LOS ANGELES — Hello, old friend. It’s certainly been awhile.
As neighbors, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees got together all the time. Seven World Series from 1941 through 1956 featured the matchup of the Bronx Bombers and Dem Bums from Brooklyn.
The Dodgers moved out and the two franchises drifted apart but still renewed their fall relationship four more times, making it the most frequent pairing in World Series history.
The rivalry is about to be renewed with a star-studded matchup beginning with Game 1 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
None of the players on either side were alive for the most recent Dodgers-Yankees World Series in 1981. But they know it’s something special.
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“I think the whole world was looking forward to or hoping for this potential matchup,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“The stars will be out, the eyeballs will be watching,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “And hopefully we can deliver on a great Series.”
“It sounds fun,” said Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, familiar with butting heads with the Yankees from his days with the Boston Red Sox. “I think the world wanted to see this. It’s going to be fun.”
“You’ve got Freddie, Mookie, Shohei. On the other side you’ve got Aaron Judge, Giancarlo, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole. The game’s biggest stars on the biggest stage – how can you not be excited about this as a fan?” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said.
“Come on, man. It’s Dodgers-Yankees – come on!”
It’s the matchup everyone wanted, newly-minted Dodgers hero Tommy Edman agreed.
“It’s a World Series full of superstars,” the NLCS MVP said.
And full of history. Here’s a recap:
• 1941 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 1 – The Brooklyn Dodgers had not been to the World Series in 21 years – back in their Robins days. They were not seen as a true threat to the mighty Yankees.
The first three games were one-run decisions, the Yankees taking two. The Series turned in the ninth inning of Game 4. With the Dodgers leading 4-3, the Yankees were down to their last out when Tommy Henrich struck out – but the ball got past Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen. The most famous passed ball in baseball history allowed Henrich to reach first base and the Yankees scored four times on two-run doubles by Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon. The Yankees closed out the Series with a 3-1 victory in Game 5.
• 1947 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 3: The Yankees took the early advantage with two wins at Yankee Stadium. When the Series moved to Brooklyn, the Dodgers took back-to-back one-run wins to even things. Game 4 was nearly the first no-hitter in World Series history. Through eight innings, the Dodgers had scratched out a run but didn’t have a hit off Yankees starter Bill Bevens. Two walks put runners on, but Bevens was one out away from completing his no-hitter when pinch-hitter Cookie Lavagetto lined a two-run double off the wall for a walk-off win.
The two teams traded wins, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7. The Yankees grabbed a 5-2 lead and Joe Page came out of the bullpen, closing it out by allowing just one hit over the final five innings.
• 1949 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 1: If you think this year’s Dodgers and Yankees are star-studded, take a look at the 1949 teams. There were Hall of Famers everywhere you looked – Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella on the Dodgers’ side, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and Johnny Mize on the Yankees.
Using just five pitchers in the five games – Eddie Lopat, Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds, Tommy Byrne and Joe Page – the Yankees dominated the Series, holding Brooklyn’s heroes to a .210 batting average and 14 total runs. The Dodgers’ lone victory came in Game 2 when Preacher Roe outdueled Raschi in a 1-0 game, pitching a six-hit shutout.
Late in the concluding Game 5, they turned the lights on at Ebbets Field, making those final innings the first World Series innings played under artificial light.
• 1952 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 3: These were the days when it was said rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel. The Bronx Bombers ruled baseball. This was the fourth of five consecutive World Series titles and was one of 14 American League pennants won in a 16-year stretch from 1949-1964.
Nonetheless, the Dodgers got a leg up by taking Game 1, 4-2, behind a complete game from starter Joe Black – the first African-American pitcher to win a World Series game. The two teams alternated victories, putting the Dodgers one win away from the championship after Duke Snider’s RBI double in the 11th inning of Game 5. The Yankees fought off elimination with a win in Game 6 featuring the first of Mickey Mantle’s still-record 18 career home runs in World Series games. His buddy, Billy Martin, made the defensive play of the Series in Game 7, helping to preserve the Yankees’ 4-2 win.
• 1953 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 2: For the fourth time in seven years, the World Series was strictly a New York affair. The Dodgers took the rematch with Billy Martin’s World Series record-tying 12 hits and .500 batting average leading the way. Martin, Mickey Mantle and Gil McDougald each hit two home runs in the Series.
The Dodgers’ highlight came in their Game 3 win when Carl Erskine set a new World Series record, striking out 14 Yankees in his complete-game victory. That record stood until another Dodgers pitcher, Sandy Koufax, struck out 15 in the 1966 World Series.
A Carl Furillo home run in the top of the ninth inning tied Game 6 and gave the Dodgers hope of extending the Series. Martin stepped up again, though, giving the Yankees another championship with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.
