Freddie Freeman wins Game 1 with 1st walk-off grand slam in World Series history

LOS ANGELES — It might be the most famous highlight in World Series history. And it was just played on repeat.

Thirty-six years after a gimpy Kirk Gibson limped to the plate to smack a Game 1 walk-off homer, Freddie Freeman came to bat with a badly injured right ankle, the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th and a chance to summon October magic of his own. With one, no-doubt swing, Freeman rocketed the ball into the right-field pavilion seats for the first-ever World Series walk-off grand slam that gave the Dodgers an epic 6-3 victory in a Game 1 thriller Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

To live up to a working week’s worth of hype is no small feat. But the Dodgers and Yankees — the No. 1 seeds in the National and American Leagues who are clashing in the Fall Classic for the first time in 43 years — played a Game 1 very much worth the wait. And in the end, the Dodgers came out with a magical opening act in which Freeman gave off those Gibby goosebumps.

In best-of-seven postseason series, teams winning Game 1 have gone on to take the series 125 of 191 times (65%). That includes 23 of 29 times (79%) in the World Series since 1995. In all series under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have gone on to take the series 68 of 101 times (67%).