Red Sox World Series champion Joe Kelly roasts Yankees for choke job vs Dodgers

Boston Red Sox fans weren't quiet about their thoughts on their rival Yankees' World Series performance against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles beat New York in five games and the 120th Fall Classic didn't live up to the hype — at least, for people who aren't Dodgers fans. Spectators hoped for a longer, more competitive series after last year's small-market matchup between the Diamondbacks and Rangers. Red Sox fans became proud Dodgers supporters and let New Yorkers have it after the Yankees' offense disappeared and the defense fell apart.

Former Red Sox and 2018 World Series champion Joe Kelly agrees that the series wasn't as exciting as people expected. Kelly savaged the Yankees for their performance in a recent episode of the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast, and stated that they were simply outmatched against the Dodgers.

"We were saying it every single game. Just let them throw the ball to the infield, they can't make a play," Kelly said to host Rob Bradford. ". . . It was just a mismatch from the get-go, like if we had a playoff re-ranking, they might be ranked eighth or ninth best playoff team."

Kelly laid into the Yankees, and named the Braves and Guardians as better playoff teams, despite Cleveland "[playing] like crap." He compared New York to the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series, who were a severe mismatch for one of the best Sox teams of all time.

Kelly didn't pitch in the postseason and wasn't even rostered after a heavily-injured down year — he posted a 4.78 ERA over 32 innings of work in 2024. This left Yankees fans especially sensitive to his comments, which leaked with overconfidence.

Regardless of how excessive Kelly's comments were, Red Sox fans got to relish in a 2018 World Series champion humbling more New York fans, who were already plenty humbled by their team's Game 5, fifth-inning implosion.

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