The champagne has long since dried, but the echoes of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrating at Yankee Stadium still feel incredibly loud. It happened. After a season that felt like a Hollywood script—complete with record-breaking contracts, a 50-50 season for the ages, and a bullpen that refused to break—the Dodgers are the ones who won the World Series. They didn't just win it, though. They snatched it.
Winning a championship in Major League Baseball is usually a slow burn. You grind through 162 games just to earn the "right" to play in a postseason where a single bad bounce can ruin everything. But the 2024 Fall Classic was different. It was a heavyweight bout between the two biggest brands in the sport: the Dodgers and the New York Yankees.
Honestly, the five-game series was weirder than the box scores suggest.
You had Freddie Freeman playing on one good ankle and hitting a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 that felt like a spiritual sequel to Kirk Gibson in '88. You had a Yankees defense that literally forgot how to play catch in the fifth inning of the clincher. People keep asking who won the World Series because they want to know if the "superteam" model actually worked. It did. But it wasn't just about the money.
The Night the Yankees Collapsed
If you want to understand how the Dodgers won the World Series, you have to look at Game 5. Specifically, that fifth inning. New York was cruising. Gerrit Cole was dealing. It looked like the series was headed back to Los Angeles for a Game 6 that would have turned the pressure up to a thousand.
Then, the wheels fell off.
A dropped fly ball by Aaron Judge. An errant throw by Anthony Volpe. Gerrit Cole not covering first base on a routine grounder. It was a defensive meltdown that you rarely see in a Little League game, let alone the biggest stage in professional sports. The Dodgers, being the clinical machine they are, capitalized immediately. They didn't need a home run to tie the game; they just needed the Yankees to keep blinking.
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernández turned those mistakes into five unearned runs. Just like that, the momentum vanished from the Bronx.
Freddie Freeman’s Historical Dominance
It is impossible to talk about who won the World Series without mentioning Freddie Freeman. The man was basically a folk hero for ten days. Coming into the series, there were legitimate questions about whether he should even be in the lineup. His ankle was so swollen he could barely run.
What did he do? He hit a home run in each of the first four games.
That Game 1 walk-off grand slam against Nestor Cortes wasn't just a highlight; it was a psychological blow that the Yankees never fully recovered from. Freeman finished the series with 12 RBIs, tying a record set by Bobby Richardson back in 1960. He was the easy choice for MVP. Seeing him limp around the bases while crushing the spirits of New York fans was a reminder that grit still matters, even in an era dominated by launch angles and exit velocity.
Why This Win Validates the $1 Billion Offseason
For years, the narrative around the Dodgers was "regular season champions, postseason flops." They had the 2020 title, sure, but skeptics called it a "Mickey Mouse" ring because of the shortened COVID-19 season. To truly be the team that won the World Series and earned the respect of the baseball world, they needed to do it in a full 162-game campaign.
The front office went nuclear in the previous winter.
- Shohei Ohtani: $700 million.
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto: $325 million.
- Tyler Glasnow: $136 million extension.
When you spend that much, you aren't just expected to win; you are required to. Anything less than a parade is a failure. While Ohtani didn't have a massive statistical impact in the World Series itself—partially due to a partially dislocated shoulder suffered in Game 2—his presence changed the entire gravity of the lineup. Pitchers had to navigate a gauntlet of three former MVPs (Ohtani, Betts, Freeman) before even getting to the "meat" of the order.
The Bullpen: The Unsung Heroes
While the stars got the headlines, the Dodgers' pitching staff was held together by duct tape and high-leverage brilliance. Think about it. They lost Glasnow. They lost Clayton Kershaw. They lost Gavin Stone and Dustin May. Their rotation was so thin they had to rely on "bullpen games" throughout the NLCS and World Series.
Standard baseball logic says you can't win like that. You need three solid starters. The Dodgers said, "Hold my Gatorade."
Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, and Anthony Banda were spectacular. But the real story was Walker Buehler. Two years removed from his second Tommy John surgery, Buehler came out of the bullpen on short rest to close out Game 5. It was vintage. It was gutsy. It was exactly why the Dodgers won the World Series—they had players who didn't care about their "roles," only the result.
Breaking Down the Yankees' Failure
To understand who won the World Series, you also have to look at why the other team lost. The Yankees had every opportunity. Giancarlo Stanton was hitting the ball harder than any human should be allowed to. Juan Soto was a terrifying out every single time he stepped to the plate.
But the Yankees played "sloppy" baseball.
There is a massive gap between "talented" and "disciplined." Throughout the series, the Yankees struggled with base running errors and defensive lapses. Aaron Judge, the presumptive AL MVP, went into a catastrophic slump for the first three games. By the time he woke up, the Dodgers already had a 3-0 lead. History tells us that no team has ever come back from 3-0 in the World Series. The 2004 Red Sox did it in the ALCS, but the Fall Classic is a different beast.
The Global Impact of the 2024 Result
This wasn't just a win for Southern California. It was a massive moment for international baseball. Because of Ohtani and Yamamoto, the TV ratings in Japan were astronomical. We are talking about 15-20% of the entire population of Japan tuning in to see who won the World Series.
This championship solidified the Dodgers as "The World's Team."
It’s a bit like the 1990s Bulls or the current Manchester City. You either love them or you despise them for their spending power, but you cannot ignore them. The Dodgers’ victory proved that if you combine elite scouting and player development with unlimited financial resources, you become nearly impossible to beat in a seven-game series.
Common Misconceptions About the 2024 Title
- "They bought the trophy." Money helps, but the Mets spent more and didn't make the World Series. The Dodgers' internal development of players like Will Smith and Tommy Edman (the NLCS MVP) was just as crucial as the big signings.
- "The Yankees were the better team." Statistics might suggest the Yankees had more raw power, but the Dodgers had a higher "Baseball IQ." They took the extra base, they worked counts, and they made fewer mistakes.
- "Ohtani didn't contribute." Even with one arm, Ohtani forced pitchers to throw differently to the guys behind him. His mere presence in the dugout is a psychological weight.
What Happens Next for the Champions?
The Dodgers aren't going anywhere. That’s the scary part for the rest of the league. They won the World Series in 2024, and most of their core is locked up for the next half-decade.
If you are a fan of another team, you’re looking at this and wondering how anyone competes. The answer lies in the draft and international signings, but the Dodgers are elite at those, too. They have created a sustainable ecosystem of winning.
For the Yankees, this loss is going to sting for a long time. They have to decide if they can keep Juan Soto—who is looking for a contract that might rival Ohtani's—or if they have to pivot. The gap between the two teams wasn't necessarily talent; it was the ability to perform under the absolute highest pressure without blinking.
How to Apply the Dodgers' Winning Strategy to Your Own Goals
Whether you're running a business or coaching a youth team, the way the Dodgers won the World Series offers some pretty sharp lessons.
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Invest in "Insurance"
The Dodgers didn't just have one ace; they had five. When four got hurt, they still had enough talent to survive. In your own life, never rely on a single point of failure. Have a "bullpen" of options or skills you can call on when your "starter" goes down.
Exploit Small Mistakes
The Dodgers didn't win Game 5 by hitting five home runs. They won because they stayed focused when the Yankees stopped paying attention. Success is often less about being a genius and more about being the person who doesn't quit when things get messy.
Embrace the Pressure
Freddie Freeman didn't hide from the moment despite his injury. He leaned into it. If you're facing a challenge, don't wait for "perfect conditions" to perform. They don't exist in October, and they don't exist in the real world.
Build a Diverse Core
The Dodgers didn't just have power hitters; they had contact hitters, speedsters, and defensive specialists. A winning team—in any context—needs a mix of different strengths rather than a bunch of people who all do the same thing.
The 2024 Dodgers will be remembered as one of the most expensive teams in history, but they should be remembered as one of the most resilient. They faced the pressure of the entire world watching and delivered a knockout blow. That is how you become the team that won the World Series.