The Los Angeles Dodgers are one win away from winning the 2024 World Series and one of their oldest rivals, the New York Yankees, is the only team left in their way. Up 3-0 in what has been a one-sided series so far, the Dodgers can wrap things up on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

While every player on the roster will have reason to celebrate if the Dodgers can finish it off, the championship will mean just a little more to Gavin Lux.

Lux, the 26-year-old second baseman who played 139 games for the Dodgers this season, missed all of last year with an ACL tear he suffered in Spring Training. He spoke to the media before Game 4 and described what a championship would mean to him.

“Having it taken away for a whole year, it makes you appreciate the game definitely a little more,” he said. “We still gotta win one more game. Nothing's over til it's over.”

Lux's injury came right as his pro career was getting started. Baseball America named him the 2019 Minor League Player of the Year, and he became part of the organization's taxi squad during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. After playing 102 games in an uneven 2021 season, Lux began to hit his stride in 2022, leading the National League in triples (7) and hitting .276 over 129 games.

His injury temporarily derailed his career, making the Dodgers' 2024 run all the more magical for Lux.

Gavin Lux believes the Dodgers' focus sets them apart

Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux (9) runs to third during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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The Dodgers have made the postseason every year since 2013, but have only been able to win it all once in that span. In Lux's previous two full seasons in the majors, Los Angeles lost in the NLCS and the NLDS, despite winning more than 105 games both years.

This year, Lux says, something feels different.

“That’s the main thing I feel like is different from years past, is the intensity to compete every single pitch and to not give an at bat away or a pitch away,” he said. “Not to say we did in the years past, but the intensity every single pitch, every single inning feels different than it did.”

The Dodgers won “only” 98 games this year, but won the NL West for the third year in a row and eighth time in nine years under manager Dave Roberts. It looked for a while like this year might end like the previous few did, after the San Diego Padres took a 2-1 best-of-five series lead in the NLDS. That's when something clicked and the Dodgers found a new level.

For Lux, the team cohesion could have made all the difference over the past few weeks.

“We kind of learned from our past mistakes,” he added. “Like this year, where we spent pretty much every day together, and for these last 3-4 weeks, I think that’s made a big difference and we’re all pulling the same direction.”