Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
The Dodgers and Yankees Are Ready for the Starriest World Series in Decades
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 months ago on
October 25, 2024

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto arrives during batting practice during media day for the baseball World Series against the New York Yankees, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP/Ashley Landis)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LOS ANGELES — Even 8-year-old Charlie Freeman is excited about a Dodgers-Yankees World Series.

“He’s at Universal (Studios) right now with a couple of his buddies, but he goes, ‘Daddy, I can’t wait for the World Series to start tomorrow,'” Los Angeles first baseman Freddie Freeman said at the last workout before Friday’s opener. “He’s on YouTube and seeing all the videos about Yankees-Dodgers. So you’re starting to get a hint of how big this could be.”

This will be the 12th Dodgers-Yankees matchup and the first in 43 years. The rivalry dates to 1941, when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees were seeking their fifth title in six years.

“You can be the best player. You can do whatever you want,” Yankees star Juan Soto said, “but at the end of the day, people remember you because you won a World Series.”

Broadway vs. Hollywood: A Star-Studded Showdown

Broadway vs. Hollywood has produced the starriest Series in decades, if not ever. The League Championship Series had the highest U.S. TV ratings since 2017, and that’s been dwarfed by viewership of the Dodgers from Japan driven by interest in Shohei Ohtani.

“You could easily argue that on a global scale, the Yankees and the Dodgers are the most followed, the most supported, the most visible,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said.

This figures to be the first World Series featuring five MVPs: the Dodgers’ Ohtani, Freeman and Mookie Betts, and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. There hasn’t been a Fall Classic with four since 1971.

Ohtani and Judge are the likely MVPs this year, marking the first Series to feature both since San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. This will be the first Series with a pair of 50-home run hitters in Judge (58) and Ohtani (54).

In an age of expanding playoffs, this is just the fifth World Series since the Wild Card Era started in 1995 involving the teams with the best records in each league.

“I’m sure I’m going to feel how special it is,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

Players practiced in 85-degree weather as the sun highlighted Dodger Stadium’s sky blue, yellow, light orange and sea foam green seats. Freeman, slowed by a bad ankle, insisted he will be in the lineup for the opener.

While the Dodgers are seeking their eighth title and second in five years, the Yankees are in the World Series for the first time since winning No. 27 in 2009.

“This is where the real fun starts,” Judge said.

Judge realizes a title is necessary for membership among the Yankees’ greats.

“They definitely got a different aura walking around here when you got a couple of rings on your fingers,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, is that you see that they’re battle-tested. They’ve been through the grind. They’ve been through the ups and downs and they came out on top.”

Aaron Boone, Dave Roberts Rekindle Their Own Decades-Old Rivalry

Roberts and Yankees manager Aaron Boone have faced each other since April 3, 1992, when Roberts’ UCLA Bruins beat Boone’s Southern California Trojans’ 11-1 UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.

“As we all know in here, you’re a Trojan for life. You’re a Bruin for four years,” Boone said playfully.

Told of Boone’s shot, Roberts said: “Ouch! That hurts” and “absolutely disagree, 100 percent.”

Boone texted a Yankees emoji to Roberts when New York’s charter flight landed Wednesday.

“There was another emoji I thought about sending him with one finger, but I didn’t,” Roberts said. “I just gave a laughing emoji back.”

Jack Flaherty Returns to the World Series — This Time to Pitch

Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty, who starts the opener against the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, was high school teammates with Max Fried and Lucas Giolito at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Three years ago, Flaherty was at Houston’s Minute Maid Park for World Series Game 6 along with Giolito to watch Fried get the win that finished off the Atlanta Braves’ World Series title.

“It’s a funny feeling watching that,” Flaherty said, “because you’re excited for one of your best friends and you’re incredibly happy for him, also at that same moment you’re a competitor and you want to be in that situation, you want to be on the field.”

Flaherty is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in three postseason starts this year. Cole is 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA in three starts.

Like Roberts, Cole went to UCLA. The pitcher’s college rooting aligns more with the Dodgers manager than his own.

“Aaron and I don’t always agree on everything,” he said.

Hal Steinbrenner Recalls 1977 Yankees-Dodgers World Series Showdown

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was 7 years old in 1977 when the Yankees won their first title under his father, George. New York clinched the title over the Dodgers with a Game 6 win in the Bronx as Reggie Jackson hit three homers on three straight swings.

“I’d say my two most prevalent memories are Reggie’s third home run, and of course the final popup that was caught by (Mike) Torrez and the pandemonium that ensued,” he recalled this week. “Was a great day!”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

DON'T MISS

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

DON'T MISS

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

DON'T MISS

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

DON'T MISS

Rams Take Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson in Second Round After Trading Out of First

DON'T MISS

The Latest: Francis Is Remembered as a ‘Pope Among the People’ as He Is Laid to Rest

DON'T MISS

ICE Is Reversing the Termination of Legal Status for International Students Around the US

DON'T MISS

Trump Is a Revolutionary. Will He Succeed or Fail?

DON'T MISS

Trump Now Doubts Putin Wants to End Ukraine War, a Day After Saying a Deal Was Close

UP NEXT

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

UP NEXT

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

UP NEXT

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

UP NEXT

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

UP NEXT

Rams Take Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson in Second Round After Trading Out of First

UP NEXT

The Latest: Francis Is Remembered as a ‘Pope Among the People’ as He Is Laid to Rest

UP NEXT

ICE Is Reversing the Termination of Legal Status for International Students Around the US

UP NEXT

Trump Is a Revolutionary. Will He Succeed or Fail?

UP NEXT

Trump Now Doubts Putin Wants to End Ukraine War, a Day After Saying a Deal Was Close

UP NEXT

We Need Proof of Life for the Makeup Artist Trump Sent to El Salvador

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

40 minutes ago

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

48 minutes ago

Rams Take Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson in Second Round After Trading Out of First

1 hour ago

The Latest: Francis Is Remembered as a ‘Pope Among the People’ as He Is Laid to Rest

2 hours ago

ICE Is Reversing the Termination of Legal Status for International Students Around the US

2 hours ago

Trump Is a Revolutionary. Will He Succeed or Fail?

3 hours ago

Trump Now Doubts Putin Wants to End Ukraine War, a Day After Saying a Deal Was Close

3 hours ago

We Need Proof of Life for the Makeup Artist Trump Sent to El Salvador

3 hours ago

Fresno Elderly Woman Evicted, Forced to Leave Dogs Behind. One Still Needs a Home.

4 hours ago

Virginia Giuffre, Voice in Epstein Sex Trafficking Scandal, Dies at 41

15 hours ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike flattened a three-story home in Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 people — half of them chi...

5 minutes ago

5 minutes ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

9 minutes ago

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

20 minutes ago

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

40 minutes ago

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

48 minutes ago

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

Rams
1 hour ago

Rams Take Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson in Second Round After Trading Out of First

2 hours ago

The Latest: Francis Is Remembered as a ‘Pope Among the People’ as He Is Laid to Rest

2 hours ago

ICE Is Reversing the Termination of Legal Status for International Students Around the US

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend