AppleTV+'s 2024 World Series gives insights into the Yankees' loss to the Dodgers
Spoiler alert: It is likely Dodgers fans will enjoy the new Apple TV+ documentary, “Fight for Glory: 2024 World Series,” far more than Yankees fans will.
The three-part series, which premieres on Friday, recounts in excruciating detail the Dodgers’ triumph in five games and the many failed chances the Yankees had to change that outcome.
The fact that Derek Jeter is one of the executive producers, via his CAP 2 Productions, makes the whole thing even more awkward from a Yankees fan’s perspective.
So, is it worth watching?
Again, for Dodgers fans, it’s a no-brainer. But there are enough insights into what went down that a Yankees fan with a strong stomach should find it useful, too.
The group behind the series is full of heavy hitters beyond Jeter, including MLB Studios itself. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are executive producers. R.J. Cutler is the director.
Right off the bat, the filmmakers place an excellent bet in introducing us to the family and backstory of Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman before Game 1.
His father, Fred, and wife, Chelsea, are among the stars of the TV series as Freeman stars in the World Series with home runs in the first four games.
His epic, walk-off grand slam in Game 1 is captured in slow-motion, NFL Films-style cinematography, complete with the theme music from “The Natural.”
Among those mic’ed up during the series is Yankees coach Luis Rojas. When Mookie Betts comes up before Freeman, he is heard saying, “100% walk him.”
It was the right move, but the wrong result for the Yankees.
In addition to real-time audio from the games – more would have been even better – the series includes many interviews with key figures from both sides.
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers offers a prescient thought about the Yankees’ notoriously shaky defense after he is shown taking an extra base in Game 1:
“We were aware of those small mistakes since the regular season,” he says, translated from Japanese. “So we were told to focus on taking the extra bases.”
Says Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, “We just felt that they didn’t finish some plays.”
When Juan Soto hits a big home run for the Yankees in Game 2, the bullpen is heard anticipating how much money Soto will command in free agency.
Marcus Stroman initially guesses $600 million. When someone interjects, “That [expletive] just went up,” Stroman agrees, saying, “700! Give it to him!”
(Soto ended up getting $765 million – from the Mets.)
The Dodgers go on to win Games 2 and 3, of course, and at times the Yankees seem like mere bit players in a drama centered on the boys in Pantone 294 blue.
But history is written by the victors, so there is no avoiding the celebratory vibe that surrounds the Dodgers throughout.
The Yankees finally win in Game 4.
Betts’ mic picks up someone yelling, “Take his [expletive] glove!” on the infamous play in which fans down the rightfield line interfered with his catch of a foul ball.
Game 4 also includes interesting mic’ed up moments from home plate umpire Doug Eddings as he tries to cheer up Luis Gil after he gives up a two-run home run to Freeman, and as he tries to calm down an angry Giancarlo Stanton.
When the Yankees take a 5-0 lead in Game 5, Roberts admits thinking back to his experience with the Red Sox when the Yankees blew a 3-0 series lead in the 2004 ALCS.
“I could start to feel the sense bleeding into my psyche a little bit,” he says.
Naturally, the series-turning events of the fifth inning of Game 5, in which the Yankees allowed the Dodgers to score five runs thanks mostly to sloppy defense, are well chronicled.
Like many sports documentaries, the series relies heavily on snippets of sports talk commentary to punctuate the goings-on on the field.
The participants are the ones who offer the real insights. There is enough of that here to make this interesting, if painful, for Yankees fans.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
