Several stars made their World Series debuts in classic Game 1

October 26th, 2024

The 2024 World Series is a titanic matchup between two legendary franchises with a rich history of showdowns in the Fall Classic. When the Dodgers and Yankees played Game 1 on Friday night in Los Angeles, a contest that became an instant classic, the excitement was off the charts as the baseball world watched the two start-studded rosters face off.

Game 1 was special for a number of reasons, the foremost being 's historic walk-off grand slam. But one of them is that several notable players made their World Series debuts. Here’s a look at how they fared in their first taste of the Fall Classic.

, Dodgers
In his long-awaited World Series debut, Ohtani smashed a screaming line drive off the wall in right field in the eighth inning, advancing to third on an errant throw from right field by . The exit velocity of the double was 113.9 mph, and it was Ohtani's first career World Series hit. Ohtani then scored to tie the game, 2-2, before Freddie Freeman launched his historic walk-off grand slam in the 10th.

, Yankees
Judge got off to a rough start, striking out in each of his first three plate appearances against Dodgers starter . But he picked up his first World Series hit with a 106.5 mph single up the middle against reliever in the seventh inning. In the top of the ninth, with the go-ahead run at second and two outs, he popped out to shortstop.

, Yankees
Stanton followed up an American League Championship Series MVP performance with his sixth home run of this postseason and fourth in as many games, a 412-foot moonshot just inside the left-field foul pole in the sixth inning that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead. The ball came off Stanton’s bat with an exit velocity of 116.6 mph, the hardest-hit ball Statcast has tracked in a World Series game.

, Dodgers
Flaherty got the nod for Game 1, and outside of one pitch to Stanton that he’d like back, he was excellent. The right-hander gave up two runs (on Stanton's homer) on five hits, walked one and struck out six over 5 1/3 innings. He generated 19 swings and misses, tied for the second-most whiffs he’s had in a game this year (he had 24 on April 30 vs. the Cardinals while still with the Tigers). Twelve of those came on his knuckle-curve, which had a 71% whiff rate.

, Yankees
Chisholm went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and stole a World Series record-tying three bases, including two in the 10th inning, when he scored the go-ahead run to put the Yankees up, 3-2. The singles came off Dodgers reliever in the sixth inning and in the 10th. Chisholm's steals came in the sixth (second base) and in the 10th (second and third).

, Yankees
Volpe delivered a go-ahead fielder's choice in the 10th inning for the Yankees after Chisholm stole his way to third base. Volpe then stole a base of his own, swiping second. In his other four trips to the plate, he struck out twice, was intentionally walked and lined out to center field.

, Dodgers
Edman, the National League Championship Series MVP, doubled in the sixth inning and made some great defensive plays after committing an error on a Stanton ground ball in the first, including a diving play to save a run in the top of the sixth. He also singled in the 10th before Freeman's heroics.