NEW YORK — The Los Angeles Dodgers roster hasn’t been without immense talent since their last World Series victory in 2020. In fact, they’ve continued to add in recent years, spending into the stratosphere on ‘a billion dollars last offseason. But even though Los Angeles has been one of, if not the most, talented teams in MLB on paper for some time, something was missing. During their 12 straight trips to the postseason, the Dodgers have often lacked a certain type of grit or toughness to push them over the top.

However, time and again this season and in the postseason, the 2024 Dodgers have shown that they are not the same team. They are stronger, tougher, better, and that’s why they are now World Series champions.

“It’s just a special group of guys,” the Dodgers first baseman said and Freddie Freeman, World Series MVP said after the team clinched the title with a Victory 7-6 Wednesday in Game 5.

New York had dynamism coming off their resounding victory in Game 4. And after the Bronx Bombers took a 5-0 lead in the third inning on Wednesday, it appeared the Dodgers would return to Los Angeles for Game 6. No team has ever gone 3-0 in a World Series and then been pushed to a Game 6, so the Dodgers were on the precipice of an inauspicious story and a lot of pressure. With the Los Angeles offense facing Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the bullpen needing to get 23 outs after starter Jack Flaherty lasted just one inning the night after a designated bullpen game relievers, the difficult battle was tough.

This wasn’t the first time in October that the Dodgers had their backs against the wall, with momentum not on their side. They were battle tested and ready for this moment.

Facing elimination in the NLDS against the Padres in a hostile environment at Petco Park, the Dodgers needed similar determination. While few thought they had enough to fight back, they did – not just forcing a win-or-go-home Game 5. but also win it to advance to the NLCS.

And when the Dodgers had to show resilience in Game 5 of the World Series, they were able to harness their stamina again. LA’s offense came alive in the fifth inning, thanks in large part to some horrible Yankees defense to load the bases. With back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers cut the deficit to 5-3. Then Teoscar Hernández delivered the big blow, crushing a two-run double into the left field gap to score Betts and Freeman and tie the game at 5.

“Gerrit was throwing the ball really well,” Freeman said. “He always threw the ball really well all the time. When Mookie came in and hit the squibber and managed to beat him, you could just feel the excitement. … I got one right there, and I was able to foul it and see another next pitch and luckily hit the ball up the middle. And then thanks to Teo. Right to right against Gerrit Cole is a very difficult hitter to put in the gap like he did.

“When you’re given extra outs and you capitalize in that kind of game, it’s huge. For us to get back to tie it, you can just feel the momentum coming.”

Within minutes, the momentum that seemed to have abandoned the Dodgers had returned to their side. They carried that into the eighth, when they scored twice to take their first lead of the game against Yankees closer Luke Weaver, who owned the Dodgers in Game 4 and had been virtually untouchable for the entire series playoffs.

What made the Dodgers the best team in baseball this year, en route to their second World Series title in five years, It wasn’t just that they had more talent than other teams (although they did). Most years, the team with the best record in baseball doesn’t win the World Series; this has only happened twice in the 10 seasons preceding this one.

No, these Dodgers were simply tougher than the other 29 teams. And it seemed like from the start of the season, nothing would distract them from their ultimate goal. Every obstacle, distraction, inconvenience and injury, they faced head on. There were many times when Los Angeles could have collapsed, but this team would not let the quest for greatness be denied.

When the team opened the season in South Korea against the Padres, they were hit by a bomb. Prized free agent acquisition Shohei Ohtani has been caught up in a federal gambling investigation at the hands of his former performer, Ippei Mizuhara. Yet, thanks to increased media attention, speculation and FBI investigations, Ohtani and the Dodgers never missed a beat. The Dodgers’ $700 million man then one of the best seasons in baseball history and will win the NL MVP in a few weeks.

“We were able to get through the regular season, I think, because of the strength of this team, this organization,” Ohtani said after the Dodgers’ Game 5 win. “And playoff success is very similar to how we were able to achieve it during the regular season.”

“When you start supporting a teammate in his first year, like we did, for him to go out there and have the best season, I think, ever – pretty special,” said Freeman.

Then there were the injuries, which plagued the Dodgers from the start of the season until the end of the World Series, notably that of Ohtani who remained in the lineup despite a shoulder injury. Losing a player of Mookie Betts’ caliber for two months would be enough to knock the best team out of their game. Now try adding an entire rotation — including Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Tyler Glasnow and River Ryan — on the injured list. Regardless, the Dodgers finished the regular season with 98 wins.

“We’ve been through a lot, but I will say we still had the best record in all of baseball this year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It wasn’t easy, but our guys fought and played the right way every day, they played to win.”

“A number of things happened this year, and that’s something that certainly made it more difficult,” Dodgers president Andrew Friedman said. “But it’s also been very rewarding, I think, for our scouts, our player development team, our major league coaching staff for the number of guys that have come in and contributed and played a big role in where we are there now.

“It’s hard. It’s difficult to get to that point. It’s hard to bear what can happen during a season.

We fell into October, and Freeman’s sprained right ankle limited him through the first two rounds of the playoffs, a shorthanded rotation was doing its best to keep things going, and the bullpen relievers were working at full capacity. Yet when the Dodgers needed themselves, they were there. The team even received surprise contributions from Walker Buehler, who, after a difficult return from injury this season, pitched 5 shutout innings in Game 3 and closed out the deciding Game 5, recording his first career save . in what could have been his final appearance as a Dodgerleaving an impression on Los Angeles that will last a lifetime.

That 2020 championship wasn’t far from Buehler’s mind during the Dodgers’ postgame celebration. He was clearly tired of hearing some delegitimize this season shortened by the pandemic.

“Everyone is talking about 2020. But there’s not much to say about it now,” he said.

Now the Dodgers are back on top of the baseball world. It’s a stark contrast to where they were just a year ago, when they were embarrassed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a sweep in the NLDS. Unlike that team, this group of Dodgers believed the whole was greater than the sum of its parts – even with so many expensive parts. All 26 players, coaches, manager and front office believed they couldn’t be beaten.

“One thing is we kept going,” Roberts said. “Even in the playoffs, I don’t think anyone picked us. I don’t think they picked us out of the first series. For us to go out there and fight, scratch, claw and win 11 games in October is a credit to our guys.