Fans of small-market teams might be annoyed by the New York Yankees-Los Angeles Dodgers World Series matchup, but you can be sure Major League Baseball as a business is thrilled about it.
Not only because it features two of the most well-known franchises in the league and re-ignites a rivalry that dominated baseball’s glory days, but also because it gives the annual fall classic the type of big-game, big-event feel that it has lacked in recent years.
The star power and plethora of future Hall of Famers only adds to that appeal.
For the better part of the past decade, the World Series matchups haven’t always been the most thrilling or captivating when it comes to broad appeal to casual fans. That is not to say there have not been good teams that have made it and won, or that there have not been intriguing storylines. Teams like the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies and 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks going on unexpected runs was compelling. The Houston Astros have been a great organization and the most consistent winner in baseball for the past eight years, but for as good as their roster consistently is, they have not always had the household name megastars that will define this series.
The 2024 World Series has everything that baseball has lacked in recent Octobers.
Two prominent franchises. The best team in the American League from the regular season playing the best team in the National League. Also, some of the biggest names in baseball with at least a handful of future Hall of Famers.
There are five slam-dunk HOF players in Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole from the Yankees as well as Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts from the Dodgers.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman and Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton also have strong cases while injured Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw would potentially make eight Hall of Fame players involved with these two teams.
Just looking in terms of present-day accomplishments, Judge, Ohtani, Freeman and Betts are all MVP winners with Judge and Ohtani likely to win their league’s respective MVPs this season.
Ohtani is coming off the first-ever 50-50 season in MLB history, Judge is the American League’s single-season home run leader.
Between Ohtani, Judge and Soto, the top three players in OPS from the regular season are going head-to-head. Add in Freeman, Betts and Teoscar Hernandez, and six of the top-20 players in OPS are involved.
It is an extensive list of the game’s best players on the biggest stage.
While fans in smaller markets might hate what the Yankees and Dodgers represent in terms of spending money, sometimes it is okay to sit back and watch two powerhouse teams full of superstars fight it out for a championship. It is what the World Series used to be, and for the first time in years, this year’s matchup has that luster once again.
Leigha Coby
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