one of the best

ever.

There's a powering drive.

Ohtani's broken through.

It is gone.

Shohei Ohtani came to the Dodgers in the offseason this year. He was a hitter

and a pitcher.

And as good a pitcher as there was in baseball. He gets hurt last season. He

comes to L .A. and now he's just doing the hitting thing. What could this look

like?

Other than the obvious, what do you admire about Shohei?

Other than the obvious, I feel like everything's obvious.

Hits for average, hits for power, the speed, doing what he did this year with

the 50 stolen bases. It got talked about a lot, but I don't think it got talked

about enough.

There goes Otani at number 40 for Shohei.

He just went on this rampage through September.

He started to say, whoa, he could give 50 -50.

He's one swing away from history.

Gone!

One of a kind player.

One of a kind season.

Shohei Otani.

The first player in the history of this sport to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen

bases in the same season.

Shohei Otani.

Aaron Judge, they're both going to win the MVP this season.

But if those two players didn't exist, there'd be just as much hype between

Soto and Mookie Betts.

You have Garrett Cole.

And you have Giancarlo Stanton.

You have Freddie Freeman.

This is a series of stars.

And it's going to be fascinating to see how star players extract their best when

it's demanded of them in this stage.

Hey, Max, you got to go first. Let's go.

You look like Daddy.

You guys both look like Dad.

Oh, because you just got haircuts, too?

Oh, we're looking good. You guys look so handsome.

I'm a little nervous, but it's like fun little butterflies, I feel like.

Freddie's hurt, so he's been trying to battle through injuries.

He left this morning, and he's been there all day. Like, I think a lot of

think they just show up right before the game, and that's it. But there's, like,

a huge process just to be able.

to practice before he played.

Freddie, how are you feeling today?

Pretty good.

Want the truth?

What a pick by Jake Cronenworth. A wide throw and a tag from the rise to get a

stumbling Freddie Freeman.

He holds his breath until he gets to his feet.

The day the Dodgers clinched the division, he rolls his right ankle and

looked like a pretty concerning injury.

There was a lot of concern because he is such a valuable part in the Dodgers

lineup.

Freddie Freeman not even going to test it. Linton off of the field.

Super painful at the beginning.

It was like a grapefruit on the side of my ankle.

I was like, we're not going to have our first baseman for the postseason. Are

you kidding me?

It's a six -week injury on the IL.

I had eight days before the playoffs.

But if you know me, I'll do anything to try and get on the field.

What's the status on Freddie?

You know what? I don't know.

His ankle was really bothering him.

He was limited in the playoffs and definitely wasn't moving around great.

I'd always be okay the starting game, but by the third or fourth inning, I

couldn't even hardly walk after that. You've got to put on the brakes with an

ankle like that. That's not fun.

I wasn't playing very good.

It's another curve, and it grounded a first. Backhand Freeman throws the ball

into left center field.

David, I want to ask what you're seeing out of Freddie.

I'm going to have a conversation with him.

tomorrow but i do think that his swing is not right and i'm just certain it's

the ankle you could make a fair argument he's so diminished right now they're a

better team waiting for him to get ready towards the end of the postseason it

got so bad that he didn't play the last couple games and so there's question of

if he's going to be available for the world series and even if he is what's

going to look like I was putting myself out there. Like, I am not 100%, and if I

fail on the biggest stage in the world, no one's going to care about my ankle.

But they wanted to do it to give us the best chance to win.

The two managers in this World Series, Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone, the

which one of these managers needs to win this World Series more to save their

job? In the regular season, the Dodgers have been about as good as maybe anybody

over the last 12 years here.

When you get to the postseason, things get a little different.

The Dodgers have had three consecutive division series exits, losing to teams

that they were better than during the regular season.

With the Dodgers, there's always that expectation or pressure.

Either win a World Series championship or you failed and you're not doing a

job.

Aaron's the only one in baseball that can really relate.

And in New York, certainly they think Aaron Boone needs to do something since

taking over as manager in 2018.

This Yankee season starts with last Yankee season, which was the

of them not making the playoff.

Our 2023 season was a really difficult year.

We lacked offense.

It was Aaron Judge providing most of it.

