The 32-year drought is finally over! After a season like no other, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the 2020 World Series Champions, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 3-1 in Game 6 of the World Series. 

The championship is the team’s seventh in franchise history and first since 1988. Since then, there have been 32 years of playoff heartbreak and a drought long-awaited to be over.  

Unique MLB Season Brings Dodger Dominance

As retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said back in 1988, “in a year so improbable, the impossible has happened.” 

That storyline came to fruition this season, with an MLB season in question due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the circumstances, baseball would start in late July and the Dodgers would reach their third World Series in four years. 

Gonsolin Gets All Important Game 6 Nod

In front of a huge Dodger crowd in Game 6 from the new Texas Rangers stadium, Globe Life Field from Arlington, Texas, many Dodger fans awaited the day 32 years in the making. 

After securing a 3-2 series lead in Game 5 on the brink of 5.2 innings strong from Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers came into Game 6 with Tony Gonsolin set to take the mound for the biggest start of his young career. 

Arozarena Bolsters Early Rays Lead, Dodgers Bullpen Responds

Right off the bat, the Dodgers would find themselves in a deficit though as Gonsolin gave up a solo home run to the Rays’ Randy Arozarena, extending his historic postseason run. Despite the home run, Gonsolin would escape the first inning with no more damage, but would only go 1.2 innings pitched. The Dodgers bullpen would back Gonsolin’s start though, giving 4.1 scoreless innings of relief from relievers Dylan Floro, Alex Wood, Pedro Baez, and Victor Gonzalez going into the bottom of the sixth.    

Championship Costly Decision

Even with the bullpen keeping the deficit at only one run, the Dodgers hitters could not come through versus Rays’ starter Blake Snell.  Snell pitched 5.1 innings of shutout ball, striking out nine, but leaving the game in the sixth after giving up a hit to Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes.

The move made by Rays’ manager Kevin Cash to remove Snell ultimately turned out to be the game costing decision. After Rays reliever Nick Anderson entered the game in relief, the Dodgers leadoff man, their superstar acquisition from the offseason, Mookie Betts, came through when needed most.

Betts greeted Anderson with a double, advancing runners to second and third. With Corey Seager next at the plate, on a 0-1 count, Anderson threw a wild pitch that would tie the game.

Seager would follow the wild pitch, hitting a short ground ball to Rays first baseman Ji-Man-Choi who threw home, but Betts with his dynamic speed, beat the throw, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. 

The Moment 32 Years in the Making

The Dodgers’ Brusdar Graterol would get the first two outs of the seventh inning. He would soon take way though to Julio Urias to finish off the inning. After his sixth inning heroics, Betts would follow the act, hitting a solo home run off Rays reliever Peter Fairbanks in the bottom of the eighth, extending the Dodger lead to 3-1. The lead would be all needed for Urias as he would pitch the final 2.1 innings, striking out the Rays’ Willy Adames to put the finishing touches on the Dodgers first World Series title since 1988. 

Seager Wins World Series MVP, Kershaw’s Gets 1st Ring, and more from the Postgame Celebration

After the game, the Dodgers received the commissioner’s trophy, and it would be Corey Seager who won World Series MVP. With the accomplishment, Seager becomes only the eighth player in MLB history to win NLCS and World Series MVP in the same postseason. Seager had a .400 batting average, hit two home runs, had 5 RBI’s (Runs Batted In), and eight hits during the series. 

The win also brought longest-tenured Dodger, Clayton Kershaw, his first World Series title. After years of success winning Cy Young Awards, winning the 2014 NL MVP, throwing a no-hitter, and countless more accomplishments, Kershaw finally secured his long-awaited first championship.  

For Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts, he also became the second-ever black manager and first-ever Asian manager to lead his team to a World Series championship. 

During the trophy presentation Dodgers’ owner Mark Walter said, “We have a rich history, but no other team has faced the impossible in a year like this… each and every one of you [the players, staff, and organization], up and down, have truly made history.”  

Los Angeles Becomes the New Title Town

For the Dodgers, for Los Angeles, this championship means so much. Only a few weeks after the Lakers won the 2020 NBA Championship, the Dodgers accomplished the same, similar to that 1988 season when both teams came out as champions as well.

In a year so improbable, and almost seeming impossible, the Dodgers made it back on top. Overcoming a pandemic shortened season, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the NLCS to Atlanta, overcoming the ever-rising doubters, the Dodgers proved themselves a Champion. 

A moment 32 years in the making, the Dodgers are once again World Series Champions.