Steve Webb
ARLINGTON, TX — In the fall of 2020, as the world continued to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball staged one of the most unusual postseasons in its history. For the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans, the path to a long-awaited World Series title didn’t wind through the familiar roar of Chavez Ravine. Instead, it led to a sterile neutral site, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas—a brand new stadium the Dodgers had never played in before that October.
This wasn’t the plan when the season began, but nothing in 2020 went according to plan.
The Bubble Format and the Shift to Texas
After a shortened 60-game regular season played in mostly empty stadiums, MLB implemented a postseason “bubble” format to reduce COVID exposure. The National League’s Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series were all moved to Texas—specifically Globe Life Field, the retractable-roof home of the Texas Rangers. The Dodgers, who had earned the No. 1 seed in the NL with a 43-17 record, played their Wild Card Series at Dodger Stadium, sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in two games.
From there, it was off to Arlington, where the Dodgers would play every game of the Division Series, NLCS, and World Series—regardless of who their opponents were. It was a jarring departure from tradition. No home games. No fans at full volume. No walk-off celebrations in front of adoring crowds. The stadium itself was so new that it had only hosted regular-season games for a few months and had never seen postseason action until that October.
NLDS: A Sweep Against San Diego
The Dodgers opened their stay in Arlington against the upstart San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series. With no travel days built into the schedule, all games were played on consecutive days, a first for many postseason veterans.
Despite the unconventional format, the Dodgers remained locked in. Behind strong pitching and timely offense, they swept the Padres in three games. Cody Bellinger made perhaps the play of the series in Game 2, robbing Fernando Tatis Jr. of a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning with a leaping catch over the center field wall—one of the first viral highlights from the eerily quiet ballpark.
NLCS: Down 3-1 to the Braves
Next came the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series—a team that pushed the Dodgers to the brink.
L.A. found itself down 3-1 in the series, with the offense sputtering and pressure mounting. Then came the turning point: Game 5. Dustin May, Blake Treinen, and Brusdar Graterol pieced together a bullpen game, and the offense erupted for an 11-2 win. In Game 6, Walker Buehler delivered six scoreless innings, and Kenley Jansen—whose postseason performance had been under scrutiny—nailed down the save in a 3-1 win.
Game 7 was classic, even in the strangest of settings. With no true home crowd behind them, the Dodgers rallied. Kiké Hernández tied the game with a solo home run in the sixth. Then in the seventh, Bellinger delivered again—this time at the plate—with a go-ahead solo homer that gave L.A. a 4-3 lead. Julio Urías finished things off with three perfect innings of relief, and the Dodgers clinched their third pennant in four years.
The celebration was muted—only a handful of fans were allowed in the stadium. But they had done it, stagine one of the best comebacks in Dodgers’ postseason history. On to the World Series… which meant going back to the hotel to await the Tampa Bay Rays.
The World Series: Dodgers vs. Rays
For the first time since 1944, the World Series was played entirely at a neutral site. The Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays—two No. 1 seeds—met in Arlington, with a limited number of fans allowed into Globe Life Field. Even with restrictions, it was the largest crowd the Dodgers had played in front of all year.
Game 1 went to the Dodgers, 8-3, behind a dominant performance from Clayton Kershaw, whose postseason demons were beginning to fade. The Rays bounced back in Game 2, but the Dodgers took Game 3 behind Walker Buehler’s electric outing.
Game 4 was chaos. The Dodgers blew multiple leads, and in the bottom of the ninth, Brett Phillips singled off Kenley Jansen, leading to a wild sequence that included two errors and two runs scoring. Tampa Bay walked off 8-7 in what was perhaps the most stunning finish of the entire postseason.
But the Dodgers didn’t flinch.
Game 5 saw Clayton Kershaw hold down the Rays again, with Mookie Betts making key defensive plays and a game-saving sprint to home plate. Then came Game 6.
Game 6: The Championship
The Dodgers clinched their first World Series title since 1988 with a 3-1 victory. Tony Gonsolin started, but it was again Julio Urías who closed it out, retiring the final seven batters.
The biggest moment came when Rays manager Kevin Cash controversially pulled starter Blake Snell in the sixth inning despite his dominance. The Dodgers, down 1-0, pounced immediately. Mookie Betts doubled, and eventually scored the go-ahead run. Betts added an insurance homer in the eighth.
For the second time in two weeks, the Dodgers celebrated a champagne-drenched title—this time in the visitor’s clubhouse of a stadium that wasn’t theirs, in a city where no fans had cheered them all year. The trophy was raised in front of cardboard cutouts and scattered fans, in a season defined by silence and masks.
A Title Unlike Any Other
The 2020 championship was earned not just through talent, but adaptability. No team adjusted better to the strangeness of the bubble. No team handled the absence of home-field advantage—or fans—with more poise. The Dodgers played 16 of their 18 postseason games that year away from Dodger Stadium, including the final 14 at Globe Life Field.
It wasn’t how anyone imagined it. But for a team that had endured heartbreak after heartbreak in the years prior, the result was all that mattered.
In the strangest of seasons, under the strangest of conditions, the Dodgers finally finished the job.
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