Los Angeles have resources beyond the wildest dreams of most other MLB franchises. But they still had to scrap for their second title in five seasons

Hours after the last out of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the field at Yankee Stadium was strewn with ribbons of gold confetti. Jack Flaherty, who started Game 1 of the World Series for the now-champion Los Angeles Dodgers, spotted Shohei Ohtani, the presumptive National League Most Valuable Player, in the middle of an interview with the MLB Network crew on a small stage that had been erected in left field.

“Sho!” he yelled over the legion of fans who stayed to cheer and chant the players’ names. “Focus!” Flaherty reprimanded, having purposefully distracted Ohtani.