NEW YORK — Anthony Volpe, a New Jersey native who idolized Derek Jeter, reminisced about throwing toilet paper into the crowd during the New York Yankees’ ticker-tape parade in 2009 when he was just eight years old.
While the Yankees have a long road ahead in their quest for a World Series title, Volpe provided a spark on Tuesday night by hitting a grand slam that contributed to their 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite this victory, the Yankees still find themselves down 3-1 in the World Series, and no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to force a Game 6.
Nevertheless, the Yankees still have a chance and a spark of hope for a miraculous comeback.
“Hopefully we can turn this into an incredible story,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Game 3, “and surprise everyone.”
Volpe kicked off the comeback story with his grand slam in the fourth inning, flipping a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead—the Yankees’ first lead since Game 1 of the World Series. The home run seemed to lift the team’s spirits. Soon after, rookie catcher Austin Wells added a solo homer in the sixth, followed by Gleyber Torres, who extended the lead with a three-run shot in the eighth inning.
Yet, no hit was more crucial than Volpe’s grand slam, which reminded the Yankees of their identity as the Bronx Bombers.
Earlier, Volpe had made a baserunning mistake in the third inning that could have cost the team a run. When he came up to bat in the fourth, the Yankees were struggling to capitalize on another scoring chance. Anthony Rizzo had just popped up to shortstop Tommy Edman for the second out, and the team was only 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position at that point.
Volpe, who had always dreamed of experiences like this while idolizing Jeter, faced Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson, who began with an 89-mph slider on the first pitch. Volpe launched it 390 feet into the first row of the left-center-field seats. The sellout crowd of 49,354 at Yankee Stadium erupted in cheers as the Yankees embraced each other in the dugout, and Volpe joyfully rounded the bases.
“This is why you play the game, for moments and games like this,” Volpe remarked.
And, naturally, moments like this fulfill dreams.
“After the ALCS, my mom was trying to pinch me to make me realize what was happening,” Volpe said. “It’s been a wild journey to get here.”
While Freddie Freeman homered again for the Dodgers, setting a World Series record with a home run in his sixth consecutive game dating back to his time with Atlanta in 2021, it was Volpe who led the Yankees’ offense that night. He reached base three times with a grand slam, a double, a walk, and two stolen bases, boasting a .407 on-base percentage.
“I think he’s grown a lot this postseason,” Boone said. “I’m not surprised by the mental toughness he’s displayed, and hopefully this can serve as a springboard for his offensive development as well.
“We’ve seen really consistent at-bats from him, which is all part of the growth process. His defense has been solid since Day One in the big leagues. I believe that in a couple of years, we’ll see him as a really strong offensive player.
“Not everyone has a rapid rise, but I feel like he’s making significant progress, and this playoff experience is demonstrating that.”
The Yankees will start ace Gerrit Cole for Game 5 on Wednesday (8:08 p.m. ET, FOX) and believe that if he delivers another strong performance like he did in Game 1 (6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run), they can bring the Series back to Los Angeles, where Carlos Rodon will face off against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Boone believes the team has the resilience and character to add some excitement to this series.
“We’ve definitely faced our share of challenges this year,” Boone said, “and these guys have never wavered, whether times are good or bad. This is my seventh year, and while we’ve had many strong clubhouses, this one stands out. They truly play for each other.
“It’s impressive to see how close they are, how much they trust and support one another. That bond has helped them navigate the ups and downs of the season, and I hope it continues to benefit them in the rest of this series.”
While they are painfully aware that no team in World Series history has come back from a 3-0 deficit, they can’t help but look to the Boston Red Sox as an example. The Red Sox are the only team in postseason history to overcome such a deficit, famously beating the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
“We need to find inspiration from somewhere,” Rizzo said. “It’s been done before.”
This was part of the motivation behind Rizzo’s brief speech to his teammates before Game 3, where he expressed his unwillingness to let the season end, emphasizing that this could be their last chance to play together.
He echoed the words of Kevin Millar from the ’04 Red Sox: “Don’t let us win tonight.”
“We’ve got Gerrit Cole ready to go,” Rizzo noted. “And if we make it to Game 6, we’ll have a fired-up Rodon. Game 7 is always unpredictable. Isn’t there a documentary about Game 7 right now?”
For at least one night, the dream remains alive.
“I think we just remind ourselves that anything can happen,” Cole said. “We’ve been telling ourselves that there’s still a lot of baseball left to play.”