AFP, LOS ANGELES
Two of the MLB’s oldest and most storied clubs, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, are to meet in the World Series for the first time since 1981.
Excitement for the epic renewal of one of baseball’s legendary rivalries on Friday is swiping attention on one of the biggest weeks in US sports with the NBA season tipping off today, the NFL in mid-season form and the MLS playoffs starting.
It is the 41st time the Yankees would play in the World Series, the first time since winning the 2009 crown, and the 22nd time for the Dodgers, who won their most recent of seven titles in 2020.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, front, celebrates near the dugout after a two-run home run by shortstop Tommy Edman (not pictured) in Game Six of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / USA Today
It is a showdown of the most popular teams from the largest cities and features the sport’s top stars, New York’s Aaron Judge and Japanese slugger Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers.
“I’ve always had that sense being here that there’s that underlying, craving for that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “The stars will be out. The eyeballs will be watching and, hopefully, we can deliver on a great Series.”
US television ratings are through the roof. Japanese viewership is even higher as Ohtani’s homeland follows every moment of his first playoff appearance.
Tickets on the resale market start at US$1,131 just to get into Dodger Stadium for the opener. Front row seats by the dugout would set you back more than US$30,000 each.
“It’s kind of what the people wanted, what we all wanted,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts said. “It’s going to be a battle of two good teams, a lot of long flights across the country.”
Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman, the Most Valuable Player of the National League Championship Series, can hardly believe his luck in getting to be part of the first World Series Dodgers-Yankees matchup in 43 years.
“It’s what you always dream about as a little kid getting to play in the World Series, playing for the Dodgers against the Yankees. It’s pretty surreal,” Edman said.
“I’m just excited to get to play those big games. Over this next week or so we’re going to start preparing against the Yankees, but it’s a dream come true, for sure.”
Ohtani spent six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels without making the playoffs and now could help the Dodgers capture the ultimate prize in his first campaign with the club.
“I really feel like we finally arrived, I finally arrived, at this stage,” Ohtani said. “A lot of the games we played were really tough and hard to win, and it was truly a team effort to get here.”
It would be the record 12th time the Yankees and Dodgers meet in the World Series, with New York owning an 8-3 edge in the all-time rivalry, but the Dodgers won their most recent championship matchup in 1981.
While the creation of interleague play has seen the Yankees and Dodgers play in regular seasons every so often, it is the World Series meetings where the rivalry became legendary.
The Yankees won six of their first seven World Series meetings from 1941 to 1956, losing only in 1955, before the Dodgers left Brooklyn for California.
The Yankees, whose history dates to 1903, have won a record 27 World Series crowns and their roster has included many of baseball’s iconic stars, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter.
The Dodgers were founded in Brooklyn in 1890 and stayed in New York until moving to Los Angeles before the 1958 campaign. Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the MLB for the Dodgers in 1947.
Both teams feel the history created by their predecessors.
“You put that jersey on and those pinstripes, it just feels different,” Yankees slugger Juan Soto said.
Additional reporting by AP
