He truly embodied that energy-you could just tell how much he genuinely loved playing.

That whole covid thing is about to turn 7 years old

Yeah cool and all. But I’m upvoting because of that sweet doggy in the other picture 🥺

He’s been good at calling baseball for a while. I still miss him calling the World Series. People just hate him because it’s what you do, they never updated their opinions from when he was genuinely bad.

You gotta include “see you tomorrow night” in that list.

Joe buck imo has gotten a LOT better at calling baseball games. I actually enjoyed his play by play last night. Smooth on the other hand has become a curmudgeon that hates baseball and it shows.

Wasn’t joe buck im a fool.

I hope so man, I hope we don’t go 0-3 overall in the World Series

I think it would have if Cash didn’t pull Snell out in Game 6

Highlight might have been the interview after this lol. Dude became a legend in Tampa.

welcome to the promised land. Hopefully we can celebrate all offseason long with a nice hunk of metal

And now he’s the team spokesman lol

Wasn’t he a neighbor of Macho Man and used to play basketball with him? Or did I dream that?

If only it worked out that way

Yep. In that moment I was convinced we would choke away that series. So much piled up playoff PTSD lol. Something tells me that if we had blown that WS all the “Mickey Mouse” talk would’ve been solely reserved for the Lakers

Fucking same dude.

They were def the team of destiny for 2020 but unfortunately didn’t come out on top. Feels like that’s the Brewers this year but unfortunately (again lol) I think they will fulfill their destiny.

I just remember watching the camera switch to the throw coming into home plate and thinking where the fuck is the runner?!?!

Follow this flow chart:

Do I hate the team that won? No (go to 1) Yes (go to 2)

1: Wow congratulations on the championship well played!

2: Lmao Mickey Mouse ring win a real one

I’m firmly in the “it absolutely counts” team.

I think the biggest thing that minimizes it with respect to the length of the season is that a lot can happen over the grind of 162 games. More games means more opportunities for injuries, more innings and fatigue on pitchers arms, more opportunities for bad blood to form between rivals, players who start hot have time to cool down and players who start cold have opportunities to heat up, etc. Sometimes it feels like the WS winner is the team that has best navigated the endurance test over seven full months of baseball. The teams in the playoffs in 2020 didn’t have to run that same gauntlet to the same extent which makes it feel different than other years.

It should mean just as much, but for me, it really doesn’t. I didn’t know how great seeing my team win a chip was until 2024, I was EXPONENTIALLY more emotional and happy during that win, and its not even close. It felt like a different game. I will always remember 2024 as the “seeing my team win first championship in my life.” Moment, tbh. But I won’t dig on people who have great fond memories of the 2020 win, because its still a world series win, just for me personally, it really doesn’t hit nearly the same. But obviously 2020 was a hard time and many people share different experiences that year that they may cherish more.

Playing and following a full season, with fans, with a parade, with watch parties, with celebration. some of the Dodgers players and staff also said 2024 just felt so much better and I’m sure most feel that way, even if they didn’t verbally express it. I’m also sure the players and staff felt SO MUCH more elated with beat up bodies and beat up minds of playing through 180 games and the absolute grind that is a full season to end in a title. It just has to feel better.

It’s not that it doesn’t count. It was a World Series. It counts.

But you also can’t convince me (and a lot of others) that it’s the same as the others. Because it just isn’t. The conditions of the season were materially different. Nothing changes that.

It’s not illegitimate, it’s just different. Different scenario, no fans, short season.

It’s as legitimate as 1981.

In both cases:

teams made the playoffs based on a ~60 game sample size

there was an extra round of playoffs

the Los Angeles Dodgers were the World Series champions at the end of it

It counts just like the strike-shortened seasons count. But for rate stats like batting average or ERA+ those shouldn’t count in the record books for single season leaderboards. Leaders for that year alone are fine but they shouldn’t count historically, maybe just acknowledged add a footnote.

I’ll play devil advocate to this. It isn’t legitimate due short season but also no fans. If you don’t think fans make a difference to some players, look at Kershaw’s playoff numbers in 2020 compared to other playoff seasons. It’s easier to pitch/hit for some guys when you don’t have 50k screaming their lungs out.

If the rays had won 100% people wouldn’t be calling it illegitimate

Who was it that slipped trying to get to him to celebrate. First time I’m seeing that and it’s hilarious how he just falls out of frame

And Jansen running to third in the middle of it all for no reason

There actually was to be fair, there were about 11k fans for each 2020 WS game which was enough to create an actual atmosphere inside the stadium.

But yes I agree, this game/series deserved a typical World Series crowd.

I was there.  The roof was open even though it was like 60 degrees.