Retaking the 5th: Dodgers, Yankees recount the inning that swung the World Series

New York Times

a day ago

A popular car decal around Los Angeles offers its own version of sticker shock. It still sells for a mere $7.49 on Etsy and depicts a graphic from the Fox broadcast that sets the stage: Yankees 5, Dodgers 0, fifth inning, bases loaded, two outs.
That's the moment from Game 5 of last year's World Series when everything went right for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And so wretchedly, hauntingly wrong for the New York Yankees.
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Freddie Freeman has seen the '5-0' stickers on cars around Southern California, and they put a smile on his face every time.
'It's just like when the Falcons lost (the) 28-3 (lead),' the Dodgers first baseman said, referring to how Atlanta squandered a late lead as the New England Patriots roared back to win Super Bowl 51.
Freeman's heroics throughout the series earned him World Series MVP honors. As memorable as anything was the comeback from down 5-0.
'It seems like that number has lived on forever,' he continued. 'I don't care what lives on. We won. That's all that matters, you know?'
For Aaron Judge and the Yankees, it's more of a sticking point. The Dodgers broke through against Gerrit Cole to tie the score in the fifth inning, overcame another deficit and captured the World Series trophy behind a 7-6 victory.
'A lot of things didn't go our way in that inning,' Judge said.
'You get over it,' Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe said, 'and you don't get over it.'
The memories remain fresh, as The Athletic discovered by speaking with several current and former players and coaches from both sides.
As the Yankees head to Dodger Stadium for a World Series rematch on Friday, here are their thoughts – in their own words – on a wild night at Yankee Stadium:
Freeman's walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series had been the defining play of the Dodgers' 3-0 start in the series, but the Yankees' big bats, including Judge, the eventual AL MVP, had shown signs of life in a Game 4 win. That continued in the first inning of Game 5 as Judge's two-run home run got the Yankees going against Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty.
More than anything, Cole looked like vintage Cole. The 2023 AL Cy Young winner did not allow a hit through four innings as New York jumped out to that 5-0 lead. Kiké Hernández led off the inning with a single off a sinker, the first sign of life from a stagnant Dodgers offense.
Kiké Hernández, Dodgers second baseman: To be honest with you, it was pretty dead that game for us in the dugout, our energy. We kind of figured we weren't in a great spot at the time.
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Max Muncy, Dodgers third baseman: Cole, we can just say it bluntly. He was dominant. He was Gerrit Cole. He was the guy that you pay to be that guy. He wasn't making any mistakes. … When we finally got that first hit in the fifth inning, it was kind of like, 'All right, he's not going to no-hit us tonight. That's good.'
Tommy Edman, who had been acquired at the trade deadline and emerged as National League Championship Series MVP, went down 0-2 to Cole and swung at a changeup that stayed belt high and was off the plate. Edman lined a fly ball to center field, right at Judge.
Tommy Edman, Dodgers shortstop: I was kind of just trying to put it in play. It wasn't a bad swing, but it was just kind of right at Judge. It was one of those where you're like, 'Oh, dang, that's an out right there.'
Muncy: I remember every scouting report for every team in the postseason right now like it was yesterday. … On most of the Yankees, it was: They play deeper than anyone else in baseball. So don't give up too early on the low line drive because it might drop in.
Judge, after the game: I just didn't make the play.

Edman: I kind of heard the crowd start to gasp. Like, what just happened? I looked up and I saw that he had dropped it. Just kind of shocked right there.
Freeman: Aaron hadn't made an error all year.
Hernández was breaking toward first base but pivoted and sprinted, sliding into second base just before Judge's throw came into the infield.
Hernández: I definitely didn't think I was going to be safe at second. It felt like the longest 70-foot run of my life.
Will Smith grounded a 2-2 slider that Volpe tracked to his right to retrieve. As he did, Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm moved to cover third base. As Volpe went to throw to third, Hernández altered his path slightly to block the throwing lane, something the Dodgers have taught for years. You can bend your run within the rules and make the throw a little harder, just like Manny Machado did against the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS to spark a six-run inning. In this case, the ball trickled away from Chisholm.
Dino Ebel, Dodgers third-base coach: When he veered out, I think Volpe was kind of like, 'Uh-oh.' Now he has to make a good throw. Jazz was kind of late getting to the base in front of it. It's huge.

