World Series blue bloods are set to reignite classic rivalry

There's a week to go before Halloween, but there will be plenty of ghosts resurrected on Friday, as the baseball world invokes the memories of Jackie Robinson and Yogi Berra, Don Larsen and Pee Wee Reese, Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax — the list goes on — as the sport's two most storied franchises renew their ageless Fall Classic rivalry.

It has been a while since the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers faced off in the World Series, 43 years to be precise, with the latter coming away with a 4-2 win back in 1981. However, the Yankees carry the overall advantage in what is the most frequent matchup in the history of baseball's biggest prize.

The Bronx Bombers hold an 8-3 lead over the Dodgers.

Individually, though, it is the West Coast outfit that has most recently enjoyed the glow of championship glory, with Commissioner's Trophy heading to Tinseltown in 2020, while the success-starved Yankees fans have had to make do with highlight reels from 2009 to slake their thirst for silverware.

Now, in 2024, the two franchises that, for a 41-year span, made the World Series their playground, finally meet again in the game's annual finale, with fans across the board thrilled at the prospect of another classic best-of-seven encounter.

And why wouldn't they be. It is a clash of Titans, not just historically, but all over the park, not least in the meeting of the MVPs-elect of their respective leagues: Yankees captain Aaron Judge and the Dodgers' Japanese "unicorn" Shohei Ohtani.

Both players have put up an incredible year, and both were in contention for the Baseball Digest/Inside Edge Player of the Year award. Judge for his, frankly, ridiculous numbers posted in the regular season — 58 home runs, 144 runs batted in and OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) of 1.111 — all while putting in a stellar performance in center field, and Ohtani for his history-making combination of 54 home runs and 50 stolen bases. Judge won that head-to-head.

However, so far in this postseason, Ohtani is hitting .286 with three home runs and 10 RBIs, compared with Judge's .161, two home runs and six RBIs. Both are due their big October moment.

Behind the two headliners is an equally impressive array of stars. For New York, there's Juan Soto, who is practically writing his own pay check when his free agency comes around next month. He fired the rocket three-run homer that sealed the Yankees place in the World Series, while Giancarlo Stanton's clutch 121-meter-plus blasts in the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians not only won him an MVP award, but laid the path for the Yankees march to their first Fall Classic in 15 years. The Yanks have an equally capable battery in ace pitcher Gerrit Cole, cold-as-ice closer Luke Weaver and big-hitting catcher Austin Wells.

The Dodgers' arsenal includes the likes of triple Cy Young Award-winning southpaw slinger Clayton Kershaw, who will undoubtedly cause headaches for the New York sluggers, who have struggled against left-handers all season. In the batter's box, there's the only player in the Dodgers offensive lineup to have stolen any of the spotlight away from Ohtani in the regular season: Mookie Betts.

Like Judge, Stanton or Soto, Betts knows how to work a count, and can change the game with one swing of his bat. He also brings experience, with two World Series rings in his jewelry box already, winning in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox and, again, in 2020 with LA.

Alongside Betts, there are the hot bats of Tommy Edman, who was named MVP of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, and the always dangerous first baseman Max Muncy.

The 2024 World Series kicks off at Dodger Stadium on Friday evening. While many would consider that a home field advantage for the NLCS winners, the Yankees away record this season has been better than in the Bronx, going 50-31 on the road, compared with 44-37 at home.

Two of those home losses came against the Dodgers in June in a 2-1 series defeat. Judge, Soto and Stanton have yet to smell the Bermuda grass at Dodger stadium this season, a historically happy home run hunting ground for the Bombers' big bats.

Meanwhile, the opposite is true for the Dodgers, who posted a home-away record in the regular season heavily weighted toward the former (52-29 on home turf, compared with 46-35 on the road).

With no clear favorite in sight, it all stacks up to what should be a World Series for the ages, perhaps one that, in decades to come, will see Judge and Ohtani evoking similar memories to that of Mr October, Reggie Jackson, trotting the bags of the "Bronx Zoo" no less than five times in 1977; or Pedro Guerrero going 3-for-5 with a triple, a homer and five RBIs in Game 6 to win it all for LA the last time these World Series blue bloods met in October.

mccarthy@chinadaily.com.cn