Good morning!

That sound coming from the Bronx on Wednesday night was a foggy mountain breakdown. After avoiding a sweep the previous night and outscoring the Dodgers 16-4 over parts of two games, the wheels came off the World Series Express.

The Yankees were leading 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning when Kiké Hernandez broke up Gerrit Cole’s no hitter and Aaron Judge flat-out dropped Tommy Edman’s can of corn. Judge’s first error in 294 chances this season put runners on first and second base. 

Catcher Will Smith stepped to the plate. Smith had one hit and seven strikeouts in 17 at bats. He rolled a ground ball to shortstop Anthony Volpe who botched his throw to third base. Cole struck out the next two batters and the threat was over when Mookie Betts grounded to first baseman Mike Rizzo, or so everyone thought.

Cole failed to cover the bag, Betts reached and Hernandez scored. Freddie Freeman singled in two runs and Teoscar Hernandez doubled home two more and 5-0 became 5-5 and the Dodgers were en route to winning the Fall Classic 15 miles north from where the franchise once played at Ebbets Field.

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The folks in LA and Japan got a glimpse of New York’s charismatic fans on Tuesday night when Betts reached into the right field seats for a foul ball and nearly had his hand amputated. One fan in a Yankees jersey held Betts’s glove and the other reached for the ball.

They were kicked out, but ESPN caught up with them in a bar. “We’re not going to go out of our way to attack,” one said. “If it’s in our area we’re going to ‘D’ up. Someone defends, someone knocks out the ball.”

These were the types of thugs who broke my arm over a foul ball at a Marlins-Mets game in Jupiter, Florida, about 10 years ago. I wrote a column about it, check the archives.

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Thanks for all the afternoon games, commish, you sure know who polishes your golf shoes. All five games started well past the scheduled 8:08 p.m. first pitch and all but one went more than three hours. The 1975 World Series featured five games under three hours and the other two went into extra innings.

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How about that pre-game entertainment? Who was the guy that ended his schtick by throwing his microphone onto the ground? Fat Fella? Calorie Challenged Charlie? No one will ever confuse him or the nattily dressed Ice Cube with the pride of Hoboken, Frank Sinatra.

In the dugout, Alex Verdugo be-bopped right along with Fat Boy, while Freddie Freeman sat stone-faced in the Dodgers dugout waiting to play ball.

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Pitchers issued 46 walks — 37 in the last three three games — and 14 runs were scored by batters who reached base by either a walk, fielding error or hit-by-pitch.

“Who was the manager who said, ‘Oh, those bases on balls?” wondered WFAN’s Suzyn Waldman.

“Frankie Frisch,” answered John Sterling, referring to the Hall of Famer who skippered the Cards and Pirates.

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The Dodgers’ Mr. Wonderful, Freddie Freeman, had four home runs and struck out once in 21 plate appearances. His part in the movie will be played by Fred MacMurray.

Freeman’s long ball exploits prompted Sterling to mention Hank Bauer’s blasts off Milwaukee southpaw Warren Spahn in the 1957 World Series. “Warren Spahn was the best lefthander in baseball, but Hank Bauer could hit Spahn at midnight on Christmas Eve,” said Sterling.

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Studs n Duds: Teoscar Hernandez was the pending free agent who best made a case for himself. His seven hits were the most of anyone on either team and he hit safely in every game. … Juan Soto had five hits and no home runs but his seven walks gave him a .521 on-base percentage. …. Shohei Ohtani was a non-factor with two hits and five Ks in 19 at-bats. … Max Muncy was 0-for-16 with 10 strikeouts… Mike Rizzo was 2-for-17 with seven strikeouts. … The Yankees need to find the next Thurman Munson or Jorge Posada, because Austin Wells and Alex Trevino were a combined three-for-18 and fanned eight times.

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Quotes of Note: “When you bring the infield in you make a .200 hitter a .300 hitter, and a .300 hitter a .400 hitter,” said John Sterling after Alex Verdugo singled home Anthony Volpe. … Asked by Chris Russo if Aaron Boone should have kept Gerrit Cole in longer in game one, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, “You’re talking to the manager who extended Eduardo Rodriguez in game four against Yasiel Puig and that ball hasn’t landed yet.”

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BASEBALL SQUIBS: Congrats on to Greenfield native and Dodgers scout Peter Bergeron for helping the franchise win a world championship.  … WFAN’s Richard Neer on TV’s overkill: “To grill a manager when you want him watching and reacting to every pitch does a disservice to the sport.” … Borrowing from the late Sherm Feller, my grandmother could outrun Giancarlo Stanton with a bale of hay tied on her back. …  Ben Casparius who started game four for the Dodgers pitched at Staples High School in Westport, Conn. and was 8-5 at UConn where he fanned 127 batters in 91.1 innings…. Best sign at Yankee Stadium: Freddie Please Stop. 

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SQUIBBERS: UMass hockey coach Greg Carvel on why sophomore Aydar Suniev already has six goals in seven goals this year after scoring a dozen in 36 games last season: “He has learned to compete harder. That’s what our program does for players. Turns them into men.” … Va. Tech redshirt freshman William “Pop” Watson III of Springfield Central has played one series this season and rushed for six yards against Old Dominion. … The UMass basketball season starts next week against UNH. Odds Shark lists the Minutemen as 7.5-point favorites. UMass didn’t beat a Top 70 team last season, but might get its first chance this season when it hosts Dayton on Jan. 8 at the Mullins Center. … Redshirt sophomore Antonio Gates Jr. was cut by Michigan State last month. Another Spartan, former Minuteman Kay’Ron Lynch Adams, leads the team in rushing. … Ross Tucker on Chargers wideout Ladd McConkey: “I can’t wait to see how many first rounders Bill Belichick trades for him next year.” … License plate on a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon: NTGLTY. … ESPN analyst LaDarrin McLane on Rice’s football culture: “They’re tough. They talk about intellectual brutality.” Intellectual brutality cost head coach Mike Bloomgren his job after Saturday’s loss to UConn. … Mike Francesa had a meltdown after the Jets lost to the Patriots. “I didn’t think you could ruin Aaron Rodgers. They have! They’ve turned him into a bum! He will find out what happens when you fail miserably in this town. He will become a punch line!”

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com