The Los Angeles Dodgers recently defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win the World Series.  The 4-2 series win gave Los Angeles their seventh title in franchise history, and their first since 1988.  After losing two of the last three World Series, the Dodgers were finally able to avenge their prior losses.  

This baseball season was unlike any other due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Instead of starting in early spring and playing the customary 162 games, the season did not start until July and only 60 games were played.  Fans were not allowed to attend games until the final two rounds of the postseason.  The sprint-like nature of the shortened season added a new wrinkle to the game, and it made every single game count much more than normal.  The playoff format was also changed, as sixteen teams made the first round as opposed to the standard ten.  While not all of these changes were ideal, it was still welcome for many to see baseball at all, which had been in question before the season started.  

As for the World Series itself, it pitted two very different teams against one another.  The Dodgers are a historic team that comes from a large market, and has a huge payroll.  The Rays, on the other hand, have only been around since 1998, were searching for their first ever World Series, and have a payroll close to ¼ of that of the Dodgers.  As a result, many were rooting for the Rays as the underdog team to pull off an upset.  It didn’t happen, but the series was certainly well-played and entertaining.  The final game, Game 6, was also subject to a couple of controversies both during and after it.  The first had to do with a critical managerial decision during the game.  Rays’ starting pitcher Blake Snell was dominating the Dodgers hitters through five innings, on his way to putting together one of the most incredible World Series pitching performances in recent memory.  Inexplicably though, Rays manager Kevin Cash removed Snell from the game leading 1-0 in the sixth inning after giving up only his second hit of the game.  The decision backfired almost immediately; within the next two at bats, the Dodgers had taken a 2-1 lead, and they would hold that lead for the rest of the game and win 3-1, winning the series as well.  The backlash was widespread; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tweeted, “Crazy he gave up only his second hit of the game and got pulled!”; former baseball player Alex Rodriguez commented, “Worst decision I’ve seen in all of the World Series I’ve watched,”; Rays fan and college basketball announcer Dick Vitale remarked, “Keep thinking about what could have happened if (Snell) had stayed in the game.” 

While the decision confused lots of people, the game’s other controversy could have much more dire consequences.  Late in the game, Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner left the game for unknown reasons.  After the game, it was revealed that Turner had tested positive for COVID-19 and was removed when his results came back.  This naturally caused concern, since Turner had been in close contact with players, coaches, umpires and more for weeks.  Even more concerning is that after the Dodgers won, Turner exited quarantine in the clubhouse and returned to the field to celebrate with his teammates.  While one can understand the desire to celebrate a championship with your team, to participate in the celebration after being placed into quarantine because of a positive coronavirus test is hard to justify.  Even worse, when security found out that Turner was back on the field, they went to remove him, but he refused to leave.  This act could have potentially exposed many more people to the virus, including his manager Dave Roberts, who is at high risk as a result of having had cancer.

This World Series was entertaining from start to finish, and remained entertaining even after the finish of the baseball aspect.  All that is left now is to see the fallout of the actions of Justin Turner during the trophy presentation, but hopefully everyone ends up okay.