MLB Finals - LAD or NYY?

Yankees versus Dodgers. Some may say it's the biggest rivalry in baseball history, some may even argue it's the biggest one in sports. However, this rivalry goes way back: their first meeting in the World Series was in 1941. Now, both teams have played each other in the World Series a total of 12 times, more than any other teams in the MLB. In the regular season their head to head record all time is 11-11, they have the biggest fanbases in the whole of North America, and have the most valuable rosters in the league. The two teams meet in the World Series for the first time in 43 years. Two sides of the country. Two MVP players. Everything is up for grabs in a seven-game series to determine the winner of the 2023-2024 Major League Baseball season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, an eight World Series title team worth around 6.3 billion dollars, plays in a neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles and has all the superstars you could want from a professional Los Angeles team—Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Clayton Kershaw, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto just to name a few. Coming into this season, this team was the favorite to win it all based on their coaching staff, pitchers, and most importantly batters and fielders. They finished the season with an outstanding record of 98 wins and 64 losses, beating all of the other 29 teams in the league. However, their wins were not the only highlight of the season. Shohei Ohtani, a Japanese player who not only hits really well but also does an impeccable job on the mound with his pitching skills, signed a $700 million contract over the next ten years. He recently played for the Los Angeles Angels, but once he was a free agent he ended up singing with the Dodgers. This year, he broke an MLB record by becoming the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. This historic record is incredibly difficult to come by, and it just shows how much power and talent this team has. To continue, they started off this postseason by beating the San Diego Padres in a five-game series. Despite being down 2-1 in games in that series, they rallied and ended up beating the Padres. Moving on to the semifinal series, they were unstoppable and dominated against the New York Mets by a result of four games to two. They booked their ticket to the World Series and were the heavy favorites to win it all. 

Their opposition and main rival, the New York Yankees, finished the season first in their division with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses. They play in the Bronx in a stadium that holds 46,537 fans and is also home to the New York City FC. New York fans put a lot of pressure on the players due to the Yankees having a total of 27 World Series wins but have not won a single one since 2009. Only the best of the best can play in an environment like this let alone excel in what they do. However, throughout this season, some of the players who have exceeded expectations in every way are Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortez, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Additionally, their manager, Aaron Boone, has been with this organization since 2018 and is currently facing a lot of criticism due to how they always get so far in the postseason but never go all the way to a World Series victory. Speculation on the internet says that he will not continue as the Yankees head coach, and he will have to look for a different job. Moving on to the two-time MVP and captain of this team Aaron Judge hit an outstanding 58 home runs this year including postseason, breaking his own American League record. Adding on to that, he also became the youngest player to ever hit 300 home runs. All the pitchers, coaching staff, and other players contributed to an amazing year where they achieved a first round bye in the postseason, the same as the Dodgers. They then went on to dominate the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS and then ended up beating the Cleveland Guardians in seven games in the ALCS. Even though they are the undergods for this year’s World Series, it will without a doubt be an amazing battle on the diamond for this year's trophy.

In conclusion, the two number one seeds of this year's season are going to be facing off in the World Series. People all around the country will be flying in from coast to coast to watch two amazing head coaches, two MVP players, and two teams that break the expectations in everything they do play in a deciding series. Surely, this will be one for the history books.

Luis Lugo