Celebrating a World Series title in the Bronx wasn’t enough for Joe Kelly.
The veteran right-hander felt inclined to rub salt in the Yankees’ wound after the Dodgers won the World Series in short order. Los Angeles ended the Fall Classic in Game 5, where it mounted a huge comeback thanks in large part to a series of New York mistakes.
Those Yankees slip-ups didn’t surprise Kelly, nor did the Bronx Bombers only winning one game on baseball’s biggest stage.
“We were saying it every single game. Just let them throw the ball to the infield — they can’t make a play,” Kelly told Rob Bradford on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “It’s well-known. We’re the Dodgers. We know every little detail. …It was just a mismatch from the get-go. Like, if we had a playoff re-ranking, they might be ranked the eighth- or ninth-best playoff team. So all we knew is we just had to play regular Dodger baseball. We didn’t have to play out of our butts. We didn’t have to do anything crazy and we’re gonna win the World Series.”
This wasn’t the first time Kelly enjoyed postseason success at the Yankees’ expense. The fireballer was a key member of the 2018 Boston Red Sox team that breezed past the Bronx Bombers in the divisional round en route to the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Kelly, who just wrapped up his 13th MLB season, will be a free agent this winter. And given his history with the Yankees, it feels safe to assume he won’t end up in New York.
