Month of MLB: Day 25

Tonight, for the first time in 43 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers will meet the New York Yankees in the World Series.  Whenever the Celtics meet the Lakers in the NBA Finals, most NBA fans are pleased.  But the world of MLB is different, and so we've had to hear a lot of complaining about the payrolls of the Dodgers and the Yankees.  But here's the thing:  According to Forbes, the least valuable franchise in MLB -- the Miami Marlins -- is worth $1 billion, and of course it would be worth more if the team was competitive.  So every team's owner has enough money to field a high-paid team -- it's just that most of them choose not to do so.  And that's their right.  But I don't see why we should blame the teams that try to win because they are trying to win.  If the owners of the other teams are more concerned about their bottom line than their trophy case, they shouldn't complain about teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers who have different priorities.

This is the first time since 2013 that a full season has ended with the two number-one seeds meeting for the championship.  Usually at least one of the pennant winners is a fluke.  That's not true this year, and we'll see if that leads to an exciting series.

Here is the Yankees' starting lineup for Game One in Los Angeles:

1.  Gleyber Torres, 2b (.257, 15 HR's, 63 RBI's)

2.  Juan Soso, rf (.288, 41, 109)

3.  Aaron Judge, cf (.322, 58, 144)

4.  Giancarlo Stanton, dh (.233, 27, 72)

5.  Jazz Chisholm, Jr., 3b (.256, 24, 73)

6.  Anthony Rizzo, 1b (.228, 8, 35 in 337 AB's)

7.  Anthony Volpe, ss (.243, 12, 60)

8.  Austin Wells, c (.229, 13, 55)

9.  Alex Verdugo, lf (.233, 13, 61)

The Yankees are starting Gerrit Cole, who was hurt during the regular season, but who still went 8-5 with an ERA of 3.41 in 17 starts.

And here's the lineup for the Dodgers:

1.  Shohei Ohtani, dh (.310, 54 HR's, 130 RBI's, 59 SB's)

2.  Mookie Betts, rf (.289, 19, 75)

3.  Freddy Freeman, 1b (.282, 22, 89)

4.  Teoscar Hernandez, lf (.272, 33, 99)

5.  Max Muncy, 3b (.232, 15, 48)

6.  Enrique Hernandez, cf (.229, 12, 42)

7.  Will Smith, c (.248, 20, 75)

8.  Gavin Lux, 2b (.251, 10, 50)

9.  Tommy Edman, ss (.237, 6, 20)

The Dodgers are starting Jack Flaherty, who began the year with the Detroit Tigers.  Flaherty went 7-5 with the Tigers, and then went 6-2 with the Dodgers.  For the year, his total record was 13-7 with an ERA of 3.17 in 28 starts.

This will be the 12th time that the Yankees and Dodgers have met in the Fall Classic -- no other pairing is all that close.  The Yankees have won eight of these matchups:  1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1977, and 1978.  The Dodgers have won three:  1955, 1963, and 1981.

Overall, the Yankees are appearing in the World Series for the 41st time, and the first time since 2009.  Their record in those series is 27-13.  The Dodgers are appearing for the 22d time, and the first time since 2020.  Their World Series record is 7-14.  The Dodgers need to win this series to match the Giants with eight World Series titles.  The top of the list of World Series winners looks like this:

1.  Yankees:  27

2.  Cardinals:  11

T3.  Athletics:  9

T3.  Red Sox:  9

5.  Giants:  8

6.  Dodgers:  7

Together, these six teams account for 71 World Series titles.  The other 24 franchises have combined for 47 titles.