Nov. 11, 2020
By Adam Venezia
Staff Writer
The 2020 World Series looked like it was going to be an amazing matchup. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have one of the best offenses in the league, were going up against the Tampa Bay Rays, who have one of the better pitching staffs in the league. Although the series went to six games, it was dominated by the Dodgers, who won all four games by two or more runs.
One of the big storylines coming into this game was the expectations set on Clayton Kershaw. One of those expectations was winning the World Series. After 13 years in the league, Kershaw finally accomplished his goal on Oct. 27 when his team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, won in game six against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Kershaw, one of the greatest pitchers baseball has ever seen, has won awards such as the Cy Young Award in 2011, 2013 and 2014. He was also the winner of the 2014 NL MVP Award, but even with those prestigious awards, Kershaw had been knocked many times because of his poor performance in the postseason. Although in the regular season he was one of the most dominant pitchers of all time, Kershaw just could not show up in the playoffs. His earned run average jumped from 2.43 in the regular season to 4.22 in the postseason, but this postseason was different.
Kershaw was determined to help lead his team to a World Series victory. The Dodgers lost only one of the five games Kershaw pitched this postseason. Kershaw returned to his dominant form and finally got a World Series title for which he and the Dodgers had been yearning.
The Dodgers only lost two games in the series and it really only should have been one. In Game 4, the Dodgers had been winning by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning. There were two outs and a single lead to a series of errors. The Rays ended up scoring two runs to win the game. This game seemed like it would be a turning point in the series, but the Dodgers were able to show why they had the best record in the 2020 season and won the next two games to close out the series.
Game 6 also came with a lot of controversies. Blake Snell, the Rays’ ace pitcher, was throwing a gem. He had only let up two hits and one earned run. He charted up nine strikeouts through five and one-third innings. He looked like he was going to be able to help them force a Game 7 but was taken out by the Rays.
“I just want the ball. I felt good. … I just believe in me. I believe in my stuff,” Snell told MLB reporters in an interview after the game.
In Game 6, one of the Dodgers’ star players, third baseman Justin Turner, was taken out of the game after testing positive for Covid-19. In the second inning, Turner’s test came back inconclusive. A second test came back positive, and a call was immediately made for the Dodgers to remove him from the game. Turner was in the clubhouse isolated for the remainder of the game, but about an hour after the game ended, he was back on the field to celebrate and take pictures.
The World Series MVP went to Dodgers shortstop Cory Seager. Seager mustered up a .400 batting average and hit two home runs in the series. Every time Seager was up, there was a good chance something big was about to happen. Without Seager, it is unlikely the Dodgers would have secured the series in such a dominant fashion, and that is why he was named the MVP.
This game seemed like it would be a turning point in the series, but the Dodgers were able to show why they had the best record in the 2020 season and won the next two games to close out the series.
For many fans, this season will go down with an asterisk next to it because of all the changes. The 60-game season, seven-inning games and back-to-back game days made this season so different from the rest. The biggest of these changes is the fact that there was no crowd in the stands. The noise and energy has a huge effect on the teams. For the Dodgers, who lost in the 2017 and 2018 World Series, being without the crowd could have made all the difference.
However, at the end of the day, the Dodgers are the 2020 World Series champions, and it cannot be taken away from them. They had to deal with all of the same changes as the other teams in the league, and they were able to adapt and play their best this season. The bottom line is the Dodgers could not be beaten four times in a series this year, so they are the World Series champions, and that’s what the record books will show.
