LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even 8-year-old Charlie Freeman is excited about one Dodgers-Yankees World Series.
“He’s at Universal (Studios) right now with a couple of his buddies, but he’s going, ‘Dad, I can’t wait until the World Series starts tomorrow,'” Los Angeles first baseman Freddie Freeman said in the last practice before Friday’s opener. “He’s on YouTube. He’s been watching all the Yankees-Dodgers videos, so you start to get an idea of how big this is going to be.
It will be on the 12th Dodgers-Yankees matchup And the first in 43 years. The rivalry begins in 1941, when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees were seeking their fifth title in six years.
“You can be a great player. You can do whatever you want,” Yankees star Juan Soto said, “but at the end of the day, people remember you because you won the World Series.”
Broadway vs. Hollywood has produced a star streak over the decades. The League Championship Series had the highest U.S. television ratings since 2017 and was dwarfed by the Dodgers’ viewership in Japan, fueled by interest in Shohei Ohtani.
“You could easily argue that globally, the Yankees and the Dodgers are the most followed, the most supported, the most visible,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said.
It was the first World Series to have five MVPs: the Dodgers’ Ohtani, Freeman and Mookie Betts, and Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Giancarlo Stanton. There hasn’t been a Fall Classic four since 1971.
Ohtani and Judge are likely to be MVPs this year, marking the first series since San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. It was the first streak between Judge (58) and a pair of 50-home run hitters. Ohtani (54).
In an era of expanding playoffs, this is the fifth World Series since the Wild Card Era began in 1995, featuring the teams with the best records in each league.
“I’m sure I’m going to realize how special it is,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Players practiced in 85-degree weather as the sun highlighted Dodger Stadium’s sky blue, yellow, pale orange and sea foam green seats. Freeman, slowed by a bad ankle, insisted he would be in line for the opener.
The Yankees are in the World Series for the first time since winning No. 27 in 2009, as the Dodgers seek their eighth title and second in five years.
“This is where the real fun begins,” Judge said.
Judge realized that a title was necessary for membership among the Yankees’ greats.
“They definitely walk around here when you’ve got two rings on your fingers,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, you see they’re battle-tested. They’ve been half-assed. They’ve gone through ups and downs and come up.
Aaron Boone and Dave Roberts rekindle their own decades-long rivalry
Roberts and Yankees manager Aaron Boone faced each other on April 3, 1992, when Roberts’ UCLA Bruins beat Boone’s Southern California Trojans 11-1 at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.
“As we all know here, you’re a Trojan for life. You’ve been a Bruin for four years,” Boone said playfully.
Roberts said of Boone’s shot: “Whoa! That hurts” and “Totally disagree, 100 percent.”
Boone sent Roberts a Yankees emoji as the charter flight from New York landed on Wednesday.
“I thought about sending another one-finger emoji, but I didn’t,” Roberts said. “I returned the smiling emoji.”
Jack Flaherty returns to the World Series – this time pitching
Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty starts the opener against the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, who was high school teammates with Max Fried and Lucas Giolito at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Three years ago, Flaherty was at Houston’s Minute Maid Park for Game 6 of the World Series with Giolito to watch Fried get the hit that wrapped up the Atlanta Braves’ World Series title.
“It’s a fun feeling to watch,” Flaherty said, “because you’re cheering for one of your best friends and you’re incredibly happy for him, and at the same time you’re a competitor and you want to be in that situation, you want to be on the field.
Flaherty is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in three postseason starts this year. Cole is 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA in three starts.
Like Roberts, Cole attended UCLA. Pitcher’s college roots are more in line with the Dodgers manager than his own.
“Aaron and I don’t always agree on everything,” he said.
Hal Steinbrenner Remembers the 1977 Yankees-Dodgers World Series
When Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was 7 years old in 1977, the Yankees won their first title under his father, George. Reggie Jackson hit three homers in three straight swings to lead New York to a 6-game victory over the Dodgers in the Bronx.
“I’d say my two most famous memories are Reggie’s third home run, and of course the final popup caught by (Mike) Torres and the chaos that followed,” he recalled this week. “Have a nice day!”
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