World Series Game 1 a history-making, heartfelt win for the Los Angeles Dodgers
It began with a heartfelt tribute to Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela and ended with a history-making win. The opening game of the 2024 World Series proved to be a one-of-a-kind victory for Los Angeles.
Freddie Freeman brought the Dodgers to a 6-3 win over the New York Yankees when he hit the first walk-off grand slam to finish off a game in World Series history, with two outs in the tenth inning.
As the ball flew into right field, a sold-out Dodger Stadium exploded.
"Those are the kind of things, when you're 5 years old with your two older brothers and you're playing Wiffle ball in the backyard — those are the scenarios you kind of dream about," Freeman told reporters after the game.
With the cheapest tickets selling for well over $1,000, Dodgers fans packed the stands at the Elysian Park stadium, where a mural honoring legendary player Fernando Valenzuela had just gone up. Some wore sombreros and Valenzuela's #34 jersey in tribute to the player, a native of Etchohuaquila, Sonora, Mexico who was affectionately known across the baseball world as "El Toro."
The team announced his passing at the age of 63 just earlier this week.
At Friday's game, a videoboard showed highlights of his legendary 11-season run with the team, a mariachi performance paid tribute to him and his wife and family members gathered on the field as a moment of silence was held in his honor. He's been widely credited with increasing the sport's popularity among Latino fans. As Jaime Jarrín, the Dodgers broadcaster who called games from 1959-2022, said ahead of his jersey retirement last year: "He created more baseball fans, and Dodger fans, than any other player."
"Thanks to this kid, people fell in love with baseball. Especially within the Mexican community," Jarrín said.
Valenzuela's award-winning rookie season in 1981 was the last time LA faced off with the Yankees in the World Series.
On Saturday morning, just hours away from the second game in the series, Dodgers fans still feeling the high from Friday night's win were comparing Freeman's walk-off grand slam to another historic moment in 1980s Dodgers history.
"It was very magical. It reminded me of Kirk Gibson back in '88," said fan Anthony Russo, referring to Gibson's walk-off two-run homer in that year's World Series Game 1. "And hopefully we get another victory tonight and shut those Yankees down."
Freeman's father, Fred Freedman, said the first baseman had no words as he came up to him after the game. "He just head-butted me and screamed," he said.
"I just couldn't believe that was my son," Fred Freeman told KCAL News. "I don't think we had any words. It was just yelling at each other."
The Dodgers will face off with the Yankees in World Series Game 2 at Dodger Stadium at 5:08 PST.
