Why the Dodgers flew home on a Patriots team plane after World Series win over Yankees
BOSTON -- The Dodgers returned to Los Angeles early Thursday morning as World Series champs. They wouldn't have gotten home without the help of the New England Patriots.
The Dodgers spent a good chunk of their Wednesday night partying in the Bronx after staging a thrilling comeback in Game 5 of the Fall Classic against the New York Yankees. Los Angeles overcame a 5-0 deficit in the fifth inning won, 7-6, to claim the series in five games.
When they were done spraying champagne and celebrating inside Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers made their way to the airport for their cross-country trip home. They received an assist from the six-time Super Bowl champs, flying home from New York in one of the two Patriots team planes.
At least one of the AirKrafts got to fly a championship trophy around this year. Considering the Patriots are 2-6 on the season, chances are the team will not be flying to Super Bowl LVIX in New Orleans come February.
Why did the Dodgers use the Patriots team plane?
The answer is kind of simple and boring. The Dodgers went through the company that charters the Patriots planes when they're not in use by the team, the Patriots' PR team told WBZ-TV.
So it had nothing to do with the Boston-New York rivalry or the Patriots lending a hand to a team that was beating up on the Yankees. The Patriots didn't need the plane this week, though the team does have a road game in Tennessee this weekend.
Patriots team plane isn't just for the Patriots
Clearly, the Patriots team planes are not just for the Patriots to get to and from games. Robert Kraft owns two 767s, and it's not unusual for the aircrafts (sorry, AirKrafts) to be used for something other than bringing players to a game. Kraft has used the planes for a lot of great causes since buying them in 2017.
In 2018, one of the planes was used to fly injured Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and families of the school shooting victims to the "March For Our Lives" event in Washington, D.C. Kraft left a Patriots cap and letter on every seat which expressed the team's support for the movement.
In 2020, a Patriots plane went to Shenzhen, China to pick up and bring 1.2 million N95 masks back to Massachusetts during the coronavirus pandemic.