How about you guys finish with Aaron so we can get Juan in there? No. Yes. Juan

wants to take pictures.

No, I don't. Juan loves pictures.

Go take one with Aaron.

One of the biggest moves they made was the trade for Juan Soto in November.

Just needed to produce more runs, and no one could solve that better than

bringing in Juan Soto to pair with Aaron Judge.

Knowing what's at stake, putting him back -to -back in the lineup with Aaron

such a game -changer for us.

If you don't make that trade for Soto, I don't know if this team has what it

takes to get to the finish line.

Got the special T -shirt.

So cute.

Are you excited to watch Daddy tonight?

Yeah.

I wore a jersey like the first game of the last series and we won, so I'm

not. I really don't wear jerseys that often, but I'm trying to do the same

thing.

I met Chelsea in spring training in

2011.

I was 21, she was 19.

All the success, all the failure, she's experienced every single thing with me.

All right, you ready?

Freeman Vann's out.

Let's get the thing going.

I can't believe it's the World Series. I know.

Family is everything to me, so I'm very blessed to have Chelsea. And what kind

of mom she is, what kind of wife she is, where I can focus on baseball.

It's pretty crazy to see how rock bottom we were just a few months ago, and then

now to be going to the World Series, it's pretty surreal.

Dodgers star Freddie Freeman revealed today that his three -year -old son

Maximus is suffering from Guillain -Barre syndrome, a rare neurological

disorder.

Freddie Freeman's son Max contracted a neurological condition that left him

paralyzed. Freddie Freeman was scratched from the lineup today. He is headed

back to L .A. And Freddie Freeman left the team.

I've lost my mom to cancer when I was 10 years old, which is...

But when you see your son was fighting for his own life at three years old, you

just don't think that's going to ever happen. And then it happens, and you're

like, whoa.

He woke up Monday morning with a limp.

And by Monday night, he couldn't walk anymore.

They immediately got him to the hospital, to the emergency room, and

and a half hours, he had a ventilator in.

Just being one of your kids on a ventilator, just fighting.

1 -1 on Biggio. As he continues to hold down the fort at first, with Freddie

Freeman away from the team.

So Dave Roberts said that he's not going to be with the team in Oakland, and

we'll see him when he's ready to get back to the team, guys.

He spent the next week and a half in the hospital as they tried to figure out

what was wrong and then treated as fast as they could so he could get home.

The team rallied around him as well. They were wearing Max Strong t -shirts.

The storyline here tonight starts with Max Freeman.

Dodger players and fans prayed for little Max.

He was at his son's hospital bedside. Freeman and his wife Chelsea took 30

shifts until an almost miraculous breakthrough.

Freeman and his wife Chelsea made a joint Instagram post stating that

was taken off his ventilator after showing significant improvement in the

48 hours.

Max is looking like he's going to have 100 % recovery.

He's still not walking normal, but he's doing so much better.

It's still going to take a few more months, but we're on the road.

I would not have come back this year if he had stayed sick.

First baseman, number five, Brady Freeman.

That first game I came back, I could hear the crowd start getting louder and

louder.

It's hard to put into words what the Dodger fans have meant to us and our

family.

It made it really hard to hit in that first at -bat.

But that's a good thing.

I was okay with that. It's like one of the most pleasant strikeouts I've ever

had in my big league career.

Look at this, you guys.

So cute.

Should we get a photo in front of this?

Oh,

yeah,

that's cute. Picture.

Should we try one?

Oh,

that's good timing.

How are you?

Hi. How are you?

Freddie's dad's just an incredible man.

I've never seen a father and son closer than they are after.

His mom passed away. He was only 10.

His dad on his lunch break would go to his high school and just throw him like

an extra bucket of balls for batting practice.

To this day, if Freddie doesn't think his swing's right, he'll call his dad

be like, what am I doing wrong?

Their bond is just like so special.

Welcome to the World Series.

It doesn't get better than this.

Dodgers Stadium, blue heaven on earth.

We've been dreaming of game one of the World Series for a long time. We're

to see it.

Well, the Yankees have ended the pennant drought in the World Series for the

first time in 15 years.

Dodgers, with their fourth trip to the World Series in eight seasons, looking

for their first World Series win in a full season since 1988.

