LOS ANGELES -- On a long-awaited evening when the Dodgers received the commemorative rings in honor of their 2024 World Series victory, several key figures from that championship run reprised some of their top postseason performances on Friday night.
Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts hit big home runs, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty both flashed dominance on the mound -- this time as opponents, not rotation mates. Betts delivered the final blow in a 10-inning thriller, his second homer of the game to beat the Tigers, 8-5, in walk-off fashion.
Friday marked the team's second ring ceremony in the past five years, but this one is all the more special because Dodger Stadium is at capacity -- unlike when the club received its 2020 World Series rings.
"Just to kind of have the fans here to enjoy this with us," manager Dave Roberts said. "The players, to kind of close the book on 2024 and still staying focused on the baseball game tonight. There's just a lot of excitement. Probably more than I can ever recall, with the Dodger fanbase. Our players feel that."
The Dodger Stadium faithful gave Roberts a standing ovation -- and remained on their feet throughout the ceremony -- when he strode down the blue carpet to receive his ring, and he looked positively giddy when he opened the box. It was, in fact, the first time that Roberts got to take a look at the Dodgers' 2024 rings, which are gold with blue stones and personalized for each player.
There is also plenty of symbolism in the design. There are eight diamonds on the face of the ring -- one for each championship in franchise history. It opens to reveal an engraving of the World Series trophy superimposed over Dodger Stadium, with 34 stones in honor of the late, great Fernando Valenzuela encircling a piece from a base used in the World Series emblazoned with the team's City Connect logo.
On the bottom of the band are five diamonds, representing the five-run comeback the team made in the clinching World Series Game 5 vs. the Yankees.
"The ring is incredible," Max Muncy said. "It was a good way to start the day. The ceremonies are a lot. But I’m not gonna complain about it.”
As the ceremony was unfolding on a stage in front of the mound, the evening's starting pitchers warmed up on the field in the background. They were, as fate would have it, two-thirds of the rotation the Dodgers used last postseason: Yamamoto and Flaherty, who re-signed with the Tigers this past offseason.
Los Angeles acquired Flaherty from Detroit ahead of last season's Trade Deadline, when he became, as Roberts put it, "somewhat of a savior" for the team's injury-ravaged rotation. He was warmly received by the home crowd throughout his return.
“He was the right person at the right time for our club," Roberts said. "And I'm happy that he got family and friends that got to see him in a Dodger uniform, get a championship ring. And now we can go beat him up today, and give him his ring tomorrow.”
Although Flaherty did not take part in the ceremony, he made do with a zero in the hit column through his first 4 1/3 innings. Another Dodgers postseason hero, NL Championship Series MVP Tommy Edman, singled for the first hit against Flaherty in the fifth.
Yamamoto gave up a pair of early solo homers, but he also struck out 10 across five innings, setting a single-game career high for himself in the big leagues.
Before World Series MVP Freeman smoked a game-tying two-run blast off Flaherty in the sixth and Betts smacked his pair of go-ahead homers in the eighth and 10th, they relished the opportunity to relive the memory of their great team accomplishment.
For Betts, it was his third ring, the most among active position players.
"It’s super nice," Betts said of the 2024 rings. "It’s my favorite one. Hopefully I can get some more, and we’ll be able to compare."