Giancarlo Stanton has been visiting Dodger Stadium since he was a child. It seems like every time he comes back, he hits a special souvenir into the outfield seats.
The first game of this Yankees-Dodgers World Series was no different.
Stanton hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning to put New York ahead, continuing his strong performance for a team looking for its 28th title. However, it wasn’t enough, as they lost 6-3 in a thrilling 10-inning game to Los Angeles, with Freddie Freeman hitting a walk-off grand slam.
“You never want that ending,” Stanton said long after the game in a nearly empty Yankees clubhouse. “You got to win four anyways. No one said it’s going to be easy.”
Criticized by Yankees fans for much of his time in New York, Stanton homered for the fourth straight postseason game. His 116.6 mph hit off a Jack Flaherty knuckle curve at the knees was the hardest-hit ball in the World Series since MLB started tracking data in 2015.
He leads the Yankees in the postseason with six homers and 13 RBIs, and his 17 career postseason homers in 135 at-bats are among the best ratios in baseball history. He is the only player to hit home runs in four straight postseason games twice.
“He’s a killer,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said earlier this month. “I just admire how well he’s able to focus in these big moments and just go to a different place mentally.”
Throughout October, Stanton’s determination has been clear. “This ain’t the trophy I want,” he said after winning the AL Championship Series MVP Award on Saturday night. “I want the next one.”
Born in Panorama City, California, and raised about 15 miles north of Dodger Stadium in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles, Stanton used to watch games from the pavilion seats, which are called bleachers elsewhere.
“Wherever I could get a ticket. I think they were between $5 and $7 at some point. I’m sure they weren’t that tonight,” Stanton said. “All over left and right and sometimes a little better as I got older and had more connections.”
He hit a tying 457-foot home run into the pavilion off the Dodgers’ Tony Gonsolin during the 2022 All-Star Game and has hit 10 homers in 25 regular-season games at Chavez Ravine—the most impressive being a 475-foot shot for Miami in May 2015. Stanton is one of only five players to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, along with Willie Stargell (twice), Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, and Fernando Tatis Jr.
“Had a lot of times to know the flight of the ball here over the years,” Stanton said. After receiving a then-record $325 million, 13-year contract from the Marlins, Stanton hit 59 homers and had 132 RBIs in 2017, winning the NL MVP award.
His first season in New York was successful with 38 homers and 100 RBIs, but he missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons due to various injuries, including strains of his right biceps, right knee, left hamstring (twice), and left quadriceps, as well as right ankle inflammation and left Achilles tendinitis.
He showed up at spring training this year noticeably slimmer and recorded 27 homers and 72 RBIs while playing 114 games—he was out with a strained left hamstring from June 22 to July 29.
Stanton had more than 25 family and friends at the World Series opener, knowing that his first World Series appearance was a big moment for them.
“Not as much as it means to me,” he said. “They can enjoy the show, but at the same time I’m not here to just play in LA. I’m here to win.”
