Game Notes, 10/28/2024 – World Series G3

Quick (and be honest with your response):  who hit the most World Series home runs as a first baseman?  Riffle through the mental rolodex …. of course, Lou Gehrig.  

This bit of trivia is probably unsurprising, as Gehrig – who ended up with 10 four-baggers – famously walloped NL pitchers across his interleague journey.  Carrying a glance to the names below Gehrig, a couple of fellas who did head-to-head battle in the 1955 and 1956 Yankees-Dodgers Fall Classics pop into the picture:  Moose Skowron and Gil Hodges.  In his career, Skowron lofted eight into the seats, while Hodges had five.  And here’s where we get back to (or up to) 2024, as current Dodgers first sacker Freddie Freeman – thanks to his electric start this year – is now tied with his forebear Hodges for the third most ever at the position.

Oh, and if you want to take a look at the other positional leaders, go to the end of this piece.

The Dodgers moved to within a game of the title, doubling up the Yankees 4-2 in Game 3 of the 2024 Fall Classic.  

Freddie Freeman laced a two-run home run in the first to pave the way for the Dodgers’ victory. 

~Freeman joined Hank Bauer (1958) and Barry Bonds (2002) as the only players ever to homer in Games 1, 2, and 3 of a World Series.  Bauer did it for the Yankees against the Braves and Bonds as a Giant while facing the Angels.  In their respective Game 4’s, Bauer went 0-for-4 while Bonds took an 0-for-1 with three intentional walks.  

~Freeman became the fourth Dodger to hit exactly three homers in a World Series, joining Reggie Smith (1977), Davey Lopes (1978) and Joc Pederson (2017).  That quartet is still staring up at Duke Snider, who clubbed four in 1952 and 1955.  Across all franchises, Reggie Jackson (1977), Chase Utley (2009) and George Springer (2017) share the record, with five.

~Before his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of this World Series, Freeman hadn’t gone yard in the postseason since Game 2 of the 2022 NLDS, with 62 plate appearances separating the longballs.  The ‘24 slam spurred a more concentrated run, with Freeman homering three times across six plate appearances.  

~Although Freeman had experienced an overall playoff drought when it comes to home runs, this mini-streak in 2024 continues a Fall Classic run that began in 2021’s Game 5 when the Braves first baseman went deep.  He followed that with another home run in the clinching Game 6, and thus, has homered in five straight Fall Classic contests.  That streak matches Freeman with George Springer (2017-2019) for the longest run ever.

~Freeman turned 35 earlier this season.  He’s one of nine players in the Fall Classic to be at least 35 and have at least three longballs in a series.  Hank Bauer (1958) and Barry Bonds (2002) each did this, with each of those guys finishing his work with four homers.  The others, aside from Freeman, with three:  Johnny Mize (1952), Ted Kluszewski (1959), Willie Stargell (1979), Lonnie Smith (1991), Hideki Matsui (2009) and Steve Pearce (2018).

~Freeman’s three homers and seven RBI in this Fall Classic are his personal highs for any single playoff series.  The seven RBI also match Freeman with Duke Snider (1955), Davey Lopes (1978) and Pedro Guerrero (1981) for the third most in franchise history.  Snider had eight in 1952 and Gil Hodges matched that tally in 1956.

~Freeman is currently slugging 1.250 for the World Series.  Seven players have finished a Fall Classic with a mark that high or higher (min. 12 PA):

Lou Gehrig          1.727 in 1928

Hideki Matsui      1.385 in 2009

Babe Ruth           1.375 in 1928

Barry Bonds        1.294 in 2002

Hank Gowdy       1.273 in 1914

Reggie Jackson  1.250 in 1977

Billy Hatcher        1.250 in 1990

Yes, Yankees teammates Gehrig and Ruth did it in the same series

~Freeman’s surge in these three World Series games has pushed his career playoff slugging mark from .478 to .516 (in 259 plate appearances).  He’s one of 56 players to have at least 250 trips to the plate in the postseason, and one of 16 within this club to have a career slugging mark of at least .500.  Carlos Beltrán – at .609 – leads the group.