• 1955 – Dodgers 4, Yankees 3: For years, Brooklyn fans had lived with the mantra “Wait ’til next year.” Next year finally came in 1955.
Game 1 went to the Yankees and featured an iconic World Series moment when Jackie Robinson stole home in the eighth inning. The call was argued vigorously by Yankees catcher Yogi Berra (who went airborne in defiance) who maintained for the rest of his life that Robinson was out.
The Yankees went up 2-0 in the series but the Dodgers fought back to win the next three games, moving within a win of their first championship. They didn’t get it in Game 6 with Whitey Ford’s complete game forcing a Game 7. But Johnny Podres pitched a complete-game shutout for the Dodgers in Game 7, getting a game-saving catch and double play by left fielder Sandy Amoros in the sixth inning. Podres was named the Series MVP for his complete-game wins in Games 3 and 7.
• 1956 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 3: The Yankees got their rematch in another epic World Series – the final one played between two New York teams until the Mets-Yankees series in 2000.
The Dodgers took the first two games but Yankees pitching took over after that. The Yankees held the Dodgers to six runs over Games 3 through 7, including a perfect game by Don Larsen in Game 5. Game 6 was a pitchers’ duel between Clem Labine and Bob Turley that went 10 innings. Jackie Robinson’s walk-off single in the 10th forced a Game 7. But that was all Yankees. Yogi Berra hit two home runs in a 9-0 Yankees victory. Robinson struck out against Johnny Kucks for the final out. It was Robinson’s final at-bat. He retired before the 1957 season.
• 1963 – Dodgers 4, Yankees 0: Settled in their new California home, the Dodgers were no longer the uncouth neighbors from Brooklyn.
Dodgers pitching completely dominated the Yankees sluggers in this four-game sweep. The Yankees hit just .171 against Sandy Koufax, Ron Perranoski, Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres, with just four runs in the four losses and never held a lead. Koufax was the World Series MVP with complete game wins in Games 1 and 4.
• 1977 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 2: The game had changed a good deal in the 14 years since these two teams had met in a World Series. George Steinbrenner was now owner of the Yankees and Tommy Lasorda was the rookie manager of the Dodgers – each bringing a rambunctious personality to their roles. And the Yankees were powered by that new breed of hired gun – a free agent, in this case Reggie Jackson.
The Yankees gained the upper hand with three wins in the first four games. The Dodgers sent the Series back to New York with a 10-4 victory in Game 5, featuring home runs by Steve Yeager and Reggie Smith. But “Mr. October” took center stage. Reggie Jackson hit home runs in three consecutive at-bats in Game 6, leading the Yankees to the championship.
• 1978 – Yankees 4, Dodgers 2: Bucky ‘Bleeping’ Dent earned Boston infamy with his home run in a one-game playoff between the Yankees and Red Sox that sent the Yankees into a World Series rematch with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers took the first two games. Game 2 was punctuated by a showdown between Reggie Jackson and young right-hander Bob Welch. Welch struck Jackson out in the ninth inning to preserve the win. The Yankees evened the Series with wins in Games 3 and 4 featuring a controversial play in Game 4 when Reggie Jackson, running between first and second base, was hit – or stuck out his hip to intercept, depending on your perspective – a ball thrown by Bill Russell on a potential double play.
Twelve runs and 18 hits in Game 5 put the Yankees in the driver’s seat, one win away from back-to-back World Series wins over the Dodgers. Back in L.A., Reggie Jackson hit another home run in a 7-2 Yankees win. But it was that Dent fellow who was named Series MVP after hitting .417 with seven RBIs in the six games.
• 1981 – Dodgers 4, Yankees 2: Together again for the third time in five years, the Dodgers went into this Series having lost eight of the 10 times the two franchises met in the World Series. Lasorda had led the Dodgers to those Series but had yet to win one. The regular season featured a two-month players’ strike, splitting the season into two halves. More positively, it also featured the arrival of “Fernandomania.” Fernando Valenzuela would win both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards in the National League.
The Yankees took the first two games in the Bronx. Valenzuela made his first World Series start in Game 3. He wasn’t at his best but he stuck around for all nine innings, throwing 149 pitches, facing 40 batters and allowing four runs on nine hits. A three-run home run from Ron Cey helped the Dodgers stay one step ahead of the Yankees. The Dodgers made it three consecutive one-run victories in Games 3, 4 and 5 and headed back to Yankee Stadium with a chance to win their first championship since 1965 and their first over the Yankees since 1963. Pedro Guerrero drove in five runs in Game 6 with a single, triple and home run. Guerrero, Cey and Steve Yeager were the first co-MVPs in World Series history.
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