Freddie Freeman delivered one of the biggest hits in Los Angeles Dodgers history with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning, opening the 2024 World Series in dramatic fashion.

But the New York Yankees' failures cast an equally large shadow.

Between another forgettable playoff performance from AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge and a brutal late-game decision from manager Aaron Boone, the story was a missed opportunity for the Yankees to steal Game 1 at Dodger Stadium.

But first things first: Let's give Freeman his props.

The 35-year-old suffered a severe ankle sprain on Sept. 26 and was visibly handicapped throughout the postseason, watching three of the Dodgers' first 11 playoff games from the bench.

He was 7-for-32 with zero extra-base hits and just one RBI in the NLDS and NLCS, but with a few extra days off before the start of the World Series, he seemed to be moving significantly better as he skated around his teammates during the introduction before the game.

A few hours later he hit the biggest home run of his life.

The decisive blow came on the first pitch he saw from Nestor Cortes, who had nothing to do with the game from the start.

This fatal decision falls squarely on the shoulders of Aaron Boone.

Cortes was inactive during the ALDS and ALCS as well as the final weeks of the regular season after suffering a flexor strain on September 18. After weighing the risk of further damage to his elbow and possibly Tommy John surgery, he decided to rush back for the Fall Classic.

“We've weighed the consequences that this can bring, but if I have a ring and then a year off from baseball, then so be it,” Cortes told reporters.

Surely he'd get back into action with a clean inning and a low-leverage situation, right?

With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees had Cortes and fellow lefty Tim Hill warming up in the bullpen, and Shohei Ohtani entered the batter's box.

Hill was used in just such spots throughout the postseason, posting a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings in seven appearances and recording some big outs against Cleveland in the ALCS.

Instead, Boone called for Cortes, who only appeared as a substitute once during the regular season and complained about it.

While Ohtani was just 2-of-12 lifetime against Cortes, the situation was bigger than just getting past him with just one out in the inning. Hill had a 62.3 percent groundball rate in the regular season and should have been the easiest choice to try to induce a double play, although Ohtani's speed made that difficult.

Ohtani flied out to left field for the second time on a spectacular play by Alex Verdugo before Mookie Betts was intentionally picked off, and then Cortes' return to the mound ended in disaster.

Jon Heyman des New York Post suggested moving Judge down to at least the mop-up spot in the order after Friday's game, but Boone balked at the idea of ​​changing things.

Regardless of where he is in the lineup, the Yankees can't win the World Series if their MVP doesn't participate.

It's just one game in a best-of-seven series, but the Yankees have dug themselves a big hole from a momentum perspective and the blame clearly lies with their manager and the face of the franchise.

After a Game 1 that more than lived up to the enormous hype, this has a chance to be a World Series for the ages, but two of the most prominent figures in the Yankees' clubhouse will have a lot to prove in the coming days.