NEW YORK — The champagne and beer were still flowing and big cigars were being smoked in the clubhouse when Mookie Betts jogged back up the dugout steps onto the field.
This World Series celebration was one he wanted to share with his wife, Brianna, along with his mother, Diana Benedict, and other friends and family.
“It’s special. This is why we play,” Betts said after the Dodgers beat the Yankees, 7-6, on Wednesday night to clinch the World Series in five games.
Freddie Freeman was rightfully the Most Valuable Player, having clubbed four homers and driven in 12 runs during the Series. But it was Betts who drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
The Dodgers, down 5-0 through four innings, clawed their way back with Betts playing a leading role.
“We had a lot of time. It was the third inning. It was going to take 27 outs to beat us,” he said. “That’s how I looked at it.”
Betts singled in a run during a five-run fifth inning. The Yankees took the lead back before Betts came to the plate with the bases loaded in a 6-6 game in the eighth inning.
In a big moment, he thought small. Just put the ball in play.
“Trying to get one across and get it to Freddy. Beat out a double play if I had to,” Betts said. “If it was anything remotely close to the zone, I was going.”
Luke Weaver threw a first-pitch fastball over the strike zone. Betts sent it to center field, plenty deep enough to score Tommy Edman.
“I liked the fight. There was just a lot of fight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He was willing himself to have good at-bats and productive at-bats.”
The Yankees were finished and the Dodgers had their eighth championship, the second since acquiring Betts from the Red Sox in 2020.
In a fitting coda, Alex Verdugo struck out to end the game. He was one of the three players the Dodgers traded to the Red Sox to obtain Betts in 2020 and was subsequently traded to the Yankees.
Betts was 18 of 62 (.290) over 16 postseason games with 14 runs scored, 16 RBIs, and 11 walks. After not hitting well in 2022 and ‘23 when the Dodgers were eliminated in the first round, Betts delivered this time.
“He’s one of the guys I’m really excited for because going into postseason, he’s one of the guys we talked about that didn’t perform,” Roberts said. “To be able to block out all that noise and still focus on helping us win baseball games, there’s not a guy that cares more. He’s a very talented player.”
There was redemption for Roberts, too. He has managed the Dodgers for nine seasons and this year was his best work as Los Angeles overcame a series of injuries to its rotation and a trying Division Series against the Padres.
Roberts joined Hall of Famers Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda as the only managers in franchise history with at least two World Series titles.
“Humbling,” Roberts said. “Never thought I would be in that same conversation. I’m a part of a great organization, a lot of great people around me supporting me, and we’ve won a lot of ball games. This is something I really wanted. I wanted this one.”
The Dodgers have a parade on Friday, something that wasn’t allowed in 2020 after they won the World Series during the pandemic.
The Betts family will be together for that celebration. Kynlee, who turns 6 next week, stayed back in Los Angeles this week with her brother, 18-month-old Kaj.
Daddy’s coming home with his third championship. At 32, Betts is one of the best players on the best team in the game.
“I wouldn’t have imagined it but I don’t put it past myself either, especially with the group of guys we have,” he said. “We’ve got eight more years to get a couple more.”
Betts was referring to the length of his contract, the one the Dodgers happily gave him that the Red Sox wouldn’t before they traded him. They knew who he was and what he was worth.
“It turned out to be a blessing,” Brianna Betts said. “It wasn’t what we expected when it happened, but Los Angeles is home now.”
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
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