2020 World Series
The 2020 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2020 season. The 116th World Series was a best-of-seven-playoff between the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays and the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers defeated the Rays to win the series in six games for their first championship since 1988.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire series was played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, from October 20 to October 27, with the ballpark's seating capacity limited to 25 percent. The pandemic resulted in the regular season being reduced to 60 games and the postseason being held at neutral sites instead of at teams' home stadiums. This was the first World Series to be played at a neutral site, as well as the first since to be held at only one ballpark. It was the first World Series since to be played entirely on artificial turf, the fifth all-artificial-turf World Series, and the first World Series played entirely on second-generation artificial turf. It was also the first World Series since to use the designated hitter in all games. As 2020 was Globe Life Field's inaugural season, it became the first ballpark to host the World Series in its first year since Yankee Stadium in.
Despite not playing on their home field, the Dodgers were still designated as having home-field advantage because they had the better regular-season record. Los Angeles and Tampa Bay alternated victories during the first four games before the Dodgers won Games 5 and 6, becoming the first designated home team to win the World Series since 2013. Los Angeles shortstop Corey Seager was named the World Series Most Valuable Player after batting 8-for-20, with two home runs, five runs batted in, and an on-base percentage of.556.
Background
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed to shorten the standard 162-game season to 60 games, the shortest since 1878. They also agreed to hold an expanded 16-team playoff tournament for only the 2020 season. In addition to each league's three division winners, each league's three division runners-up qualified, and two additional wild card teams per league qualified based on win–loss record. The first round was the Wild Card Series, a best-of-three playoff hosted by the higher seeded team. After that, the postseason maintained its standard format of a best-of-five League Division Series, best-of-seven League Championship Series, and the best-of-seven World Series.After COVID-19 outbreaks among several teams resulted in the postponement of about 40 regular season games, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to hold the division series, league championships, and World Series in protective "bubble" environments at neutral sites to limit the chances of experiencing another outbreak. MLB chose Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, as the site of the 2020 World Series. The Texas Rangers, who play their home games at Globe Life Field, failed to qualify for the postseason. It was the first time since the 1944 World Series that the entire series was held at one ballpark.
While fans were not permitted to attend MLB games during the 2020 season, Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed his hope that fans would be able to attend the World Series in a limited capacity. On September 30, MLB announced that fans would be able to attend the NLCS and World Series at 25% capacity, allowing a maximum of 11,500 people to attend each game at Globe Life Field. Both teams stayed at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas as the designated bubble hotel.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays of the American League made their second appearance in the World Series in franchise history and their first since 2008. They finished the shortened regular season with a record, the best in the American League. They then swept the Toronto Blue Jays in two games in the Wild Card Series, defeated the New York Yankees in five games in the Division Series, and defeated the Houston Astros in seven games after leading 3–0 in the American League Championship Series. Randy Arozarena hit seven home runs in 14 postseason games prior to the World Series, becoming the first rookie position player to ever win the ALCS Most Valuable Player Award. After his performance in the World Series, Arozarena would break records in home runs, hits, and total bases in a single postseason.Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League made their 21st appearance in the World Series, passing the Giants for most all-time in the National League, and third in four years, having lost in 2017 and 2018. Prior to the 2020 season, the Dodgers traded outfielder Alex Verdugo and minor leaguers Connor Wong and Jeter Downs to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for outfielder Mookie Betts, starting pitcher David Price and cash considerations. The Dodgers finished the shortened regular season with a record, the best in all of MLB. Betts finished the 2020 60 game regular-season hitting.292/.366/.562 with 47 runs, 16 home runs, 39 RBIs, a.928 OPS, and 10 stolen bases.The Dodgers swept both the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series and the San Diego Padres in the Division Series, before defeating the Atlanta Braves in seven games in the National League Championship Series after trailing 3–1 in that series. In the NLCS, Betts made three straight series saving defensive gems in elimination games for the Dodgers as they were the fourteenth team in MLB history to come back from a 3–1 series deficit.
Series notes
The 2020 season rule change, calling for each extra half-inning to begin with a runner on second base, was not implemented for any postseason round, including the World Series.This was the fourth time in the Wild Card era where both teams with the best record in each league faced each other in the World Series. This had previously occurred in 1995, 1999, and 2013. Additionally, the Dodgers and Rays combined for a.692 winning percentage in the regular season, the highest combined regular-season winning percentage for a World Series matchup ever, surpassing the 1906 World Series between the Cubs and White Sox.
This was the first World Series to feature two cities that held either the NBA or the NHL title in the same year, as the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 NBA Finals on October 11 and the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals on September 28. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers eventually winning Super Bowl LV in 2021, Tampa Bay's NHL, MLB and NFL teams all made the championship round within a six-month span.
This was the first World Series since to have all games played on artificial turf.
Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers President of Baseball Operations, was the Rays general manager from 2004 to 2014. Under Friedman's tenure as general manager the Rays saw their first run of success as a franchise, which was highlighted by a World Series appearance in 2008 and five 90-win seasons from 2008 to 2013. The 2020 Rays had only five players that were originally acquired by Freidman: Kevin Kiermaier Blake Snell, José Alvarado, Diego Castillo, and Willy Adames. Only Alvarado was not on Tampa's World Series roster. Current Rays GM Erik Neander also received his start in baseball under Friedman in 2007 as an intern. Other connections between the two teams included Brandon Gomes, the current Dodgers Vice President & Assistant General Manager, who was a Rays middle relief pitcher from 2011 to 2015; and Joel Peralta, the current Dodgers Special Assistant, Baseball Operations, who was a popular Rays reliever from 2011 to 2014. Dodgers relievers Adam Kolarek was also a member of the Rays from 2017 to 2019, while Dylan Floro pitched briefly for Tampa Bay in 2016.
Summary
Matchups
Game 1
For the pregame ceremony, Pentatonix performed the national anthem and four first responders threw out ceremonial first pitches.Cody Bellinger hit a two-run home run off Tyler Glasnow in the fourth inning for the first runs of the series. Kevin Kiermaier reduced the Tampa Bay deficit to one run with a solo home run in the fifth inning. The Dodgers scored four runs in the fifth inning on a run batted in fielder's choice by Max Muncy, followed by RBI singles by Will Smith, Chris Taylor, and Kiké Hernández. Glasnow finished with six runs allowed in 4 innings on three hits and six walks, with eight strikeouts. Betts homered off Josh Fleming in the sixth inning. Muncy then doubled home Justin Turner for another run. Clayton Kershaw, who grew up just a few miles from Globe Life Field, came out of the game after the sixth inning, having only allowed two hits and one walk while striking out eight. The Rays scored two runs in the seventh inning, when Mike Brosseau and Kiermaier singled in runs off reliever Victor González. The Dodgers held on to win 8–3.
The Dodgers tied several postseason records in Game 1. Kershaw's 11th postseason start tied Greg Maddux for second-most in MLB history, and he recorded his 200th postseason strikeout in the fifth inning, surpassing John Smoltz for second-most all time. The Dodgers as a team tied the New York Giants for most stolen bases in a single World Series inning, with three.