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," D.
