In 2019, when Gerrit Cole spurned his hometown Angels to sign with the New York Yankees, his agent did not mince words in explaining why.
“It really came down to a decision about world championship play,” agent Scott Boras said then. “He and [wife] Amy’s primary goal was to win a world championship. In the end, he had to make a very difficult decision, but in his mind, that pursuit of those world championships was something that was in the forefront of his final decision.”
The Yankees have the most championships of any major league team. In awarding Cole what was then the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, the Yankees outbid the Dodgers. And, in his fifth season with the Yankees, Cole is in the World Series.
Last year the Dodgers beat out the Yankees for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers guaranteed him $325 million, $1 million more than the Yankees committed to Cole.
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And, in his first season with the Dodgers, Yamamoto is two wins from a World Series championship.
On the night after Jack Flaherty pitched into the sixth inning, Yamamoto pitched into the seventh. He gave up one run, on one hit — a home run by Juan Soto.
The Dodgers’ starting pitching was supposed to be their weakest link.
Said Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen: “How about both our starters these last two nights? Everyone said that maybe we don’t have the starting arms to make a run at the World Series.
“What Jack did yesterday, and what Yamamoto did in his first World Series game? That’s really impressive. They’ve given us a great chance to have success in this Series.”
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In June, Yamamoto enjoyed his best start of the season, against these Yankees and in Yankee Stadium. He pitched seven innings, giving up no runs and two hits.
“I think we had three prime-time national games that weekend,” Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson said, “and that was one of them, and he went out there and absolutely shoved for seven innings, kind of like he did tonight. It was almost like a little coming-out party for him.”
Yamamoto left his next start…