In the days leading up to the World Series, we were bombarded with references to Rivalry between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees.
THE Dodgers and Yankees it’s all about the history, the tradition, the rare opportunities to charge exorbitant prices to see the two biggest brands in baseball on the same field.
Today, however, the Dodgers and the Yankees are not a rivalry. Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle don’t walk through that door.
During the Dodgers’ last decade in Brooklyn, the teams met six times in the World Series. When the teams met last October, they had not faced each other in the World Series in 43 years. Black and white films and Bob Costas stories age over time.
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Rivalries – at least the few that arouse national interest – arise in October. We had what is now baseball’s best rivalry in October, but not in the World Series.
The Yankees and Boston Red Sox broke the confines of a regional rivalry largely because of the 2003 and 2004 playoffs, when the teams met in American League Championship Series, each of which amplified the drama lasting a maximum of seven matches.
In 2003, Boston Pedro Martinez fired Yankees manager Don Zimmer on the ground, two Yankees players clashed with a Fenway Park groundskeeper, Boston manager Grady Little left Martinez too long in the deciding game, and the Yankees won on a home run by third baseman Aaron Boone. I wonder what happened to him.
The 2004 Series is best remembered because the Red Sox became the first and still only team to win a seven-game playoff series after losing the first three games: The Catalyst: The Pinch Runner Who Stole the second base and scored the tying run in the ninth inning of Game 4, Boston outfielder Dave Roberts. I also wonder what happened to him.
But that was 20 years ago. ESPN can broadcast the Yankees and Red Sox every Sunday night — and the network would if it could, with good ratings to show for it — but the Red Sox haven’t been nationally relevant in years .
In the five seasons since they traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgersthe Red Sox have finished in last place in the American League East three times.
This year’s World Series featured six players with contracts worth more than $300 million each – three with the Dodgers, including Betts, and three with the Yankees.
That caught the attention of Zack Scott, who was Boston’s assistant general manager when the Red Sox traded Betts.
“This triggers flashbacks to internal conversations about signing Mookie, and our owner saying he has no interest in making any mega-deals.” Scott tweeted this week. “I guess you can build around them.”
The San Diego Padres have two players under contract worth over $300 million and another under a contract worth $280 million.
Magic Johnson, co-owner of the Dodgers stood atop the Yankee Stadium grass Wednesday night, surrounded by confetti falling below him and a video board congratulating the Dodgers above him. The Yankees had been defeated, and before them the New York Mets.
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But only team this October to force the Dodgers into a playoff game: the Padres, in the division series.
“I really thought San Diego was the key to this,” Johnson said. “They took us to another level to beat them. I thought once we beat them we stayed at that level. They tested us. The Mets did a fantastic job. And then give the Yankees credit. They fought us.
“But I thought it was ours. Once we beat San Diego, I thought we were the best team standing.
When the Padres started spending money, under late owner Peter Seidler, San Diego fans said there was a legitimate rivalry with the Dodgers.
That wasn’t the case then, but it is now. Rivalries are born in October: in 2022, when the Padres eliminate the Dodgers in the rain; in 2024, when the Dodgers eliminated the Padres with back-to-back shutouts, in a series where players were chirping at each other and fans on both sides were debating the broader meaning of a ball thrown by Manny Machado in the general direction of the Dodgers manager.
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The World Series attracted a larger share of viewers in San Diego than in New York.
The loudest crowds in baseball are at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park. The best rivalry in baseball is ours. The two best teams in the majors this season were the Dodgers and Padres.
The World Series champions return to Petco Park next June, when the Padres will once again attempt to do what no team could do in October: beat L.A.
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
