STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
You know, A, ever since I moved to New York, as a very, very young man...
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
(Laughter).
INSKEEP: I've followed the Yankees, to the extent that I've followed any baseball team, so this is hard. But congratulations to you and Dodger fans everywhere. Here's Fox News.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOE DAVIS: Start the party, Los Angeles. Your Dodgers have won the World Series.
(CHEERING)
MARTÍNEZ: You know, Steve, I woke up to fireworks. I hope they were only fireworks. And then I went for a run through North...
INSKEEP: (Laughter) OK. You never know.
MARTÍNEZ: Well, see, the thing is I love LA, but I also know LA.
INSKEEP: OK, OK.
MARTÍNEZ: So it might be something else.
INSKEEP: All right.
MARTÍNEZ: But I went through a run through North Hollywood around 11 p.m., people still partying on the streets of North Hollywood.
INSKEEP: OK, well, I'm glad people enjoyed it.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah. So the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 7-6 - they beat Steve's New York Yankees 7-6 - to win Game 5 and also win the World Series four games to one. Steve Futterman was at Yankee Stadium, joins us live from New York. Now, Steve, what a game tonight - or last night.
STEVE FUTTERMAN: It really was. You know, early on, the Yankees showed their power. Aaron Judge, the Yankee's star center fielder, in the very first inning put New York on top. Here's the TV call on Fox.
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DAVIS: Fastball driven the other way. Sleeping giant has awoken.
FUTTERMAN: And then the very next batter made it back-to-back home runs. It was suddenly 3-0. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the third. It was 5-0 New York - Steve Inskeep probably pretty happy then. It looked like we might be going back to LA for Game 6. But in the fifth, everything changed. The Yankees made two critical errors, one of them by Judge, who couldn't catch an easy fly ball. It opened the door for the Dodgers. LA ended up with five runs in the fifth. Here's Freddie Freeman.
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FREDDIE FREEMAN: After they scored three in the first, I mean, every half inning when we came in, we were just like just get one. Just chip away, chip away. And obviously, we didn't do that for the first couple innings. But in this game, when you're given extra outs, you got to capitalize. And that's what we were able to do in that inning. You got to get the big hits in the big situations, and we were able to do that in that inning.
FUTTERMAN: Now, New York was able to move in front again briefly, 6-5. But in the eighth, LA loaded the bases with nobody out. And two run-scoring sacrifice flies first tied the game, then put LA on top.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. So what about a lot of LA fans who made the trip to New York from California?
FUTTERMAN: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: I saw a lot in the stands.
FUTTERMAN: Oh, yes. And take a listen. Thousands of Dodger fans stayed long after the final out.
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UNIDENTIFIED DODGERS FANS: (Chanting) Let's go Dodgers (clapping), let's go Dodgers.
FUTTERMAN: And we found one fan, Lester Singer (ph) from Pasadena. Boy, he was pretty happy.
LESTER SINGER: I feel amazing. We knew we were going to do it today. We did it. Now we get to enjoy it. 2020 wasn't a real championship, now it is. We get a parade. We get to enjoy it. I got kids that are fans, so I love it. Let's go Dodgers.
FUTTERMAN: Now, what he's referring to is the fact that the Dodgers did win the 2020 World Series. But that was during the COVID shortened season. All those World Series games were played at a neutral site - Arlington, Texas - limited number of fans able to attend. Some have questioned the legitimacy of that championship, but that's certainly not the case in any way now.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, not anymore - and no surprise. I mean, the MVP was Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah, I mean, I could have predicted that before. He had four home runs in the series, including this iconic walk-off grand slam that's always going to be remembered from Game 1.
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STEPHEN NELSON: High fly ball. Hit deep, back and gone.
FUTTERMAN: On the field last night celebrating was Freddie Freeman's family, including his father, Fred.
FRED FREEMAN: Second World Series champ, MVP.
FUTTERMAN: When he was growing up, did you see this in him realistically?
FRED FREEMAN: He was better than everybody else. But who ever thinks your kid is going to be a Major League Baseball player? I knew he was good but nothing like this.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, nothing like this indeed. Steve Futterman, thank you very much, reporting from New York.
FUTTERMAN: Thank you and congratulations, A.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUPE FIASCO ON SONG, "THE SHOW GOES ON") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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