Three generations of my family, at least, have witnessed a Yankees-Dodgers World Series. The exciting matches in the 50s, the back-to-back battles in the 70s, the last minute rematch in 1981. Some of the greatest MLB players in history have played in Yanks-Dodgers World Series'. It's just as important as baseball itself. Brooklyn vs. The Bronx. LA vs. New York. East vs. West.
So going my near three decades without witnessing one myself feels a little unfair. Could you imagine a late-2000s version of this battle? A late 2010s version? A late 80s version? It's been a little while, that's for sure. But, after the Dodgers held off the Mets in 6 games, that's what we're getting again. This week, we're getting the ultimate Yankees-Dodgers series. Judge v. Ohtani. Cole vs. Yamamoto. Teoscar vs. Giancarlo. The most expensive Yanks-Dodgers World Series to date.
To be honest, this could go either way. The Dodgers have a killer lineup, where not only the big guns can kill you, but the lower lineup guys like Kiké Hernandez, Tommy Edman and Will Smith can too. Tommy Edman won NLCS MVP solely because he had important hits in nearly every game of the series. Nobody has been a better addition to this team than Edman, and all he cost was Miguel Vargas basically. So if Betts, Ohtani and Freeman fail, they've still got him. What could kill this team is the lack of pitching depth, especially in terms of starters. The bullpen is pretty good, but this team has gotten very lucky.
Whereas the Yankees have the better pitching, the better clutch hitting and the more accurate stars...and with them I'm just worried that they're gonna be too tired to leg it out for 4 more wins. The Guardians series really took a lot of energy out of them, and hopefully they still have some left for, I dunno, the toughest team in baseball. Everyone's underestimated the Dodgers, and they could be the latest and greatest.
I think it could go either way. But whatever happens, it's good for baseball, and it's certainly good for me.
As for the Mets...what a season they had. They could have been dead midyear and they hit a second wind, became incredible late in the season, snuck in very late and outdid some of the giants of this season. Unfortunately, the Dodgers figured out their starting pitching, the lineup trailed off save for Vientos, and in the end they weren't a match for them. I think the Mets have a ton to be proud of this season, and possibly a lot to build off of for next year. It just was going to take more to get over this Dodgers team, ultimately.
Alright, World Series in a couple days, and I've still got a team to root for. This is gonna be fun.
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