A number of candidates could have vied for top 2024 honors when it came to “wow” – those elevated, extra-magnetic, enchanting, exciting, entrancing individuals who commanded the highlights, flirted with the record books and treated baseball fans to six months filled with daily performances that made one joyous and awed in equal measures. By all of the above measures, though, there’s really only two legitimate answers: 2024 World Series opponents Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. It’s going to be a special treat to see them share the Fall Classic stage, a planet itself revolving around the sun that is the storied Dodgers-Yankees rivalry in the World Series.
Reiser and Rizzuto and Reese, Duke and Mickey, Erskine and Newcombe and Reynolds and Guidry, Campanella and Berra, Koufax and Ford, Nettles and Cey and Reggie and Dusty and all the others: they get to welcome Soto and Betts, Muncy and Stanton, Cole and Buehler and the “2024 wow” winners Judge and Ohtani into a matchup that has more volumes than any other in the World Series encyclopedia set. Wow, indeed.
The Dodgers defeated the Mets 10-5 to claim the NL Pennant and move on to their 22nd World Series.
~In the NLCS, the Dodgers outscored the Mets 46-26. With their output, Los Angeles set a new NLCS record for runs scored, surpassing the 44 plated by the 1996 Braves. The Dodgers’ run differential of +20 stands tied with the 2017 Dodgers’ mark for the second best in LCS history. Those ’96 Braves outscored the Cardinals by 26 (thanks mostly to the final three games, when Atlanta tallied 32 runs and St. Louis mounted one).
~In the World Series era, the Dodgers’ 22 pennants are the second most, behind only the Yankees’ 41. Rounding out the top-five: Giants (20), Cardinals (19) and Athletics (14).
~ The Dodgers and Yankees will be on opposite sides of a Fall Classic for the 12th time. This matchup is the most frequent in World Series history.
Dodgers win: 1955, 1963, 1981
Yankees win: 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1977, 1978
~In the 2024 Fall Classic, NL home run champ Shohei Ohtani will be in one dugout, opposite AL homer king, Aaron Judge. It’s been a long time since the leagues’ homer leaders met in the World Series – 1956, when Brooklyn’s Duke Snider and New York’s Mickey Mantle squared off. In that series, Mantle hit three longballs, while Snider clubbed one.
Tommy Edman – the NLCS MVP – drove in the first four Dodgers’ runs in the clincher and finished the series with team-leading marks in hits (11), RBI (11), and batting average (.407).
~Edman is one 18 players to drive in at least four runs in a pennant-clinching LCS*. Even with the dramatic effort, Edman stands in the shadow of the top run producer in pennant-clinching LCS games: Kiké Hernández for the Dodgers in 2017, who drove in seven. Steve Garvey (4 RBI in 1974) gives the Dodgers a third representative among the 18.
*two of the 18 did it in losing causes – Willie McCovey in 1971 and Jim Thome in 1998
~In the “I recorded at least 11 hits and 11 RBI in a League Championship Series” club, Edman stands shoulder-to-shoulder with David Ortiz, who had 12 hits and 11 RBI for the Red Sox in 2004.
~ Edman ended his LCS performance with a .407/.393/.630 line (thanks be for that sac fly in Game 3), allowing him to hold an extra special place in the record books. With a minimum of 12 plate appearances, Edman is one of 113 players in LCS history to post a line with at least a .400 average and .600 slugging percentage – no big deal. However, he is the only one on this long list that ranges from A to Z (Edgardo Alfonzo to Richie Zisk) to own a sub-.400 on-base percentage.
Shohei Ohtani contributed two hits, a walk, two runs and one RBI in the Dodgers’ clinching win. The leadoff hitter concluded his first LCS experience with a .364/.548/.636 line.
~Ohtani is one of nine Dodgers to post a .300/.500/.600 line in any LCS or World Series (min. 12 PA) and the only one to do it from the leadoff spot. On the latter note, Ohtani is one of 10 leadoff hitters in an LCS to be able to make this slash line claim. Curiously, there has been one example of this in each of the past four postseasons – before that, the most recent attendee on this list appeared in 1995.
2024: Shohei Ohtani
2023: Kyle Schwarber
2022: Kyle Schwarber
2021: Eddie Rosario
1995: Kenny Lofton
1992: Gary Redus
1989: Rickey Henderson
1988: Lenny Dykstra
1980: Terry Puhl
1972: Matty Alou
~Ohtani’s .934 OPS through his first 11 postseason games is the seventh best for any Dodgers player through that specific stopping point (min. 30 PA). Justin Turner is the top Dodger, posting a 1.314 through his first 11. For all players – regardless of uniform – Carlos Beltrán and his 1.651 holds the throne (on this list, Turner’s 1.314 comes in at number 10).
Max Muncy drew two walks and scored a run in the clincher, giving the corner infielder his own gaudy LCS line of .333/.630/.733 with 11 walks.
