Yankees-Dodgers World Series Game 1 Did you know?

LOS ANGELES – Game 1 of the 2024 World Series was great and gave us an instant classic.

This was the third consecutive year that Game 1 of the World Series went to extras. Before last year, nothing like this had ever happened in consecutive first games of the World Series.

Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam brought the Dodgers home with a victory that was reminiscent of 1988 in more ways than one. The game started at 5:11 p.m. (PT), lasted 3 hours and 27 minutes, and ended at 8:38 a.m. In 1988, Game 1 started at 5:35 p.m. and game time was at 3:04 p.m. – ending at 8:39 a.m.

Here's a look at 10 stats and facts from an epic Game 1.

• Freeman's grand slam was the third trailing walk-off home run in World Series history. The other two are home runs that fans would recognize from the name alone: ​​Joe Carter's, in the Blue Jays' 1993 Game 6 against the Phillies, and Kirk Gibson's, in the Dodgers' 1988 Game 1 against the A's.

• The similarities to Gibson are striking — a limping superstar in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium. In fact, his and Freeman's are the only walk-off home runs in World Series history that took the team to the finale. The only other such home run in a postseason round was hit by Houston's Yordan Alvarez in Game 1 of the 2022 American League Division Series.

• It was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history and second in the postseason, tied with the Rangers' Nelson Cruz in Game 2 of the 2011 AL Championship Series. The slam was the fifth overall of the postseason , tied with 21 in 2011 in 1998 for the most in a single postseason. The Dodgers are the 14th team with multiple grand slams in a single postseason, and they are one step away from tying the 2021 Red Sox and the 1998 Braves with the most three grand slams.

• The Dodgers became the 10th team to win a World Series Game 1 via walk-off play. They joined the 2023 Rangers, the 15 Royals, the 2000 Yankees, the 1988 Dodgers, the 1977 Yankees, the 1958 Braves, the 1954 Giants, the 1949 Yankees and the 1939 Yankees. Eight of the previous nine teams won the series, with the Braves suffering the only loss.

• Not to be lost on the walk-off heroics, Freeman also hit a triple in the first inning, becoming the first player with a stolen base and a triple in a single postseason aged 35 or older since Mark Ellis in Year 2013, also for the Dodgers. Freeman is third with a grand slam and a triple in a postseason game, joining Kaz Matsui of the Rockies in Game Two of the 2007 National League Division Series and Elmer Smith of Cleveland in Game Five of the 1920 World Series.

• Kiké Hernández also added a triple, making the Dodgers the first team with two triples in a Fall Classic game since the Yankees in Game 4 in 2000. They weren't just two triples – they were the first two hits of the series for the Dodgers. Los Angeles became the second team to triple the first two hits of a World Series, joining the 1953 Yankees of Hank Bauer and Billy Martin, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

• Giancarlo Stanton made a name for himself early in the game with a two-run home run for his fourth consecutive yardage run. He is the first player in postseason history to hit multiple home runs in at least four consecutive games. Stanton is the third person, joining Corey Seager and Cruz, to hit at least six home runs in multiple postseasons.

• When we say “made a name for himself,” we really mean it. The 116.6 mph exit velocity on Stanton's home run made it the hardest hit ball in the World Series, according to Statcast (2015). And each of his last five hits has been a home run, which Elias said tied with himself in 2020 and the Pirates' Bob Robertson in 1971 for the longest such streak in a single postseason.

• Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s three stolen bases tied the World Series record: 2016 Game 5 Rajai Davis (Cleveland), 2008 Game 3 BJ Upton (Rays), 1968 Game 3 Lou Brock (Cardinals), 1967 Game 7 Brock , 1965 Game 5 Willie Davis (Dodgers) and 1909 Game 3 Honus Wagner (Pirates). Two of Chisholm's steals came in the 10th inning, making him the second player with multiple stolen bases in an extra inning of the World Series, joining Jimmy Slagle of the Cubs in Game 1 of 1907.

• Birthdays are important. Juan Soto became the first player with a birthday hit in the World Series since Eric Hosmer of the Royals in Game 3 in 2014. He is the second with a hit and walk in a World Series birthday game, joining Keith Hernandez of the Cardinals in the seventh in 1982 game on.