We got a perfect night for Game 1, the 120th World Series, the 12th between

these baseball powers.

This place is packed to the gills. 56 ,000 people here at Johnson Stadium.

are very loud.

This is the loudest place I've ever been in in my life.

Now we get down to baseball, and it all begins with a kid from up the road.

Jack Flaherty starts game one.

Be able to take them out and start game one at home, my hometown, against

the Yankees of all teams. You know, it's about as big as it gets.

I want to ride that wave and ride that adrenaline.

It's so electric, and you can feel the fans behind you.

The Yankees coming to bat.

Torres climbs in, and off we go.

Has it deferred, and a hot shot caught by Muncy.

Getting the first out was huge just to start it. It's about executing.

Go out, put up a zero, and let's start this thing off.

Right fielder, number 22, Juan Soto.

Yeah, this is the guy that changed everything for the Yankees.

And it's the least surprising thing ever that he's been a perfect fit in New

York and that he's once again owned the postseason.

And he's got a four -pitch walk. First base runner for the Yankees is Juan

If we've got the walk Soto, we're going to get through that first inning 0 -0.

It's okay.

We started worrying about the stakes or, you know, what could possibly go wrong.

I think that you're in the wrong mindset.

Here he is, Aaron Judge, larger than life, playing in his first World Series.

Aaron, he's a special athlete.

This is the AL MVP.

Center fielder, number 99, Aaron Judge.

We've got to pitch him very carefully.

Let's go, baby, let's go.

Come on, Jake, let's go, baby.

Let's go.

58 home runs, 144 driven in for Judge this year.

He swings and misses as the bottom falls out of that curve.

With Judge, we have to just give him different looks, mix in with it, crowd

a little bit, and hopefully try to just feed off of his aggressiveness.

Missed. He got him with a slider.

Boy, he missed that by a foot.

Jazz Chisholm.

Bounces one right side.

Jack Flaherty puts up a zero in the first.

Now to the bottom of the first here is Ohtani.

If Paul and the Yankees starters pitch the way they're capable of, this becomes

the biggest single advantage in this series.

What makes Garrett tough is he has three or four pitches.

In baseball, there's probably five or six bona fide aces, and he's one of

He's off to a big -time challenge facing this guy.

I think the challenge is...

You're not really sure what the opposition's going to do, and you know

they're lethal when they do swing.

So you've got to give every pitch a chance by fully committing to it, and so

it if the ball gets hit.

Sohei Otani swings to the first pitch, sends a fly ball to center field.

Judge is backing up, and he just misses homer in the first pitch of his World

Series career.

Yeah, he's ready to roll.

We didn't want them to beat us with one swing, but for being aggressive, their

weaknesses was kind of what we were going after.

From one MVP to another here in Mookie Betts, he's one of the top five in the

game, and he gets to bat behind the greatest player in the game that makes

Dodgers special.

The pitch to Betts.

Swung on ahead of the air to left field and deep.

Verdugo back at the wall. Makes a catch.

I think honesty compels me to say that Garrett Cole was

not fooling anybody.

Anyone get care of that, too?

Number five, Freddie Freeman.

Come on, Freddie.

Freddie Freeman's back in the lineup for the Dodgers. Battle on that ankle

injury.

Going into game one, I hadn't run in seven days because I was trying to calm

ankle down as much as I possibly could.

I didn't want to flare it up.

What he's battling through, you need your legs, your feet, you hit from the

ground up. He's still good enough to hit with his upper body, but he loses the

power and the bat speed on the pitches inside.

Breaking pitch is punched by the bag and down the left field line for Freddie

Freeman. Going to test that ankle right away.

He'll cruise into second and think about three as Verdugo can't play it cleanly.

Freeman's into third.

A base hit turns into three.

You just never bet against Freddie Freeman.

And he's a little hobbled. He didn't look too hobbled to me.

I'm like, stop.

Stop. Stop at second base.

You don't even know if he's going to be in the lineup. And he flashes the ball,

legs out a triple, but that's just who he was.

As I was running, I was like, I actually feel all right.

As I slid into third and got up, I wasn't falling over. I wasn't in

pain.

