LOS ANGELES — A World Series from Major League Baseball’s wildest dreams is set to begin Friday when the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers take the field for Game 1.
The best-of-seven series for the Commissioner’s Trophy is also a matchup of expected MVP winners in Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers, who combined for 112 home runs in the regular season, with five more between them in the postseason.
It will also be a celebration of baseball’s past as the century-old franchises meet in a World Series for the 12th time. The Yankees won eight of the previous 11 matchups, but the Dodgers won the most recent showdown in 1981.
“Having two historic franchises like this, going at it again, what a better stage, what a better show it’s going to be,” Judge said.
Los Angeles was led to that 1981 title by left-hander Fernando Valenzuela, who passed away Tuesday and will be remembered this week.
Amid their long and winding histories, each franchise still has something to prove. The Yankees have advanced to the postseason eight times in the past 10 seasons but haven’t been to the World Series since their 2009 title.
The Dodgers have been in the playoffs each of the last 12 seasons, winning 11 National League West titles, but the only championship in that stretch came in the abbreviated 2020 season. This will be Los Angeles’ fourth World Series appearance in eight seasons.
“The last couple of years have been tough. We didn’t make it as far as we wanted to,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said about consecutive NLDS failures. “We just kind of bought into the plan of just buying into the team. Be there for each other.”
After playoff series victories over the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians, the Yankees will send right-hander Gerrit Cole to the mound in Game 1. Cole was 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 regular-season starts after returning from an elbow strain.
In three starts this postseason, Cole is 1-0 with a 3.31 ERA, including a Game 2 start in the ALCS when he gave up two runs over 4 1/3 innings of a 6-3 victory. In eight career starts against the Dodgers, Cole is 4-2 with a 5.01 ERA, giving up one run in six innings to pick up a win last season.
“I think the challenge in big games is to make them really no bigger than they really are,” Cole said. “It’s the same game we’ve been playing all year.”
After an injury-plagued season, the Dodgers advanced with series victories over the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. They will hand the ball in the opener to right-hander Jack Flaherty, who was 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts after a late-July trade from the Detroit Tigers.
Flaherty is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in three postseason starts, dominating the Mets with seven scoreless innings in Game 1 before giving up eight runs in Game 5. His only career start against the Yankees was last season when he went six shutout innings in a win.
Judge is expected to land his second MVP award in three seasons. He didn’t win the honor in 2023, when he missed eight weeks with a toe injury that occurred during a June game at Dodger Stadium.
Judge will be capably backed by Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 27 home runs in the regular season and has five more in the playoffs. Juan Soto hit 41 home runs in his first season in New York and provided the go-ahead home run in the fifth and final game of the ALCS.
In his first season of a heavily deferred 10-year, $700 million contract, Ohtani made history by becoming the sport’s first 50-50 player with 54 homers and 59 steals. He has three homers in the postseason.
“I pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I’ve signed,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “Just being able to play on this kind of stage, with the team effort, all the games were really hard. I’m just glad that we’re at this stage right now.”
Ohtani’s production from the leadoff spot is supported by Mookie Betts, who missed two months with a broken hand but finished the regular season with a .372 on-base percentage and an .863 OPS. Freddie Freeman is playing through a sprained right ankle after hitting 22 home runs with 89 RBIs.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
