World Series Inflation: Longtime Dodger fan remembers attending the 1981 Series against the Yankees for $15

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — As the Dodgers prepare to face the Yankees in the World Series on Friday, longtime Dodger fan David Campbell remembers the last time the two championship rivals met – in 1981.

He still has his ticket to Game 5. Campbell, who was 31 at the time, and a friend got two seats in the outside bleachers for just $15 each. That's a far cry from this year's series, where tickets start at well over $1,000 on reseller sites.

“There was an ad in one of the newspapers advising how the public could get tickets to the 1981 World Series, and of course it took several weeks before the World Series actually took place,” Campbell recalled. “I submitted my application, wrote all my information on a 3×5 card and sent it to the Dodgers. There was a lottery system there back then. And they told me just before, a week before, that my name had been chosen.” “

After losing to the Yankees in the 1977 and 1978 World Series, the Dodgers defeated New York in six games in 1981 to bring the title back to Los Angeles for the first time since 1965.

The two teams have played each other in the World Series more than any rival in Major League Baseball history, dating back to when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.

“It was very special. I've been a Dodger fan since I was a kid. I had learned to read by reading Jim Murray's columns (in the Los Angeles Times) about the Dodgers in the early '60s. My dad understood that.” I went to my first Dodger game in 1962 and hearing the Dodgers on TV was a habit. Many of the games weren't televised back then, but it was a special occasion,” Campbell said.

Dodger fans remember Fernando Valenzuela as a role model and inspiration

Fernando Valenzuela, who died this week at age 63, was a key factor in the 1981 World Series, helping the Dodgers to a 5-4 victory in Game 3 after pitching a complete game.

Honors for Valenzuela are expected at Dodger Stadium for Game 1 on Friday. Campbell says he hopes memories of Valenzuela will help inspire the team to another league title this year.