By: Owen Ebner (10th Grade)
Due to the absence of school sports, the Warrior Word sports section is publishing its own articles covering professional sports.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series. The game was very intense between these two teams before Los Angeles won 3-1 in game 6, winning the series 4-2. The World Series MVP Award was given to Los Angeles’s star shortstop Corey Seager, who had 7 hits and 2 home runs in the series.
This win was very meaningful for the Dodgers, as it ended their 32 year championship drought. The had made it to this stage in 2017 and 2018, but lost both times respectively to the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox. Both teams were later found guilty of cheating, which frustrated the Dodgers.
During this past offseason, the Dodgers shocked MLB fans when they traded for star Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, and then rewarded him with the second biggest contract in the history of the league. This turned out to be a great move as he has propelled them to leading the league in wins, and now a championship.
For the Rays, making it to the World Series stage was an amazing accomplishment in itself. Due to the Rays being located in a small market in Tampa and having low attendance numbers, they have the fourth smallest payroll in the MLB; this is a massive disadvantage. They paid their players 28.4 million, compared to the Dodgers 105 million.
The Rays are able to remain a strong team through the “moneyball” strategy. This strategy, originally created by the Oakland Athletics, is when the team are constantly trading their established players for younger players on cheap contracts. An example of this was their acquisition of outfielder Randy Arozarena. They acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals last year. Arozarena has blossomed into a star, as he just broke the postseason record for hits and home runs in one playoff year, and won the ALCS MVP award.
One of the most controversial moments during Tuesday night's championship-clinching game was when Rays manager, Kevin Cash, pulled former Cy-Young pitcher, Blake Snell, out of the game, due to the Rays analytical approach to baseball. Snell was having an incredible night and had only thrown 73 pitches. Snell was visibly upset when he was pulled, and could be seen cursing to himself. Fans across the country were also outraged, including former baseball star Alex Rodriguez, who tweeted this;
“Computers running the game. Not humans. Binders lead to blinders. Manage with blinders on, you miss what’s actually happening in real time.”
Although the game had ended by then, there was a huge scandal after the game. Justin Turner, the Dodgers longtime third baseman, was mysteriously taken out in the middle of the game. This was very confusing, but it was assumed to have been an injury. Shocking news broke a couple hours later though, as it was announced that he was taken out because his Coronavirus test had come back positive.
However, he came back out to the field, maskless, after his positive test to celebrate with his team. He was seen celebrating and high-fiving teammates, kissing his wife, and endangering his almost 50 year-old manager who is a cancer survivor. He will likely face discipline from both his team and the MLB for blatantly breaking protocol and endangering many people.
This was a great series between the MLB's top two teams. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers for getting it done on baseball's biggest stage. They will be the second pro-sports team bringing their trophy back home to Los Angeles this month, as they join the Lakers, who just won the NBA finals.