I was hoping he just made it in second.

Okay, we needed more, though.

The Dodgers have a runner at third with two away for Teoscar Hernandez.

Susan, I think it's our duty to say the Yankees are really lucky they got out

without a run.

It's good grief.

Statistically, we've never had a World Series matchup with two teams this good.

I would think for a pitcher, this is extra hard work.

I mean, you've got to basically approach every hitter like a ninth -inning

batter.

The one -two pitch.

Got him swinging.

Real good stuff from Jack Cleary.

Now can the Dodger offense break through against Garrett Cole?

Here is Ohtani.

Swings and misses.

That man right there, that good man.

Both starters in this game one pitcher's duel. Up to the challenge.

These are the games that we've been dreaming of as kids, and the intensity

the importance of the game, it gets a little enhanced.

The Dodgers 6 -0 this postseason when Quique Hernandez has a hit. He's

for one right now.

That's right, Quique Hernandez.

It's very easy to see yourself failing in the postseason and the anxiety, the

self -doubt, all these things start creeping in your mind.

Quickly ahead of Quique Hernandez, 0 -2.

Whenever those thoughts creep in, I just visualize myself having success over

and over again. And it's almost like you get to the field the next day and

you've already seen the day happen.

So nothing overwhelms you. No moment gets too big.

I don't know if it's because I'm Puerto Rican. I don't know what it is, but I'm

glad that it does.

And it swings and shoots at the right field. That is flashing away from Soto.

He's on a run. He reaches out. Can't get it. It gets by him. It's on the warning

track.

Watch the bases for Kike Hernandez.

Headed for third with a second down for trouble in this ballgame.

Juan took a bad angle and should have been a double.

And that was huge for Kike to come out of the box hard and get to third base.

It seemed like every time he needed a big hit, Kike seemed to get it. Big

he was doing everything.

I think that's why every team wants Kike Hernandez, because he shows up when you

need him the most.

Runner at third, one away.

Will Smith at the plate.

He grabbed me with some fastballs earlier with my first bat.

You know, I know he's probably going to go to spin and try to give me a swing

and miss.

You know, I'm just... Looking for something that started kind of up and

something happen and not try to do too much.

The 1 -1. Will Smith.

Lifts it to right field.

Soto's over.

He makes the catch.

Here comes Hernandez.

Here comes Soto. Throw. Bang, bang.

But he's in place.

And the Dodgers have broken through in the fifth.

So reliable through the years. Gets the job done. Scoring Kika Hernandez.

Dodgers have the game's first run.

Here call Jack Flaherty. Both magnificent here in game one.

Out of the order. Due up for New York. Soto, Judge, and Stitt.

We got three guys there in a row, at least in game one, between Soto Judge

Stanton and what they can do in terms of the damage that they can do.

I mean, that's a tough trio to go through.

He's done an unbelievable job.

Well, right now he is on point and not shown anything worthy of taking him out

of the game.

Soto with a face hit to center field to open the six.

On a two -strike pitch, waits on it to land and bangs it to the middle to lead

off this inning.

That's like, okay, that's not a home run.

Scratch that, move on to the next pitch.

You got to move on really quickly.

Center fielder number 99, Aaron Judge.

This is not where you want to be. Runners on base with Judge and then

Judge hit him with a man at first.

If you struck out both times in this game, you get a little out of kilter

sometimes and you start trying to make things happen.

I don't have to step up anymore if I had to do anything more than what I've

done. As you look at the course of that game, it's 1 -0. So at what point do I

have to do anything more?

I'm pitching well. I just need to continue to go pitch by pitch.

Keep going until Doc says that's it.

What a big out.

Now it's Stanton.

So many times in this postseason, Stanton has been the man for these

Sign run at first. Go ahead, run at the plate.

As long as you've got the bat in your hands, you can launch your story. And

Stanton continues to write one of a spectacular October for the Yankees.

Shit.

That's the dog going through my head.

Stanton's sixth home run of the postseason. He has homered in four

games. And gives the Yankees a 2 -1 lead.

The only mistake, the only mistake that Jack Flaherty has made. He pitched a

perfect game up until that swing.

That's it.

I'm done.

