With the current baseball season at its midway point, I figured it would be the right time to return to one of my favorite memories of 2024.
This will, of course, be about the 2024 World Series.
Throughout my life, I have attended hundreds of baseball games. Most of them have been at Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine is a pain in the ass to leave after the game is over, but it’s a gorgeous stadium to visit. It has, when the air isn’t smoggy, a perfect view of the San Gabriel Mountains beyond center field. Opposite the mountains and behind home plate, at the edge of the parking lot, you have an unparalleled view of Downtown Los Angeles. I may wax poetic here because it’s my hometown team, but I love attending a home Dodger game.
Since I was in high school, from 2001 to 2005, I have attended numerous regular-season and playoff games, but I have never attended a World Series. I am part of a group that holds season tickets, and when it comes time for playoff games, we rotate our attendance. During my time in this group, the Dodgers have appeared in four World Series. But I was not in attendance for any of those games.
Let me tell you where I was during those four World Series runs. In 2017, I attended NLCS Game 2 at Dodger Stadium against the Cubs, and as a result of the game, I lost my voice. In 2018, I attended another NLCS game, this time Game 3, and it was a forgettable loss to the Brewers. In 2020, only a limited number of fans were allowed to attend the World Series, which was held in Texas. I had a work trip that had me miss a game by one day. Grrr! Finally, in 2024, the rotation landed with me going to a World Series game. I was in my hotel room watching Game 1, and if you don’t know, this is how it ended. It would be hard to beat that moment, but I didn’t need it. I just wanted to be at a game and see my team play in person.
After arriving hours before first pitch, we snaked our way through the concourse to find merchandise. The lines were insane! I was lucky to get a program and a bottle opener. I ended up finding a ball and a few pins while I was in my seat, via online marketplaces (Etsy and eBay for the win!). The only bright spot to being in line was when Magic Johnson walked by.
Yes, they are blurry! I had to act fast!
Sitting in our seats, primed for the action, we waited for a long ass time. We got there early. Very early. But I would rather that than rushing to my seat and missing a moment of the action. It was a really entertaining game. The Dodgers took the lead. The Yankees came back. The Dodgers retook the lead. The Yankees clawed back and made it too close for comfort in the ninth inning before being shut down. Here are highlights, if you have 13 minutes to spare.
The guys had done it and needed to win two more. There was no way I was putting the cart before the horse, though. In 2017 and 2018, I bought World Series-branded hats because it had been since 1988 that the Dodgers played in the Fall Classic. They lost those two series, and I learned my lesson. Superstition got the best of me, and in 2020 and 2024, I didn’t buy any hats or shirts until the Series was won.
This was also the game in which Shohei Ohtani injured his arm while sliding into second base. I heard a stadium go quiet once before, but not like this. This was on the biggest stage. Ohtani had done so much to help push and carry this team to this point. The rest of the team picked it up and eventually brought the team over the line to become champions, but not before Ohtani scared the living bejeezus out of everyone in attendance.
When the final out was caught, and Randy Newman’s I Love LA began to play, the sweetest sense of relief overcame me. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
John Kidde Writes 