Walker Buehler picked up the win, going 5.0 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. 

~Buehler has made a mark and a living pitching in World Series Game 3’s for the Dodgers.  In three of them (2018, 2020 and 2024), the right-hander has thrown 18.0 innings of 7-hit, 3-walk, 1-run ball.  That 0.50 ERA is highlighted along with 22 strikeouts and a 2-0 record.  These three Game 3 starts are his only Fall Classic starts.

~With this box score now part of his personal record, Buehler claims four playoff starts that have seen him get to (and sometimes go beyond) the requisite five innings and complete his line with no runs allowed.  13 hurlers have produced at least four such starts in their postseason careers:

Six:   Tom Glavine, Justin Verlander, Madison Bumgarner

Five:  Roger Clemens

Four:  Christy Mathewson, Whitey Ford, Orel Hershiser, Andy Pettitte, John Lackey, Chris Carpenter, Jon Lester, Ian Anderson and Walker Buehler.       

~Buehler’s career 3.07 postseason ERA ranks as the 11th lowest among 29 pitchers with at least 15 playoff starts.  Among these same 29, his 29.1 K% (strikeouts/batters faced) is the second best, behind Gerrit Cole’s 29.6.  Buehler’s 7.01 hits/9 is the fifth best mark.  

~Buehler is one of four hurlers to have made as many as 18 career postseason starts and to have had all of them representing only one franchise.  Whitey Ford, Chris Carpenter and Clayton Kershaw are the other three.

~Even though Game 3 marked Buehler’s 18th postseason start, the outcome gave him only his fourth career win (he’s 4-4).  Still, this fourth victory allows him to share a space with Johnny Podres, Sandy Koufax and Orel Hershiser on the all-time Dodgers’ list.  Climbing the ladder rung by rung, Don Sutton and Fernando Valenzuela each recorded five wins for Los Angeles.  Burt Hooton had six and Julio Urías, eight.  Clayton Kershaw has 13.

Mookie Betts drove in a run with a third-inning single, giving the outfielder 14 RBI in his 14 playoff games this year.  Corey Seager drove in the most runs for a Dodger in a single postseason, with 20 in 2020.  Justin Turner (2017) and Max Muncy (2020) are matched with Betts this year for the second most.

With a double, Giancarlo Stanton notched his ninth extra-base hit of the 2024 postseason.  He trails only Hideki Matsui (11 in 2004) and Álex Rodríguez (11 in 2009) for the most in a single playoff year for a Yankee.  In 1996, Bernie Williams also had nine.

The Dodgers have won seven straight World Series games against the Yankees, the longest such streak for either team in this 69-game rivalry.  The streak goes back to Game 3 of the 1981 Fall Classic.  

The Dodgers are one of 23 teams to open a World Series with three straight wins.  19 of the previous 22 clubs went on to sweep the series*, with the most recent being the 2012 Giants.  The clubs who won the first three but then had their streak ended in Game 4:

1910 Athletics, who won in five games over the Cubs

1937 Yankees, who won in five games over the Giants

1970 Orioles, who won in five games over the Reds

*The 1907 Cubs and 1922 Giants are not being included in any of this accounting.  Both clubs had a tie in one of their first three contests but never actually dropped a game in the entire series.

The Dodgers have limited Yankees batters to a .186/.284/.294/.579 line.  The limitations call back to the 1963 Fall Classic, when Los Angeles – in a four-game sweep – held New York’s batters to a .171/.207/.240/.448 line.  All four of those rate stats are the lowest ever for a Yankees team in a World Series.

Most World Series HRs, by Position (or role)

P Dave McNally        2

P Bob Gibson           2

C Yogi Berra            10

1B Lou Gehrig         10

2B Chase Utley        7

3B Alex Bregman     6

SS Corey Seager     6

OF Mickey Mantle   18

PH Dusty Rhodes      2

PH Chuck Essegian   2

PH Bernie Carbo        2

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.