It's going to be all for Jack.

You know, when he comes out, he makes the decision before he even gets there.

I wasn't really thinking about it a whole lot, but I wasn't going to fight

I'm frustrated because you want to leave the game ahead.

It was tough to come out of there being down 2 -1, knowing that I made one

mistake.

You know, you learn from failure.

Failure comes in every way, shape, or form, but the story goes on.

Nice ovation here for the hometown kid.

It's his money -making time. The late inning, bottom of the eighth, 2 -1

ballgame. Number 17.

Shohei Otani!

The Siam's first World Series game.

The career of Michinato in the post -season.

Here's the pit.

Soto on the run to the track. It's off the top of the wall.

Ohtani's got it for second.

Soto's throw not in time.

The ball gets away. Ohtani takes third.

It's a double, but then he takes third as the throw kicks away coming into the

infield.

So the crying one on third with only one out in the eighth.

They scout us, we scout them, and you're doing all that scouting for a series,

and we just felt that they didn't finish some points.

Mookie

Betts

will come to the plate against a new pitcher for the Yankees.

And he's going to his closure. Here comes Luke Weaver. Game one of the World

Series, a thriller.

Late season makeover this whole thing. Weaver goes into the closure's role and

has been awesome.

Time run here in game one, 90 feet away.

Weaver's one -two pitch.

Swings to center field.

Chubb going back. He reaches up and makes the catch.

But that's going to get the job done. Here comes Ohtani.

Sacrifice by Mookie Betts. And game one is tied.

Game one has been reset officially.

This is fun. It's agonizing, but, boy, is it fun.

There are 28 teams spread around this country of ours wishing they were here

playing. The man now on the mound for the Dodgers, Michael Kopek. The lineup

will turn over for the Angels.

Up comes Glaber Torres.

Here's his 2 -1.

Lips the clock out. Left center field.

It is gone.

Goal.

Goal. Goal.

Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal.

Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal.

Goal. Goal. Goal. Goal.

You have fan interference.

Yes. Yeah.

Well, the umpires are going to take another look at this, and you can

why. A true chief review of a potential home run.

A guy in the old fan interference.

They'll review it.

It's close.

It goes to replay operations and shoot. Depending on this review, he may be

awarded the home run. This is a 2 -2 tie at the top of the ninth. Game one of

the World Series.

Well, it's definitely lacking drama.

Said nobody ever.

After a few, the call on the field has been confirmed.

There was spectator interference.

The runner is placed in second base.

We're going to call that fan interference.

So instead of a home run, they'll place Torres in second.

You have first base open. You have a left -handed hitting. Juan Soto is due

Aaron Judge has not handled the breaking balls well. He's one for four with

three strikeouts.

What's the option?

Which poison do you want?

Juan Soto has just been told by Carlos Torres, the home plate umpire, they're

intentionally walking me in front of Aaron Judge.

Yes, there's two outs.

But this is a 2 -2 tie at the top of the ninth. Game one of the World Series.

You've got to mind Soto.

That was the guy that you've got to just manage him.

If you walk him, you walk him.

We just felt that Judge and Stanton could slug you, but if you pitch him

you can keep him at bay.

Dave Roberts to make the change and go Trinan against Judge.

Blake Trinan, who was an absolute beast in the postseason.

He throws a wiffle ball.

You know, the ball sinks, it cuts.

You just don't know where it's going.

Stress levels off the charts in game one of the World Series.

You know, any time you get a chance to be in the big game, you count it as a

blessing. And having the opportunity to face one of the greats in the game, as

Aaron is, you know, this is what you play for. These are the moments that you

kind of dream of having.

One -two comes home. It is a fastball, and it's popped up.

Blake Cronin comes out of the pen and handles the AL MVP and keeps the game

at two. The Dodgers will have a chance to walk it off.

Tied in the bottom of the ninth inning.

These two teams standing toe -to -toe in the center of the ring.

Luke Weaver against Teoscar Hernandez.

That shot to right center field, but Soto's there.

Wow.

And here's Muncie.

He swings, and he lifts it high in the air.

Cabrera calling for it.

Two up and two down for Weber in this ninth, and it's T .K. Hernandez.

