The regular season of Major League Baseball has come to an end, but as fall has arrived, so has the MLB postseason. Starting back on Oct. 1, after already having played 162 games, 12 teams came ready to fight for the title of World Series Champions. However, in the end, only one can claim this title. Today, the battle continues.
The New York Mets were one of those teams who came ready to win. Being 89–73 this season, they had a chance to take a spot in the Division Series by going into the Wild Card round. On Oct. 3, after coming back and scoring all their points in the 9th inning against the Milwaukee Brewers, 4–2, they took that spot in the Division Series.
Fighting their way through the Division Series, the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3–1 in their five-game series on Oct. 5-9. The Mets were then matched up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the League Championship Series on Oct. 13-20.
On Oct. 18, the Dodgers took the lead in the seven-game series, 3–2. Because they were ranked No. 1 in their division, and the Mets were ranked No. 7, the Dodgers had a high chance of earning a spot in the World Series.
Despite the Mets’ efforts, on Oct. 20, the Dodgers’ two home runs by Tommy Edman and Will Smith in the bottom of the third inning made it the highest-scoring inning with four runs. It kept the Dodgers in a high enough lead, resulting in a final score of 10–5 and a spot in the World Series.
Oct. 20 was a night of celebration for the LA Dodgers. This will be the team’s 22nd time in franchise history going into the World Series, and Edman was awarded the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player award.
Edman had just been traded by the Cardinals on July 29 and was injured for half of the season. He didn’t return until mid-August, so the NLCS MVP award was a significant accomplishment.
On the other side of the bracket, the New York Yankees, who are ranked No. 1 in their division, 94–68, and the Cleveland Guardians, who are ranked No. 1 in theirs, 92–69, were paired up to battle for a spot in the World Series.
The Yankees took a 2–0 lead in the seven-game series on Oct. 14 and 15. However, on Oct. 17, the Guardians came back ready to win.
At the bottom of the 9th, the Guardians’ Jhonkensy Noel hit a homerun, getting Lane Thomas in and tied up the game 5–5. The Guardians were able to hold the Yankees, and at the bottom of the 10th, David Fry hit a homerun, scoring in Josh Naylor and winning the game with a final score of 7–5, and putting them 1–2 in the series.
The win on Oct. 17 wasn’t enough to get the Guardians to the World Series. The Yankees came back and won 8–6 on Oct. 18 and 5–2 on Oct. 19, putting them 4–1 in the League Championship series as well as putting them into the World Series.
This 2024 World Series is going to be an unforgettable moment in baseball history. Not only will the New York Yankees be going into their 41st World Series and their first one since 2009, but the last time the Yankees and Dodgers saw each other in the World Series was back in 1981.
Altogether, these two teams have seen each other 11 times in the World Series, this year being their 12th time. In 1981, the Dodgers took the win during the last four games of the six-game series and took the Commissioner’s Trophy. However, the Yankees have won eight of the 11 times that these teams have met.
This series is said to be the first time since 2020 that the top seeds in the American and National Leagues are meeting in the World Series, and as of right now, sports experts are saying the Dodgers are slightly favored to win over the Yankees.
The LA Dodgers and the New York Yankees’ first World Series game takes place Oct. 25 at 6:08 p.m. at the Dodger’s Stadium.
