History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. The New York Yankees fell in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series – their first Fall Classic game in 15 years – in large part because manager Aaron Boone chose the wrong reliever in the extra innings. So Freddie Freeman began his World Series MVP campaign with a walk-off grand slam.

Five days later, the Yankees blew another World Series game, clinching the championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers in front of a stunned Yankee Stadium crowd. But New York didn't lose Game 5 because of a tragic bullpen decision; rather, it imploded in a spectacular, absurd way.

With a 5-0 and 6-5 lead in a 7-6 Dodgers victory, the Yankees committed two fielding errors, a catcher's interference and a ball due to an extra pickoff throw. They left 12 men on base. Their best pitcher forgot to cover first base on what should have been a groundout in what was probably the game's most crucial play.

At the end of a thrilling MLB postseason, it's worth celebrating the Dodgers, who turned MLB's best regular-season record into their second title of the decade and their first full-season title since 1988. (Gibby, that's Freddie and all that.) But it's also worth making fun of the Yankees, who missed two games they should have won and thus missed their first World Series appearance since 2009.

Let's follow the action at the start of the fifth inning of Game 5. The Yankees lead 5-0 on home runs from Aaron Judge (finally breaking out of his terrible slump), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (ditto) and Giancarlo Stanton (continuing his great postseason). No team has ever overcome a five-run deficit in a decisive World Series victory. The Dodgers are already deep in their bullpen after starter Jack Flaherty recorded just four outs. Yankees star Gerrit Cole has yet to allow a hit.

5-0, 0 outs, no runners on base; Probability of the Yankees winning: 94 percent

Cole races, but Enrique Hernández greets him with a sharp single to right-center to lead off the fifth ball. The no-hitter is gone, but no damage is done, and the Yankees still have a better than nine-in-10 chance of sending the series back to Los Angeles for Game 6.

5-0, 0 outs, runner on first; Yankees probability of victory: 92 percent

Tommy Edman takes responsibility and hopes to continue his months-long winning streak. The utility player, who arrived in Los Angeles at the trade deadline after missing the entire season up to that point due to various injuries, was named NLCS MVP and finished the playoffs with a .328 batting average and an .862 OPS.

This time, however, Edman hit a harmless-looking fly ball to center field. Just an inning earlier, Judge crashed into the wall, robbing Freeman of an extra-base hit. This typical can of corn shouldn't be a problem for a defender of his caliber or any professional outfielder. But Judge takes his eyes off the ball and lets it clatter from his glove. Hernández climbs to second and Cole faces his first jam of the night.

5-0, 0 outs, runners on first and second base; Yankees' probability of victory: 89 percent

Will Smith hits a routine grounder to the 6th hole. After moving to his right, shortstop Anthony Volpe opts for the shortest throw – forcing Hernández to third – rather than turning and throwing back across his body. That's a smart idea.

But he's unfortunately stopped by poor execution, as Volpe shoots the throw into the dirt and third baseman Chisholm can't secure it. The ball squirts free and everyone is safe.

It's a surprise that Volpe is the culprit here. The young shortstop is an outstanding defender who won the Gold Glove as a rookie and is a finalist again this season. But his failure at this crucial point points to a broader problem within his team.

You wouldn't know it by watching the Yankees in October, but this was actually a solid defensive team all year long. In the regular season, New York ranked second in fielding run value, according to Statcast, and while much of their strength came from their team of framing experts behind the plate – Austin Wells and Jose Trevino – the Yankees ranked third in outs still 10th above average on balls hit in play.

But field problems plagued them throughout the postseason. They threw the ball away and struggled to stay away from sharp grounders. A disastrous exchange between first baseman Anthony Rizzo and reliever Mark Leiter Jr. allowed the Guardians to tie an ALCS game in the eighth inning. And two key misplays in Game 1 of the World Series allowed Dodger runners to reach third base, allowing them to score on sacrifice flies; Without these errors, the Yankees would not have even been able to give up Freeman's grand slam in extras.

The 2024 Yankees had power and elite top talent, but they failed to master fundamentals like fielding and baserunning. And now these problems are cropping up at the worst possible time.