15 postseason home runs in his career.

A crackback player shut on that field. Verdugo coming up.

Alex Verdugo continues to sparkle defensively. And game one of the World

needs extra innings to decide it.

Say extra innings, free baseball.

I think our hearts beg to differ.

We're deemed costly for our health.

One away, it's high game, 10th inning, Jazz Chisholm's up.

Obviously, you want to keep everybody off base, but especially this guy, too,

because he can run.

Jazz is dangerous because there's some power in there.

There's some foot speed in there.

He's just somebody that could get a big hit if they needed.

And here's the issue now for Blake Trinan, trying to hold a guy who can run

because getting on second base would be huge for the Yankees.

Chisholm's got great speed.

Anthony Rizzo at the plate.

There he goes. Throw down from Smith.

Not in time, and Jazz Chisholm has stolen second.

He's aggressive, you know. He gives 100 % every time and wants to put the

pressure on the defense, and so you've just got to be ready for that.

Pressure will be on the middle infielders to keep Jazz close to second.

Stealing third's not out of the question either.

They're going to intentionally walk Rizzo and bring Volpe to the plate.

So first and second.

23 -year -old shortstop has been at his best so far in his first October.

He was born and raised in Manhattan and in New Jersey from a long line of

Yankees fans.

Like a million other kids, he wanted to be the next Derek Jeter. Well, he's the

one in a million who's grown up to become the shortstop of the Yankees.

High to two in the 10.

Great speed at second. Go ahead, run.

Dynan will take a peek. There goes Chisholm.

No throw from Will Smith.

A big 90 feet for Jazz Chisholm.

How do y 'all like that? Now it changes completely.

Now the Dodgers bring the infield in.

Mike Vaughn on his own, okay? We're still going on the ground, okay?

He might do it on his own.

They're up in minor.

Anything on the ground, we're going.

As an infielder, you're thinking, all right, I got to get this out at home.

Trying and looking for a K. It's 2 -2.

Any thinker that he throws down in the zone to me, that's his pitch. That's

he wants to do and get you to strike out. So I just want to see the ball out

just want to put the ball in play.

That is how New York goes back in front.

Three to two, Yankees

down the 10.

Game one of the World Series, hanging in the balance.

Leading off the bottom of the 10th inning for the Dodgers, catcher number

Will Smith.

The objective here for the bottom of the order, get somebody on base.

So you can hand this game to Shohei Otani.

Pitch.

Poke to right.

Soto. One gone in the tenth.

Number nine, Gavin Luck.

Dodgers trailing 3 -2.

A game one World Series classic.

Base is empty, one out. Only two more outs left for the Dodgers.

I was very worried.

Holding my breath.

Ball one.

We needed to get some traction with our offense.

The Dodgers desperate to get a man aboard to get Otani to the plate here.

The last thing you want to do here is bring Otani in there.

That guy's a unicorn, man.

Ball two.

Ball three.

On the 3 -1 pitch. What?

Let's hit ball four upstairs.

Tying run aboard.

We just wanted one guy on because that means Shohei was going to come up. So

when we got things rolling, the energy in our dugout started to intensify very

fast.

So unless there's a double play,

Otani is going to come up.

What do we have? Let me know.

I mean, that's 100%.

After those, Donnie, if you don't get them out, I could have bet.

And now the Dodgers will take just about any outcome other than a double play.

Tommy Edmond comes up.

I was thinking, just don't ground into a double play.

We had the tying run on first, and then we had Shohei coming up after that.

Edmund swings. It's on the ground.

I hit a ground ball, and I'm like, oh, crap. I really hope this is a double

play.

It squids underneath the glove of Cabrera at second.

Lux made a wide turn. He stumbled rounding second, but he slides back in

Unfortunately, I hit it in the spot, and I hit it hard enough where I was able

to get out of the second baseman's reach and be able to keep the inning going.

That was a double play on the bat.

That was, too.

It'll be first and second for Shohei Ohtani.

And here comes the pitching change.

Aaron Boone coming to the mound to bring in Lefty Cortez.

The Yankees put Nestor Cortez on the World Series roster for this matchup.

a Shohei Ohtani.

Nestor Cortez, who's not pitched in a month.

