The 2024 MLB Season and Postseason came to a close on Oct. 30, as the Los Angeles Dodgers won their 8th World Series in Franchise history, defeating the New York Yankees in comeback fashion 7- 6 at Yankee Stadium.
The 2024 MLB Season proved to be an interesting one, with big pushes made by the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres and the Detroit Tigers to clinch playoff berths after struggling during the 2023 season. Shohei Ohtani, the biggest free agent acquisition of the 2023 offseason, also won a world series with the Dodgers in his first postseason appearance after a historic 50 homer and 50 steal season.
According to Fox Sports, in an interview Ohtani said, “With the Dodgers, the tradition and team atmosphere was special. I’m honored to play on this team this year… I came to the US [From Japan] to win a world series. I had a chance to see the world series trophy but made sure not to touch it. I thought I would touch it only after we won it.”
While the Dodgers finally found their success and the trophy they needed, there were plenty of surprises and disappointments across the league as the season progressed. The two teams who played in the world series last year, the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, failed to make the postseason this year. The Rangers specifically were 7 games below 500 this season, after an injury riddled season kept many of their star players off the field.
In a recent interview, the Rangers General Manager Chris Young told ESPN “We are self reflecting right now in terms of what we could have done differently to have more success this year,” Rangers GM Chris Young told ESPN recently. “Did we overachieve that much and were these players outperforming projected outcomes collectively in a magical year? That’s not how we felt.”
Unlike the Rangers’ disappointing season, the New York Mets had the most successful and surprising season in the
National League. After being written off by many people before the season even started due to selling off most of their stars in the 2023 trade deadline, Grimace (The McDonalds Mascot) threw out the first pitch at one of their home games, and after that pitch they finished the season 61-36 streak. Phrases such as the “OMG Mets,” and “Grimace Mets” gave the team a special identity to its fans that nearly led to a world series appearance, before being defeated by the Dodgers in the NLCS 4-2.
According to The Athletic, the Mets Star Shortstop, Franciso Lindor said, “It’s one of those years where coming in, you know you have something special. Obviously, we’ve all got to build to get to the place we want to get to. It didn’t click right away, then it started clicking.”
With the offseason in full swing, the 2024 MLB season is officially ending as the major free agent signings and contracts will be made in the coming months.