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10/21 12:29 CDT Yankees and Dodgers meet in World Series for 12th time in
matchup of Broadway and Hollywood
Yankees and Dodgers meet in World Series for 12th time in matchup of Broadway
and Hollywood
By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Broadway vs. Hollywood. Subway vs. Freeway. Judge vs. Ohtani.
New York neighbors who became cross-country rivals, the Yankees and Dodgers
renew their starry struggle in the World Series for the first time in 43 years.
"I've always had that sense being here that there's that underlying, craving
for that," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday. "The stars will be out. The
eyeballs will be watching and, hopefully, we can deliver on a great Series."
Two of baseball's most successful teams face each other starting Friday at
Dodger Stadium, the Yankees coming off their 41st American League pennant and
the Dodgers their 25th National League championship. New York is seeking its
28th World Series title but first since 2009, the Dodgers their eighth and
second in a five-year span.
"When you're playing for the Dodgers and playing for the Yankees, it better
feel different," LA manager Dave Roberts said at Yankee Stadium last June. "If
not, you better do something different for a profession."
Yankees pinstripes vs. Dodgers Pantone 294. The Bronx Bombers vs. the Dem Bums'
descendants. The granite-and-limestone of new Yankee Stadium on chilly autumn
nights vs. Dodger Stadium in sunny Chavez Ravine, with the San Gabriel
Mountains beyond the pavilions.
"It's kind of what the people wanted, what we all wanted," Dodgers star Mookie
Betts said. "It's going to be a battle of two good teams, a lot of long flights
across the country."
New York is 8-3 against the Dodgers in the most frequent World Series matchup,
including 6-1 against Brooklyn and 2-2 since the rivalry became Big Apple
against Tinseltown.
Mickey Owen, Al Gionfriddo, Cookie Lavagetto, Sandy Amoros, Johnny Podres, Don
Larsen, Sandy Koufax and Reggie Jackson created indelible images in the
matchup, which started in 1941 with one of the wackiest World Series turns.
Trailing 2-1 in the Series, Brooklyn led 4-3 with two outs in the ninth inning
at Ebbets Field when Tommy Henrich swung and missed at strike three from Hugh
Casey. The ball bounced away from Owen and rolled toward the Dodgers dugout as
Henrich reached on the dropped third strike. Joe DiMaggio singled, Charlie
Keller hit a two-run double and Joe Gordon added another two-run double later
in the inning as the Yankees won 7-4 and went on to win the title in five games.
Lavagetto's two-out, pinch walk-off double in the ninth ended Bill Bevens'
no-hit bid in 1947's Game 4 and two games later Gionfriddo robbed DiMaggio of a
tying three-run homer.
New York beat the Dodgers again in 1949, 1952 and 1953, frustrating the fans in
Flatbush, but Brooklyn finally won the title in 1955 when Podres pitched a Game
7 shutout at Yankee Stadium and Gil Hodges drove in both runs. Amoros preserved
the lead when he made a running catch of Yogi Berra's sixth-inning drive in the
left-field corner with two on and relayed to shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who threw
to Hodges at first and doubled up Gil McDougald. Those players were celebrated
in Roger Kahn's 1972 book "The Boys of Summer."
Larsen pitched the World Series' only perfect game in 1956's fifth game in the
Bronx, Berra jumping into his arms after the final out, and the Yankees won
Game 7 behind Johnny Kucks' three-hit shutout in what turned out to be the last
World Series game at Ebbets Field.
Walter O'Malley moved the Dodgers to California after the 1957 season, and
Koufax had an interlocking "LA" on his cap instead of a "B" when he struck out
a then-Series record 15 in the 1963 opener at Yankee Stadium. The rivalry
didn't resume until 1977 with the first of three matchups in a five-year span.
Jackson's three home runs led the Yankees to a clinching win in 1977's Game 6.
The Yankees won another six-game Series the following year, highlighted by
third baseman Graig Nettles' diving stops on Reggie Smith, Steve Garvey and
Davey Lopes.
Los Angeles lost the first two games in the Bronx in 1981, and then won four in
a row --- capped by a 9-2 victory that had Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda
dancing. The defeat prompted Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, his hand
bandaged after an alleged fight with Dodgers fans in a hotel elevator, to issue
a written apology "to the people of New York and to the fans of the New York
Yankees everywhere."
Both teams feel the history created by their predecessors.
"You put that jersey on and those pinstripes, it just feels different," Yankees
slugger Juan Soto said.
Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles took two of three when they met Aaron Judge and
New York in a much-hyped series in June.
Roberts is reminded of the history when he approaches Dodger Stadium.
"I can't believe I'm driving up Vin Scully Way, when I go to work," he said.
"It's overwhelming, but I try not to let my head go there too often; I just try
to do my job."
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