Freeman: In spring training, we have our meetings every morning with (major-league field coordinator) Bob Geren. A lot of them are fun meetings, but then there are also meetings where we go over baseball plays that we do, and how we preach and how we go about it, and how we play the game of baseball.
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Muncy: We preach it all year long, and it starts with literally the day we show up in spring.
Freeman: It was just like (Manny) Machado's play in the NLDS. If you can just try to create things that maybe it throws a wrinkle in there.
Hernández: We probably talk about it more at first (going to second). That's kind of an unorthodox play, but for me, I've had to grind my way and earn my way. I think that's something that I pride myself on. I always say that I'm a better player than the back of my baseball card says, and that's one of the things that I bring to the table when I'm on the field.
Volpe: Watching it back, you see a million things and how it was so simple. But in the moment, it's just instincts and making the play, and I didn't make the play.
Freeman: (That's) when things really picked up in our dugout. We weren't excited that they missed it. It was more of, Kiké making a great play. He forced it. That's why we're here in that situation. That's why we're in the World Series, because of plays like that throughout the course of the year.
With the bases now loaded and no one out, Cole started to rear back. He touched 99 mph as he blew a fastball past Gavin Lux for a strikeout. He got Shohei Ohtani to wave through another fastball, which set up a curveball for a second consecutive strikeout. Cole was one out away from getting out of the inning when Mookie Betts cued a rolling grounder toward first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the second time on the night. Rizzo looked up to flip it to Cole. Cole stood near the mound, pointing for Rizzo to take it. No one wound up covering first base.
Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts: I was just running just to run, really. I thought it was just a routine out.
Hernández: (I was) screaming at him to run hard because I saw that nobody was at first.
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: I think that the emotions, the frustration, got to Gerrit.
Ebel: Maybe, and nobody knows, maybe the first two errors might have rattled him.
Freeman: As a first baseman that is, you charge that, it can pop and spin off your (glove), so many different things.
What makes the Dodgers' fifth inning in Game 5 all the more unbelievable: the ball where no one covered first base was nearly identical to the ground ball Mookie Betts had already hit in his first at-bat of the night. That time, Anthony Rizzo took it himself. pic.twitter.com/2mndYhHmqP
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) October 31, 2024
Anthony Rizzo, Yankees first baseman, after Game 5: Those balls off righties, those tappers are the hardest balls for us. Especially with what had transpired throughout the inning. I kind of was going for it, and then it kicked one way, so I had to make sure to catch it first and looked up to flip.
Cole: I didn't sit there and watch it back over and over again, but I've seen the play a few times. I checked the tape right after it happened. … I (wish I) would have gotten over there better.
Roberts: I think, just as important, is Mookie giving a hard 90. That was his fastest sprint speed all year, on a squibber. That shows how much he cared.
Betts reached on an infield single, and the Dodgers got their first run across to ensure they didn't emerge from the inning empty-handed. It was the encapsulation of something that had popped up in the organization's scouting report leading into the series – that there were free 90 feet to be had, and the Dodgers had to be opportunistic.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, on Apple TV's World Series documentary: We were aware of those small mistakes since the regular season. So we were told to focus on taking the extra bases.
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Freeman: It's not just pinpointing the Yankees. We're all humans. We're all going to make mistakes during the course of a game. But yeah, there was the defense part of it that was: Make sure you're looking for it to take advantage of it.
Hernández: They had their, you could call them flaws, I guess. But that's kind of what we preached all year long regardless of who the opponent was.
Ebel: The scouts did their part by saying, 'Here, listen. Their defense right now is not playing to the best of their ability. Keep playing Dodger baseball. Put pressure. Make them make plays.' That's all that was said in those meetings. Then all of a sudden, they make three errors in a game and it cost them.
Judge: You give a team like the Dodgers three extra outs, they're going to capitalize on it.
Travis Chapman, Yankees infield coach: I want the ball in (Volpe's) hands. I want the ball in Judgey's hands. I want the ball in Gerrit's hands. The reality is, we didn't make that play in that moment.