How about this for a soft landing? Go in there and face Shohei Ohtani with a

World Series game one on the line. What theater here in Los Angeles?

I was just like, Sho's coming up. He's going to hit a home run.

Whenever he got up there, especially at that point with runners on, it was like

he's going to do something spectacular.

What an opportunity this is for Shohei Ohtani and for baseball fans all over

world. His first trip to the postseason, his first trip to the World Series, and

in the 10th inning of Game 1, he's got a chance to be the hero.

First and second, one out, bottom of the 10th, Game 1 of the World Series.

The pitch.

Verdugo runs over and...

Catch that may go down in World Series lore.

Yeah, he caught it.

Out.

Time. Right here.

Third base.

Third base. Third base.

Give it a second, Tony.

He goes out of play so the runners will get 90 feet, but they get Otani on one

pitch.

What a play.

Huh?

The Dodgers down to their last out.

You know, with all the talk about Shohei Ohtani, you now have Mookie Betts

coming to the plate.

Yeah, we want to put Betts on.

We should walk him.

100 % walk here.

We're going to walk him. Yeah, yeah.

Shohei had just watched that bass against Nestor, and his iPad was next to

So I was like, you know what? I'm going to look at how he pitches Shohei.

And so I came up with a plan.

And the bases will be loaded here for Freddie Freeman with the Dodgers down 3

and down to their last shout in game one.

Well, I don't want to swing out a cutter or a slider away.

I'm going to look in and heat her in.

It's just...

A little chess game that happened in my head as I was going up there.

All you can do is smile, Mo, because

this ball game has left us without our sellout crowd standing

but barely breathing.

Now the kind of bat that every kid that plays baseball dreams of one day having.

You can tell yourself, all right, bottom of the 10, bases loaded, World Series,

one -run game, Dodgers -Yankees.

Reality for Freddie Freeman right here.

Cortez, deliver.

I had two older brothers growing up.

We played wiffle ball, backyard baseball all day long, every single day.

As a kid, you'd say bottom of the ninth, tie ball game, World Series.

It's always the biggest scenario, and then I was in that scenario.

It was a question of if Freddie Freeman would even be ready to play.

But to come through.

Yeah, that's stuff you just dream about, really.

Freddie Freeman channeling his inner Kirk Gibson.

A walk -on grand slam.

A no -doubt grand slam that they'll talk about for ages.

When I was 10 years old, baseball became an outlet to my father and I.

It made my dad and I focus on this and not, I just lost my mom, he just lost

wife.

We would go to the field for a couple hours every single day, and he would

throw me batting practice, and I would take ground balls, he'd hit me fly

So baseball means everything to me.

We ran over to your dad after hitting that home run. What did you say to him?

was just screaming in his face.

I'm sorry, Dad.

Yeah, he's been there since I was a little boy, throwing batting practice to

every day. So this isn't my moment. That's my dad's moment.

and you opted to intentionally walk Mookie to get Freddie there. The base is

loaded in that situation. Ultimately, did you deliberate a lot over that

decision, and why did you go with that?

No, I didn't deliberate long.

And Nestor had not pitched since September 18th. Why did you like him in

10th inning?

He's been throwing the ball really well the last few weeks as he's gotten ready,

so I felt convicted with Nestor in that spot.

That pitch to Freeman, I wish I could have, you know, Throwing it a little

higher, the bullpen battled.

We scratched some runs across and just tried to see a deal for them, and I

couldn't.

As tough as this one is, you can't sit here and mope. You can't sit here and

complain. You can't shoot a good award. It's time to go to work.

That's all you can do.

What does it mean for you to be the first person ever to hit a walk -off

slam in a World Series?

Oh, really?

First one. That was pretty cool.

Did you see Daddy hit a home run?

So cool.

What about him with the bat looking right at you?

Yeah, hopefully three more.

The hard thing of our sport is, like, you can't really, like, soak it in.

The next day, I'm facing Carlos Rodon.

Throwing 97 -mile -an -hour bullets from the left side. I'm already starting to

plan for him.

Because everyone's just talking about that moment and, like...

It's not really a moment if we lose the series. So I was like, now we got to

really win this thing.