Chris Taylor Doubles Down on Criticism of Yankees in World Series vs Dodgers
Chris Taylor may not be a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers any longer, but he’s still defending the comments he made surrounding the defensive debacle from the New York Yankees in World Series Game 5.
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After spending nearly a decade with the Dodgers, Taylor had witnessed a roller coaster of highs and lows for the L.A. organization. In the fifth inning of Game 5, the utility man was a part of one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history.
The Yankees’ nightmare began with Kiké Hernández breaking Gerrit Cole’s no-hit bid with a modest leadoff single. Just four pitches later, Tommy Edman hit a routine line drive to Judge in center field. Judge proceeded to commit his first error of the 2024 season by dropping the ball.
Five pitches after Judge’s heartbreaking error, Will Smith hit a ground ball to shortstop Anthony Volpe. Volpe missed the throw to third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., loading the bases with no outs.
As Mookie Betts hit a squibber to first baseman Anthony Rizzo with two outs, it seemed as though the Yankees would escape the inning unscathed. However, Cole didn’t cover first base, and Betts beat him to the bag.
The Dodgers scored their first run to mark the beginning of the end for the Yankees. The defensive debacle of the Yankees was shocking, and Taylor didn’t sugarcoat things when he said the team “s— down their leg” in the fifth frame.
Now, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, the utility man has stood by his remarks.
“Honestly,” he said to The Athletic’s Brendon Kuty, “I didn’t think I was saying anything super critical, to me. I think if you would have asked them, they would have said the same thing. That’s kind of how I felt about it.
“I didn’t mean any offense by it. To me, it was just like, I was kind of stating the fact.”
Taylor made the remarks on Mookie Betts’ podcast following the World Series parade in the heart of Los Angeles, but he believes he was simply telling it how it is.
“Obviously, like, I guess we were caught up in the celebration a little bit, too, at that point,” Taylor said. “I think all of us were maybe speaking a little more freely than we would in a typical interview.
“But I don’t take back what I said. I think I was just telling the truth. I didn’t mean any offense by it. I guess you could say, I could see how people would take it personally. I could see how that would maybe put a chip on their shoulder. But, to me, it kind of was what it was.”
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Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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