Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith Although he wasn’t the headliner of the 2024 World Series, he was the most familiar name among baseball champions.

That’s because a player named Will Smith won the championship five years in a row.

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The unusual streak began in 2020 when the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays to clinch the championship at the end of a COVID-shortened season. Smith was in his second year as the Dodgers’ starting catcher that year.

Los Angeles failed to reach the World Series the following year, but the Atlanta Braves did. Their bullpen was anchored by, you guessed it, a left-handed closer named Will Smith.

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Pitcher Smith is six years older than catcher Smith and made his debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2012. Although there was no saving the situation, Smith was on the mound when Yuli Gurriel pitched to end the 2021 World Series and the season. This was the first championship of his career.

Ironically, Smith would be traded to Houston midway through the 2022 season in a deadline deal for pitcher Jake Odorizzi. As fate would have it, the Astros went on to win the World Series in October.

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In March 2023, Smith signed a free agent contract with the Texas Rangers. He made 60 appearances in the regular season and five more in the postseason as Texas captured its first championship in franchise history.

Smith signed with the Royals in December 2023, raising hopes in Kansas City that Smith could extend his own championship streak. instead other Will Smith is left standing through the 2024 season.

Smith caught the final pitch from Walker Buehler in the Dodgers’ 7-6 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday, capping Game 5 of the World Series with the second homer of his career.

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Despite going 0-for-4 in the game, Smith drew a walk and scored a run as the Dodgers collected five runs to stun the Yankees, who led 5–0 in the fifth inning.

Smith went 8-for-56 (.143) with three home runs, eight RBIs, eight walks and nine strikeouts in 16 postseason games. He caught all but two pitches during the Dodgers run in October.

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