Just getting one run was a win for the Dodgers. So was getting Freeman up to the plate. The eventual World Series MVP slugged four home runs in the series and fended off a devastating attack from Cole to keep the inning going. First, Freeman fouled off a 98 mph sinker before taking a changeup just off the plate. When Cole tried going upstairs with a 99 mph fastball, Freeman fouled it off. Cole tried another changeup, and Freeman rolled it foul just up the first-base line. Cole's next pitch was in on Freeman's hands at 99 mph. Freeman muscled it to center field for a two-run single.
Freeman: He hadn't thrown that hard all year.
Hernández: Gerrit was just pumping fuel and emotion that inning. He was emptying the tank.
Clarke Schmidt, Yankees starter: Very impressive with how many pitches he threw and how long and deep he went, even with that long inning, executing at an incredibly high rate.
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Aaron Bates, Dodgers hitting coach: Freddie, when he's right, it doesn't surprise me. He can spoil pitches. He can spoil, spoil, spoil, and if you make a mistake, he's going to get you.
Freeman: When I fouled off the changeup down and away, that's when I felt like, OK, that was the pitch that he was going to strike me out with. I was able to foul it off. Then he threw 99 on the black on the inside. You could throw me that last week, and I don't hit that. My swing wasn't in a good spot last week. But my swing was in a great spot during that, so I was able to get to the 99.
Muncy: It was like, all right, when's it going to happen? Because you know Freddie was going to get the hit. It was just, when is it going to happen? That was the confidence that we had with Freddie in the batter's box.
Teoscar Hernández saw the Dodgers' sixth two-strike count of the inning against Cole and appeared to get out in front of a cutter. But Hernández stayed through the pitch enough to backspin the ball over Judge's head and to the warning track, off the wall to tie the score at 5-5. Even after the Yankees retook the lead an inning later, it wouldn't last.
Teoscar Hernández, on Apple's documentary: You know when you have a feeling that everything is going to go your way? We had that in that game.
Chris Taylor, then-Dodgers outfielder, on Betts' 'On Base' podcast: I mean, everybody saw it, right? To me – and we're all kind of thinking it – they kind of s– down their leg. They were pressing.
Will Smith, Dodgers catcher, after Game 5: We were down 5-0. So what? We know we can put pressure on them. They'll crack. We'll win it.
Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, after Game 5: They just left the door open, and we jumped through it.
Cole: A culmination of some mistakes and capitalization of those mistakes from the other team. It didn't take us out of the game, though. You make mistakes. You've got to give yourself a chance to respond to it. We responded well. We held in there. We retook the lead and we just couldn't finish it off.
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Schmidt: 'What just happened?' That type of feeling. Looking around. Very quiet. Very frustrated. Everything you'd expect that it was like, it probably was like.
Judge: All I really think about is, we lost. It's what it comes down to. We can break it down from Game 1 all the way through. But when it comes down to it, we didn't get the job done.
The Dodgers' World Series run offered many iconic moments. Freeman's walk-off grand slam was so momentous that the MVP recalled being asked to sign a fan's calf during this past offseason – the fan said he was going to get it tattooed onto him. Just as highly regarded as the grand slam, however, is the inning. From memes to video clips, and yes, even bumper stickers.
Roberts: Even my moment stealing the base (in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series for the eventual champion Boston Red Sox), I was a reserve player. I had a moment. We had a lot of great players, but people look toward moments that turned the tide. That was the moment in last year's World Series that really turned the tide in Game 5.
Betts: I think it just gives fans and what not ammo to talk about something.
Schmidt: It's pretty sickening.
Hernández: Of course, people are going to make a big deal out of it. Funny bumper stickers and things like that going on. … When you're on the wrong end of things and that kind of thing happens, then it definitely hurts and you remember it more than when you're on the good side of things.
Muncy: I get a chuckle out of (seeing the sticker), because it reminds me of us winning the World Series and to me that's the most important thing. However fans want to remember that, that's up to them. If the bumper sticker on the back of your car is the way to do it, then all the more power to you. When I see it, it just brings a smile to my face. For me, it's not about what happened on the other side. For me, it's about us finding a way to win that game.
(Top photo of Mookie Betts and Gerrit Cole: Al Bello / Getty Images)