You don’t always get Game 1s like this one. And when they bite you, it hurts. This one’ll hurt. The Yankees were one out away from the most remarkable win you’ll ever see. Instead Freddie Freeman hit one to Santa Barbara.
Freddie Freeman, longtime Mets killer.
Freddie Freeman, newfound Yankees killer. His grand slam ended this one, turning a 3-2 Yankees lead it into a 6-3 Dodgers win. It really was something.
Nobody makes declarations about winning the first game of the World Series. That’s supposed to be the beauty of a seven-game series, after all: you can stub your toe early and still recover. There have been enough teams to stub their toes early twice and still recover. We have seen it time and again.
Still, taking the opener is a nice step. Since the wild-card era began in 1995, the team that has won Game 1 has gone on to win 23 out of 29 times. That’s a percentage of .793, and that’s pretty definitive. It’s happened five of the last six years. It’s a thing.
But it’s not everything.
And no postseason relationship underlines this more than the Dodgers and the Yankees. In this case, winning Game 1 is basically a 60-40 chance for the winner, and in the two most recent examples the eventual winner not only lost the first game but the first TWO games. And still recovered.
Taking a look backward:
1981
Game 1: Yankees 5, Dodgers 3
Series: Dodgers 4, Yankees 2
The Yankees had come flying into the World Series playing their best ball of the season, swiping a do-or-die Game 5 of the strike-mandated ALDS from the Brewers and then smoking the Oakland A’s of Billy Martin in three straight. They kept it up in the Series, winning 5-3 behind Ron Guidry and 3-0 behind Tommy John at Yankee Stadium. But the Yankees blew leads in three straight games at Dodger Stadium, and then the Dodgers hammered the Yankees 9-2 in Game 6.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Yankees lose Game 1 on walk-off grand slam
- Fan interferes with near-homer in controversial play
- Aaron Judge fails to deliver again in clutch in Game 1
- Giancarlo Stanton’s hot postseason continues with two-run homer
1978
Game 1: Dodgers 11, Yankees 5
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 2
Davey Lopes hit two home runs and the Dodgers jumped to an 8-0 lead before cruising in Game 1, then beat Catfish Hunter in Game 2. Game 3 back in New York turned thanks to Graig Nettles’ glove, and Game 4 because of Reggie Jackson’s hip. By then, the Yankees had the momentum and pounded L.A. in Game 5 (12-2) and Game 6 (7-2).
1977
Game 1: Yankees 4, Dodgers 3 (12)
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 2
After the Dodgers scored a run in the ninth off Sparky Lyle, Paul Blair played the hero by driving in Willie Randolph with a single off Rick Rhoden in the 12th for the win. The Dodgers won Games 2 and 5, but in his final at-bat in Game 5, Reggie Jackson launched a homer, and two nights later he had three more in him for the win and for the ages.
1963
Game 1: Dodgers 5, Yankees 2
Series: Dodgers 4, Yankees 0
Sandy Koufax set the tone with 15 strikeouts in Game 1, and the Yankees never could get their bats untracked, scoring only five runs the whole series.
1956
Game 1: Dodgers 6, Yankees 3
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 3
Reversing 1955, the Dodgers won the first two games at home, but starting with Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5, the Dodgers scored one run in the last three games, including none in a 9-0 slamming at Ebbets Field in Game 7.
1955
Game 1: Yankees 6, Dodgers 5
Series: Dodgers 4, Yankees 3
Next Year took its time arriving for the Dodgers, who dropped the first two games at Yankee Stadium (including Game 1, when Jackie Robinson stole home) but in that same stadium six days later, a 2-0 win gave the Dodgers their first-ever title.
1953
Game 1: Yankees 9, Dodgers 5
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 2
The Yanks won Game 1 thanks to a Yogi Berra homer then walked off with the title in Game 6 when Billy Martin drove in Hank Bauer in the bottom of the ninth.
1952
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Yankees 2
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 3
Brooklyn led the Series 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, but lost Game 6 and then Billy Martin saved Game 7 with his scrambling shoe-top catch of a Jackie Robinson pop-up that everyone else lost in the sun.
1949
Game 1: Yankees 1, Dodgers 0
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 1
Tommy Henrich broke Don Newcombe’s heart with a ninth-inning walk-off in Game 1, and soon the rest of Brooklyn would feel the same sadness.
1947
Game 1: Yankees 5, Dodgers 3
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 3
Yankees beat 21-game-winner Ralph Branca in Game 1 then overcame all-time heroics by Cookie Lavagetto and Al Gionfriddo.
1941
Game 1: Yankees 3, Dodgers 2
Series: Yankees 4, Dodgers 1
Joe Gordon drove in the winning run in Game 1 and the Dodgers never could draw even, thanks in large part to Mickey Owen’s passed ball.