New York vs. Los Angeles. East vs. West. The American League’s No. 1 seed vs. the National League’s No. 1 seed. Once historic crosstown rivals and now two of the preeminent franchises in all of baseball. Whatever happens, the 2024 World Series will be a Fall Classic no one will soon forget.
On Sunday in Los Angeles, in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series, the Dodgers leaned on their potent offensive lineup in a 10-5 victory over the New York Mets to set up a matchup with the other New York club, the Yankees, in the World Series.
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In the aftermath of the series-clinching game, Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman was named NLCS MVP.
Unstoppable.
Tommy Edman is your NLCS MVP! pic.twitter.com/rUy2oaC2Be
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 21, 2024
The 29-year-old switch hitter is batting .341 in the playoffs (.407 in the NLCS) and has recorded a hit in nine of 11 postseason games (including all six games of the NLCS). Usually a bottom-of the-order hitter, Edman’s recent production merited him a spot as L.A.’s cleanup hitter in Game 6 on Sunday, and it worked to perfection.
He delivered yet again with two hits and a team-high four RBIs. He doubled in the bottom of the first to bring in L.A.’s first two runs, and he homered in the bottom of the third to bring in the next two. His 11 RBIs against the Mets tied the Dodgers franchise record for most RBIs in a NLCS.
THE LEGEND OF PLAYOFF TOMMY EDMAN CONTINUES 💥
📺: FS1 pic.twitter.com/t21fCewHMI
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 21, 2024
As he accepted his NLCS MVP trophy, Edman made sure to recognize what a gift it is from God to be heading to his first World Series.
“God is just so good,” he said. “After the way the season started, to end up in this situation today is crazy. I’ve got an amazing team. They just welcomed me with open arms and I can’t wait to keep it going.”
A Stanford alum who had spent his first five years in the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals, Edman was acquired by the Dodgers in a three-team trade on July 29. He had yet to play in 2024 due to continued wrist discomfort stemming from an offseason wrist injury, but his incredible offensive and defensive versatility was well worth the risk.
He made his Dodgers debut on Aug. 19 and has fit seamlessly into the team’s star-studded roster.
“I was injured when I first got here and kind of didn’t know what the season was gonna bring,” Edman told FOX Sports after Sunday’s game. “I know they brought me in to kind of fill a bunch of different roles. … It’s been fun to be part of such a great team.”
With superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and others grabbing most of the headlines, Edman’s role is often one of support. Yet whether taking a back seat or leading the charge (like on Sunday), he’s assured of his ultimate identity in Christ.
“For a large part of my life, I felt like I was living with one eye set on the world and one eye set on God,” Edman said in an “I Once Was” video with Sports Spectrum in April 2023. “It was just not a life of fulfillment.”
Yet he soon began to realize that the men he was seeking to model his life after were all followers of Christ, and the turning point in his walk of faith came after he was drafted by the Cardinals. In St. Louis, he found himself surrounded by devout followers of Jesus — like Adam Wainwright and Paul Goldschmidt — who excelled on the diamond as well as in living out their identities as children of God.
“Seeing the way that those guys conducted themselves at all times throughout the day really made a huge impact on myself and inspired me to do my best to turn both eyes to God,” Edman said in the video. “To turn away from the world and turn both my eyes to God.”
Edman declares that he is a “Servant of Jesus” in his Instagram bio, and he appeared as a guest on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in January 2023.
“Having your identity in your faith, and in who you are, and with Jesus, is way more important than your success on the baseball field,” Edman said on the podcast. “… What it really means to be all in for Jesus is it’s something that can definitely transform you.”
Edman has seen the transformation in his own life, from a nominal Christian to someone who is defined ultimately by his relationship with Christ.
“I think the more I spend time with Jesus and abide in Jesus, hopefully the more I become like Him,” Edman said on the podcast, “and the more natural it becomes.”
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With baseball’s best regular-season record (98-64), Edman and his Dodgers have home-field advantage in the World Series against the Yankees, who held MLB’s third-best record (94-68). The much-anticipated matchup will begin Friday, with first pitch of Game 1 in Los Angeles set for 8:08 p.m. ET.
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