MLB commissioner Rob Manfred did not make a lot of friends this year because of how he handled a number of different matters, most notably the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
Manfred was asked during Spring Training why he didn’t strip the Astros of their 2017 World Series title to which he responded that it wouldn’t mean much to take away a ‘piece of metal.’
To no surprise, that caused outrage amongst players and teams throughout the league as they have worked their whole lives to earn that World Series trophy that Manfred was belittling.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost to the Astros in that 2017 World Series, were among the teams that were angered the most by Manfred’s tone-deaf comments that he later apologized for.
It was the Dodgers that got the last laugh as they finally broke through and won a World Series, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games. After clinching on Tuesday night, Max Muncy took to Instagram to poke some fun at Manfred and his piece of metal comment.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG5M8B-lxTa/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Obviously, the Commissioner’s Trophy isn’t just a piece of metal for these Dodgers players, who have been through plenty of ups and downs to get to this point.
Muncy, in particular, was out of the league completely after being released by the Oakland Athletics. He signed a Minor League deal with the Dodgers in 2017 and completely reinvented his swing, breaking into the big leagues in 2018 and never looking back, becoming one of the biggest stars on the team.
The 2020 season wasn’t Muncy’s best, but he came through when his team needed him in the postseason, hitting .318/.444/.500 in the World Series.
Manfred gives Dodgers piece of metal to Seager
Ironically enough, it was Manfred that presented the Dodgers with their trophy after winning Game 6 on Tuesday night as well as the World Series MVP Award to Corey Seager.
In a way, that represented the Dodgers’ journey coming full circle as they now can put the heartbreak of being cheated out of winning the 2017 World Series behind them forever.
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