The Dodgers confirmed their status as the MLB's dominant team to win the Fall Classic and the eighth title in their history, the eighth in 24. If they wanted to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant, a franchise shareholder and childhood fan of the team, they could not have done it better. The California franchise settled old scores with their historic arch-rivals, the Yankees. They won 4-1 in the series, leaving no doubt about their supremacy, lifted the Commissioner's Trophy in the Bronx, where they like it best, came from behind in the final game from 5-0 down (6-7 was the final score) and confirmed themselves as the great team of recent years in professional baseball. Canadian Freddie Freeman was named MVP to cap his life epic.
It all started in August, when his young son Max, three, started to feel unwell. He felt weak and soon began to have mobility problems. The first diagnosis was wrong. While the Dodgers first baseman was playing a series of games against the Astros in Houston, he received a call from his wife, Chelsea, saying that Max was having trouble breathing. The second diagnosis was conclusive: he had Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects the peripheral nervous system causing nerve damage and muscle weakness. It is very unusual for it to affect such a young child. But it did.
It was hard to see your child struggling with a ventilator, it breaks your heart
"It was tough seeing your son struggling with a ventilator. It breaks your heart. No one deserves to go through something like that. We felt hopeless," Freeman said when he reed the Dodgers after missing eight games. Max is now recovered and saw his father make history in this World Series. Freeman hit a game-winning Grand Slam in the first game of the final and finished with 12 RBIs, a Fall Classic record. His best victory was seeing Max in the stands at Yankee Stadium.
The triumph of the Dodgers, with Magic Johnson, who is a co-owner on the turf, culminated the good work in the management of the California franchise. The consortium Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012 and the g of Andrew Friedman as director of operations. Without sparing any expense, but with the innovative formula of deferred payments, the Dodgers have $915 million signed to pay in the coming years. The gamble paid off.
It is the eighth title for the Dodgers, the seventh since they have resided in Los Angeles since the move from Brooklyn in 1958. They will celebrate on November 1 through the streets of the California city. "L.A. needed a title. They are the true championship team in the city right now," said Magic, a Lakers legend.