World Series Game One, 2020

Rays vs Dodgers, 5:00PM PDT, TV: Fox

By virtue of the better season record the Dodgers earned “home field advantage” for this neutral-site series; they’ll have last ups in games 1,2,6 and 7.

Here’s MLB’s position-by-position analysis. (Spoiler: In their estimation the Dodgers have large or small edges everywhere except the rotation and the bullpen.)

The Rays give the ball to their very tall (he’s 6′ 8″ and his nickname is “Baby Giraffe,” MLB says) RHP Tyler Glasnow, who’s 2-1 in the playoffs with 25 Ks. His last appearance was in Game Four of the ALCS and it didn’t go particularly well: he gave up four runs to the Astros in six innings of work. He’ll face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw, who’ll be making his fifth World Series start. We all know the stories of his postseason woes; Roberts does too, one assumes, and he should be ready to replace Kershaw at the first moment he looks to be in trouble.

Now this is startling:

Six years and six days before Game 1 of the 2020 World Series, Andrew Friedman left his longtime post running the Tampa Bay Rays’ front office to become the Los Angeles Dodgers’ president of baseball operations.

He departed with a promise disguised as friendly banter, one that will be fulfilled when his current team lines up against his former club on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

“We joked when I left the team that we were going to meet up in the World Series one day,” Friedman said, “and for it actually to happen is surreal.”

Oh my. I like Jeff Passan of ESPN, and he wrote a good book, but I dunno. Here he is on Pablo Torre’s podcast earlier today:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1988 The Dodgers become World Champions when Orel Hershiser limits the opposition to four singles in Game 5 of the World Series and beats the A’s, 5-1. The right-hander, who also won Game 2, is named the Most Valuable Player of the Fall Classic.

  • 1994 Receiving all 28 first-place votes, Raul Mondesi (.306, 16, 56) is named the National League’s Rookie of the Year. The Los Angeles right fielder, who easily outdistanced Astros’ hurler John Hudek and Braves’ outfielder Ryan Klesko, is the third consecutive Dodger to win the award.
  • 2010 Ted Lilly signs a three-year, $33 million deal to remain with the Dodgers. The 34 year-old southpaw, obtained from the Cubs in early August, compiled a 7-4 record with a 3.52 ERA in 12 starts for LA, including victories in the first five starts for his new team.

Lineups:

Rays:

Dodgers:

298 thoughts on “World Series Game One, 2020

  1. The Athletic:

    Roberts’ newfound refusal to push Kershaw and Kenley Jansen past the point of exhaustion in search of playoff victories is just one of the reasons the Dodgers look primed to win their first World Series championship in 32 years. Watching the two longest tenured and beloved Dodgers take the ball when their arms had been reduced to wet noodles and get hit hard with the team’s season on the line, year after year, delivered a special kind of pain.

  2. Kelly smiling after he deflected the ball with his bare hand to Seager to throw out the batter at first.

  3. As noted, I’d like to see Wood start tomorrow. I prefer him over the other options, which I expect are Gonsolin and May on two days’ rest.

  4. Get yours on Taco Tuesday the 27th!

    Betts’ stolen base netted free tacos for fans across America as part of Taco Bell’s “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion that returned for the 2020 Fall Classic. Fans can redeem their free Doritos Locos Tacos within hours if they download and sign up for the Taco Bell app. Otherwise, they will be available at participating Taco Bell locations on Oct. 28 from 2-6 p.m. local time, as supplies last.

  5. A comfortable way to start the World Series with only a couple of moments of deep concern.

  6. I get how it’s only one game and that we don’t know how the rest of the series will play out. But if the Dodgers win Game 1, I think it really helps them in terms of setting up some pitching for future games.
    And would help with my own comfort vs stress levels as well!

    • Guy has thrown a lot of pitches. Probably want him to pitch again at some point. Also, giving up more runs would make game even more out of reach, so bringing in righty against righty.

  7. RBI’s wish for a quick inning was granted….Raise your hand if you thought that Baez would become Mr. Reliable. Do you send him out there for another inning and save the pen?

  8. Let’s get a run or two back. Just because. Unless that means we don’t get them tomorrow. Ok. Never mind. Carry on.

  9. What roster moves did the Dodgers make between the NLCS and the World Series? Did they have to trim the list of active players to 26?

  10. Gonzalez and the Dodgers were quite fortunate, the former more than the latter. Gonzalez had great instincts and remarkable luck. Had that gone through the Rays would have had an even bigger inning.

    • Kershaw was stellar in Game 1 2017 – but yeah – it was a closer lower scoring game.

  11. Kershaw with 35 pitches in the last three innings after 20 in the first. That’s a total of 55 for an average of 13.75 per inning.

  12. Because I got busy, I missed the last half-hour of posts on Sunday, but if you didn’t see what I eventually posted, I want to thank each and every one of your for helping to make this such an enjoyable season. I have had to tape all or parts of the prior postseason games and that deprives me of the live camaraderie, friendliness, banter and observations that you post. So, thanks, and Go Dodgers!

  13. My memory of Game 5 of the 1988 World Series: Watching the game instead of studying for my first year university Physics mid-term.
    Totally worth it! (But my goodness that was a lifetime ago…)

    • I was at Game 5 in 1988, sitting in George Steinbrenner’s seats between home and third, about 12 rows up. Steinbrenner, so annoyed that his Yankees weren’t in the WS, gave his tickets to a friend, who then gave them to a good friend of mine. He knew what a big Dodgers fan I am, so he invited me. I sat next to the late Lou Gorman, then the GM of the Red Sox. The entire evening was fantastic.