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Dodgers vs. Yankees, Ohtani vs. Judge: The Classic World Series awaits

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Dodgers vs. Yankees, Ohtani vs. Judge: The Classic World Series awaits

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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers, their jerseys stripped and wading almost ankle-deep in a puddle of beer and champagne in the clubhouse Sunday night, were drunk with emotion and trying to explain what it meant to them.

They just beat the New York Mets 10-5 and won the National League pennant at Dodger Stadium, but that title was nothing more than a warm-up.

Now comes the moment that Major League Baseball, its television partners, its advertisers and millions of baseball fans have been crying out for for 43 years.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees will play each other in the World Series for the first time since 1981.

Hollywood vs Broadway.

Rodeo Drive vs. Fifth Avenue.

Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge.

Mookie Betts vs. Juan Soto.

Freddie Freeman vs. Giancarlo Stanton.

The rich against the richer.

Two of the most iconic franchises in sports, with the best records in their respective leagues this season, are playing for baseball's ultimate prize.

“As a baseball fan,” Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said, “how can you not be excited about this? You're talking about two of the biggest franchises. The biggest stars in sport. We have Shohei, Freddie and Mookie.” On the other side were Aaron Judge, Giancarlo, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole.

“The game’s biggest stars on the absolute biggest stage.”

“So how can you not be excited about this? This is the World Series.”

This is Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird.

This is Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier.

This is Jack Nicklaus versus Arnold Palmer.

This is Coke vs. Pepsi.

“This is what people wanted,” Betts said. “What we all wanted.”

With all the hype, just the idea of ​​Judge and Ohtani standing on the same stage together, the two MVP favorites vying for the same ultimate team award, could lead to an international meltdown.

“I can't imagine how excited the entire Japanese nation is right now,” said Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman, the National League championship series MVP with 11 RBI, who set a postseason franchise record. “If they weren’t already baseball fans, even more so. Everyone wants to see these two teams play on the biggest stages. It’s a World Series full of superstars.”

Judge, who led the American League with 58 home runs, and Ohtani, who led the National League with 54 home runs, will be the first meeting of the home run leaders in the World Series since Mickey Mantle of the Yankees and Duke Snider of the Dodgers to be in 1956.

It will be the first time Ohtani and Judge ever play in a World Series.

“I really feel like we’ve finally gotten there, I’ve finally gotten to this point,” Ohtani said. “The goal was to get this far. I also imagined that I would get this far with the contract I signed (10 years, $700 million). Just being able to play on a stage like that with the team effort and stuff like that. “The games were really tough. But I'm just glad we're at this stage right now.

Dodgers center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who is retiring after the season, struggled with his emotions as he tried to describe what this meant to him. He was part of the Tampa Bay Rays team that lost to the Dodgers in the 2020 World Series. It was the COVID World Series, played at a neutral site in Arlington, Texas, with limited seating for fans.

When the Dodgers won that World Series, they handed out masks instead of champagne bottles. There has been no parade in downtown Los Angeles or anywhere else during the pandemic.

Now there will be a parade for the ages in New York or Los Angeles, with the Yankees hoping to celebrate their first championship since 2009 and the Dodgers their first full season since 1988.

“This is great for baseball,” Kiermaier said. “Two iconic organizations, two consistent powerhouses, teams that are always in the thick of things. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

“I play baseball, but I’m a baseball fan. The amount of talent that will be on the field in the next few weeks will be must-see television.”

“It should be a damn good series. I can’t wait to see how she develops.”

The World Series begins Friday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1) at Dodger Stadium, and when they see each other and exchange pleasantries, they'll feel deep appreciation for knowing what it took to get there.

The two teams carry a heavy burden with enormous expectations and pressure to win the World Series.

No one cares that the Yankees have been to the playoffs 25 times since 1995 or that they haven't had a losing season since 1992.

No one cares that the Dodgers have been to the playoffs 12 years in a row and won four pennants.

All that matters is whether they won a World Series trophy at the end of the year.

It's World Series or bust every year.

It's life in New York and LA

“There's a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations,” said Muncy, who set a postseason record by reaching base 12 times in a row, “especially this year when you talk about some of the names we have.” It played out definitely intense.”

The Dodgers, who had been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round the past two years, knew that another first-round exit could have serious consequences. There were people whose jobs were at stake.

“We changed our approach this year,” Muncy said. “This year it was very player-focused. For the last few years we were kind of sitting around waiting for the organization to tell us what we were going to do. They tried to do certain things. They wanted to increase the intensity.

“This year, all of us players that were here said, ‘Hey, no. That's what we do. We change things. This is what we want to do.'”

So instead of allowing the first-round exit to become an obstacle because of the five days off, they took advantage of the opportunity, spent time together, socialized and asked their families for understanding.

“Everyone is worried about having five days off,” Muncy said. “We said, 'This is a reward.' That's why we wanted to think of it as a reward. The biggest thing we all did was we were here at the stadium for seven or eight hours a day, getting together and having fun, eating good food, talking about what we wanted to do.

“So instead of spending five days at home, we spent five days here on the field, and that brought us all together.”

It was similar to the rallying cry they let out in Atlanta in mid-September when they were informed that starter Tyler Glasnow was out for the season. Players openly wondered if this would dash their World Series hopes. Manager Dave Roberts told them to stop feeling sorry for themselves and if he believed in them, they should believe in each other.

“We talked about a starting rotation that was supposed to have All-Stars and Hall of Famers, and that just didn’t happen,” Muncy said. “If you're talking about your ace being done for the year, then.” was a kick in the gut. You could tell that everyone was on the ground. It was like, “Oh man, not again.”

“Then we had a meeting and it said, ‘Guys, look around. We still have the Hall of Famers in this room. We have people in this room who are paid a lot of money. We can still do this.'

“Well, look at us now.”

Most of the credit, says Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, goes to Roberts. He held the team together when it looked like things were about to turn upside down due to devastating injuries that required the use of 40 pitchers, a record number for the franchise.

“This is as determined a group as any I’ve seen,” Friedman said. “The professionalism. The way they prepare. The way they finish. It’s a really special group.”

“Besides the talent that is obvious, the passion to win was something that was so evident throughout the year given the adversity we faced.”

Roberts, who watched his team score an NLCS-record 46 runs, shouted to the sellout crowd of 52,674 as he accepted the National League trophy: “I've never believed in a group of guys as much as I did these guys.” Most importantly, they believe in each other.

Now they face the biggest series of their lives, reliving memories of the 1981 World Series with Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Goose Gossage, Fernando Valenzuela, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and Tommy Lasorda.

“The whole world was hoping for his possible duel, this showdown,” Roberts said. “I think it’s going to be great.”

Not just for the Dodgers.

Not just for the Yankees.

But it's all baseball.

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