Blame Aaron Judge, Aaron Boone for Brutal World Series L to Freddie Freeman, Dodgers

Freddie Freeman delivered one of the biggest hits in Los Angeles Dodgers history with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to kick off the 2024 World Series dramatically.

But the New York Yankees’ failures cast an equally large shadow.

Between another forgettable playoff performance from AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge and a brutal late-game decision from manager Aaron Boone, the story for the Yankees was a squandered opportunity to steal Game 1 at Dodger Stadium.

First things first, though, let’s give Freeman his props.

The 35-year-old suffered a severe ankle sprain on Sept. 26, and he has been visibly hobbled all postseason, spending three of the Dodgers’ first 11 playoff games watching from the bench.

He was 7-for-32 with zero extra-base hits and only one RBI in the NLDS and NLCS, but with a few extra days to rest before the start of the World Series, he looked to be moving significantly better when he ran out to greet his teammates during pregame introductions.

A few hours later, he hit the biggest home run of his life.

The game-winning blast came on the first pitch he saw from Nestor Cortes, who had absolutely no business being in the game to begin with.

That fatal decision falls squarely on the shoulders of Aaron Boone.

Cortes was inactive during the ALDS and ALCS, and for the final few weeks of the regular season after suffering a flexor strain on Sept. 18. After weighing the risk of further damaging his elbow and potentially needing Tommy John surgery, he decided to rush back for the Fall Classic.

“We have weighed in the consequences this can lead up to, but if I have a ring and then a year off of baseball, then so be it,” Cortes told reporters.

Surely he would be eased back into action with a clean inning and a low-leverage situation, right?

With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees had Cortes and fellow lefty Tim Hill warming up in the bullpen, and Shohei Ohtani stepping into the batter’s box.

Hill had been used all postseason in exactly this sort of spot, posting a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings of work over seven appearances and recording some huge outs against Cleveland in the ALCS.

Instead, Boone called for Cortes, who made only one relief appearance during the regular season and complained about it.

While Ohtani was just 2-for-12 lifetime against Cortes, the situation was bigger than just getting past him with only one out in the inning. Hill had a 62.3 percent groundball rate during the regular season and should have been the easy choice to try and induce a double play ball, even with Ohtani’s speed making that tough.

Ohtani flew out to left field on a spectacular play by Alex Verdugo for the second out before Mookie Betts was intentionally walked, and then Cortes’ return to the mound ended in disaster.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggested moving Judge down to at least the cleanup spot in the order following Friday’s game, but Boone balked at the idea of switching things up.

Regardless of where he is hitting in the lineup, the Yankees can’t win the World Series unless their MVP is pulling his weight.

It’s only one game in a best-of-seven series, but the Yankees have dug themselves a major hole from a momentum standpoint, and the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of their manager and the face of the franchise.

This has a chance to be a World Series for the ages after a Game 1 that more than lived up to the tremendous hype, but two of the most prominent figures in the Yankees clubhouse will have a lot to prove in the coming days.