Freddie Freeman cemented himself in Los Angeles Dodgers history with his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees.
The first baseman, playing through an ankle injury that left him hobbled throughout the postseason, set the tone for the entire series with his game-winning hit. Without the Game 1 win, manager Dave Roberts believes that the World Series would've been a coin-flip, despite the fact that Los Angeles took home the title in just five games.
"If we lose Game 1, I think the series goes seven games. As we all know, Game 7 is a flip of a coin," Roberts told The Athletic for a story on the impact of Freeman's hit.
FREDDIE FREEMAN WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/5MIY5CaX6a
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 26, 2024
Yankees catcher Austin Wells and pitcher Nestor Cortes (now with the Milwaukee Brewers)—New York's battery for the at-bat—concurred with Roberts, with Wells saying, "It changed the whole World Series. As simple as that."
"We win Game 1—which we should have—we lost 2 and 3, we win Game 4 and we should have won Game 5. Then we go back to L.A., up 3 to 2," said Cortes.
The Dodgers won tight Games 2 and 3, each by a 4–2 score, before the Yankees got on the board with a definitive 11–4 win in Game 4. L.A. took the series in Game 5, coming back from down 5–0 thanks in large part to a series of defensive meltdowns by New York in the fifth inning.
It could have gone much differently without the dramatic finish to Game 1.
"I would like to say we’d still win the series because we had a really good team and we were playing really good baseball. But you don’t know," said Freeman.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dave Roberts Admitted World Series Would’ve Gone a Lot Different Without One Huge Hit.