5-0, 0 outs, bases loaded; Yankees' probability of victory: 83 percent

Cole calms a nervous crowd with some cheese. With the score at 1-1, he blows a 98 mph fastball past No. 1. 9-hitter Gavin Lux then follows with a 99 mph heater to add another whiff. The Dodgers' dangerous top of the standings is approaching, but at least the conga line isn't advancing with every batter.

5-0, 1 out, bases loaded; Yankees' probability of victory: 88 percent

Shohei Ohtani may still be suffering from the effects of his shoulder subluxation from Game 2 and isn't taking advantage of this potential moment of World Series heroism. Instead, the presumptive NL MVP flails around with an ankle curve below the zone while Cole keeps his shutout intact. “Got it!” announcer Joe Davis shouts. The home crowd roars their approval. The Yankees' probability of victory is almost as high as it was at the beginning of the inning.

5-0, 2 outs, bases loaded; Yankees' probability of victory: 93 percent

With the Dodgers in danger of stranding all three runners they had put on base with no outs, another MVP fails to make hard contact against Cole. Mookie Betts rolls a slow, spinning grounder to Rizzo, who sits in front of the ball as Cole maneuvers to first and is about to escape the stressful inning unscathed. This appears to be as routine a play as exists in an MLB infield.

But Rizzo needs an extra punch to contain the roll as Cole stops running to cover the pocket and points to his teammate to take it himself. (Cole has “seen Rizzo shoot himself from that spot on the field 100 times out of 100,” tweets longtime infielder and former Yankee Matt Carpenter.) Rizzo pulls his arm back to get the ball to first, but only To throw players in the field. In the neighborhood there is Betts rushing down the line.

“Atrocious defense by the Yankees!” Davis laments. That's been the case all inning, and the mishap between Rizzo and Cole is the low point. (Technically, this play counts as an infield single for Betts, but for all intents and purposes it's another error.) Suddenly the Dodgers have a run on the board and their hottest hitter has a chance to tie the game.

5-1, 2 outs, bases loaded; Yankees' probability of victory: 88 percent

Or he can halve the lead; that works too. Freeman thwarted a two-strike changeup with a foul ball and then delivered a fastball up the middle to score two runs. Just a few minutes ago, the Yankees were on the verge of a stunning home win; Now their leadership is hanging by a thread.

5-3, 2 outs, runners on corners; Yankees' probability of victory: 76 percent

And now that thread has broken and the trace has completely disappeared. Cole hangs a two-strike cutter and Teoscar Hernández doesn't miss the gift. The ball shoots over Judge's head; bounces off warning track, 404 feet from plate; and bangs on the wall. Betts jogs home from third, flailing his left arm, and Freeman follows in a sprint. All three runners who reached this inning through a defensive disaster have now scored.

5-5, 2 outs, runner on second; Yankees' probability of victory: 52 percent

Somehow the inning is still going on – although it's possible that Yankee Stadium entered some kind of dimensional portal during this utterly bizarre period of baseball's peak. (Subsequent events in this game, including further Yankees weaknesses and another Dodgers comeback, only confirm this theory.)

Cole walks Max Muncy and then finally escapes the inning when Enrique Hernández, batting for the second time in the inning, strikes out. Cole ended up throwing 38 pitches in the frame, allowing five runs (all unearned) and generating What It should have been six outs. It's worth noting that the Dodgers had the best batting line of any club in both the regular season and playoffs this year. Their offense was sufficiently dynamic with the normal number of outs, let alone double that number in a key inning.

The game – and the season – isn’t over yet. The Yankees will actually score another run in the sixth inning before the Dodgers hit two with more small balls (single, infield single, walk, sac fly, catcher interference, sac fly) in the eighth inning. But the tide turned, the real damage was done and all other idiomatic expressions were fulfilled during the absurd fifth inning of Game 5, when the glimmers of hope for a historic comeback by the Yankees from three games behind disappeared with every error and the Dodgers followed up with a historic one Comeback for yourself.

New York's win probability in Game 5 peaked at 96 percent, meaning at that point the Dodgers had a 1 in 25 chance of winning the World Series on Wednesday night. The Dodgers took advantage of this opportunity – or rather, the Yankees gave them this opportunity, with physical mistakes and mental mistakes and a catastrophic collapse of the entire team. The Dodgers are worthy champions of the 2024 MLB season. But it's the Yankees' horrific inning that may be remembered forever.