~Muncy set a new LCS record with the 11 free passes, surpassing the 10 from Frank Thomas (1993) and Barry Bonds (2002).
~Muncy is one of 12 players to assemble a .300/.600/.700 line in an LCS (min. 12 PA), and the second Dodger to do this, after Manny Ramírez in 2008. By decade:
1980s: Darrell Porter (1982), Fred Lynn (1982), Lenny Dykstra (1988), Rickey Henderson (1989), Will Clark (1989), Mark Grace (1989)
1990s: Lloyd McClendon (1992), Javy López (1996)
2000s: Manny Ramírez (2008)
2010s: David Freese (2011)
2020s: Eddie Rosario (2021), Max Muncy (2024)
Mookie Betts concluded his 2024 LCS with a .346/.452/.731 line while batting exclusively out of the second spot in the order.
~Before Betts, 20 other number two hitters had furnished their LCS room with a .300/.400/.700 line (min. 12 PA), including a couple of opponents in the 2024 ALCS, Juan Soto and Kyle Manzardo. Betts is the only Dodger on the list. Sorting by OPS to arrange these 21, Carlos Beltrán’s 1.521 in 2004 is at #1.
~Betts contributed six extra-base hits (four doubles and two round-trippers) in the NLCS, just one off the mark for the most in any single League Championship Series among Dodgers players. Corey Seager (2 2B, 5 HR) had seven in 2020. Betts is tied with Steve Garvey (1978) and Chris Taylor (2021). Hideki Matsui’s nine in 2004 represents the standard for any LCS.
The partnership of Ohtani and Betts produced quite a formidable opening punch for the Dodgers lineup: Ohtani with his 1.185 OPS and Betts with his 1.182. A club’s 1-2 hitters each posting an OPS of at least 1.100 (min. 12 PA) in the same LCS or World Series is rarely done. Here are the doers.
LCS History
1969 Mets: Tommie Agee and Wayne Garrett
2022 Phillies: Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins
2024 Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts
WS History
1989 A’s: Rickey Henderson and Carney Lansford
Ohtani, Muncy, Betts and Edman each finished this LCS with an OPS above 1.000. The Dodgers are the eighth club in LCS history to have a quartet (or in one case, a quintet) of players post a mark of at least 1.000 (min. 12 PA). The group of five starts the list:
1969 Mets: Wayne Garrett, Art Shamsky, Cleon Jones, Ken Boswell, Tommie Agee
1969 Orioles: Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Paul Blair, Boog Powell
2006 Tigers: Curtis Granderson, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, Plácido Polanco
2008 Rays: Willy Aybar, Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña, B.J. Upton
2009 Phillies: Shane Victorino, Carlos Ruiz, Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard
2017 Dodgers: Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Yasiel Puig, Charlie Culberson
2020 Dodgers: Corey Seager, Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández, Edwin Ríos
2024 Dodgers: Max Muncy, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman
Mark Vientos ended his first taste of postseason play with a homer and two RBI in the Game 6 loss. The Mets third baseman played 13 playoff games this year and collected 18 hits (seven for extra bases), 14 RBI and scripted a .636 slugging percentage to contribute to a .998 OPS. Some context for his attention-demanding performance.
Most Hits Through a Player’s first 13 Games: 24
Leaders: Thurman Munson, Will Clark, Marquis Grissom
Vientos is tied for the 33rd most and has the second most for any Met (Daniel Murphy, 19)
Most RBI Through a Player’s first 13 Games: 22
Leader: Adolis García
Vientos is tied for the 12th most and has the most for any Met
Highest SLG% Through a Player’s first 13 Games (min. 40 PA): .979
Leader: Carlos Beltrán
Vientos is 59th and fourth among Mets (behind Murphy, Carlos Delgado, Rusty Staub)
Highest OPS Through a Player’s first 13 Games (min. 40 PA): 1.529
Leader: Bernie Williams
Vientos is tied for 79th and fourth among Mets (behind Delgado, Murphy, Staub)
Most Hits (NYM) Single Postseason: 19
Leader: Daniel Murphy in 2015
Vientos is second
Most RBI (NYM) Single Postseason: 14
Leader: Vientos in 2024
Highest SLG% (NYM) Single Postseason (min. 30 PA): .757
Leader: Carlos Delgado in 2006
Vientos is tied – with Jesse Winker from this year – for fifth
Highest OPS (NYM), Single Postseason (min. 30 PA): 1.199
Leader: Carlos Delgado in 2006
Vientos is seventh
This postseason, Jesse Winker (1.168) and Pete Alonso (.999) posted the second and sixth highest OPS numbers for any Met in a single postseason (min. 30 PA).
Making his fourth start of the 2024 postseason, Mets’ southpaw Sean Manaea was vying to be the first starter in this year’s playoffs to record as many as three wins. With the loss, Manaea and the Padres’ Michael King are the only two starters with even two victories.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.