LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dave Roberts had a bold prediction. “More eyeballs are going to be watching this World Series than any other Series in history,” the Los Angeles Dodgers manager said. Major League Baseball's dream matchup is the Dodgers and the New York Yankees .
Massive markets, expansive fan bases and luminous lineups led by a transcendent star in Shohei Ohtani. “This is like Ali-Frazier, or Magic and Bird, or Jordan and Isaiah Thomas, or Ohio State football against Michigan football,” Bill Wanger, Fox Sports executive vice president, head of programming and scheduling, said on the eve of Friday's opener. This will be the first World Series with five former MVPs: Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers and Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees.
This is only the fifth Series since the Wild Card Era started in 1995 featuring the teams with the top record in each league. It is just the fourth that includes the home run leaders in each league after Lou Gehrig and Mel Ott in 1936, Joe DiMaggio and Ott the following year and Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider in 1956. It is the first with a 50-homer hitter on each team in Judge (58) and Ohtani (54).
“The World Series matchup with our two biggest markets and a bevy of our biggest stars provides a unique opportunity to take another step forward on some of our most important strategic initiatives, namely a more national broadcast strategy, international growth, particularly in Japan, and heightene.
