The Atlanta Braves are World Series champions for the first time since 1995 after earning a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros in the deciding Game 6 at Minute Maid Park. For Joc Pederson, it’s his second championship in as many seasons.
The 29-year-old previously helped the Dodgers defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win the 2020 World Series, which marked the organization’s championship first since 1988.
Pederson became just the ninth player in MLB history to win back-to-back World Series with different teams.
In addition to Pederson, the group includes Allie Clark (New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians), Clem Labine (Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates), Moose Skowron (Yankees, Dodgers), Don Gullett (Cincinnati Reds, Yankees), Jack Morris (Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays), Ryan Theriot (St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants), Jake Peavy (Boston Red Sox, Giants) and Ben Zobrist (Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs).
Terrance Gore technically achieved this feat as well, but he was left off the roster on both occasions.
After spending a decade in the Dodgers organization, Pederson signed with the Chicago Cubs last offseason. He took on a larger role with the Cubs until he was acquired by the Braves ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
Pederson was one of several additions made by Atlanta to help bolster an outfield that lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending ACL injury. The Braves also acquired Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler, all of whom played key roles in helping the club win the World Series.
Pederson batted .249/.325/.428 with eight doubles, seven home runs and 22 RBI in 64 regular season games for the Braves. He hit just .205 in 44 at-bats during the postseason, but had some big moments along the way, including a game-tying home run off Max Scherzer in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Pederson later stated that didn’t have added satisfaction playing his former teammates. “Not really. I think that this is a lot bigger than me,” Pederson said.
“This is 26 of us pulling and have one common goal. Obviously I’ve been a part of the Dodgers for a long time and they’re a really good team and organization, but right now they’re in the way of our common goal so we kind of have to do whatever we can to win ballgames.”
Several Dodgers players implored Pederson to ‘beat the Astros’
After helping the Braves eliminate the Dodgers to advance to the World Series, Pederson revealed that several of his former teammates implored him to defeat the Astros.
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