Dodgers vs. Yankees World Series: 5 storylines to watch

Two of the most storied teams in baseball are ready to face off in the 2024 World Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees have more than 100 years of history backing them up as they take the field Friday night in Game 1. And while New York fans might've been rooting for a Subway Series, the Dodgers and Yankees have bigger current stars and a more rich history of head-to-head competition than the Yankees and Mets.

Of course, it wasn't that long ago that Dodgers-Yankees would have also been a Subway Series. The Dodgers -- literally named after people dodging trolley cars -- called Brooklyn home until 1957, when they made the trek to the West Coast with the New York Giants.

With the latest installment of the series ready to get underway, we look at some of the biggest storylines.

1. Make it a dozen

No matchup in World Series history has been more common than Yankees vs. Dodgers. This year's meeting will be the 12th in MLB history, though most of those were played as families gathered around a black and white TV set, let alone HD TVs. And the most recent meeting was now 43 years ago.

The Yankees have won eight of the 11 matchups -- 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1977 and 1978 -- while the Dodgers won in 1955, 1963 and 1981. In cumulative games, the Yankees hold a 37-29 advantage.

However, the series is tied 2-2 in the four matchups since the Dodgers settled in Southern California.

2. Biggest stars of this era

If you've only heard of two baseball players, they are probably Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. If so, good news for you, because the two sluggers are facing off with the Dodgers and Yankees, respectively.

Barring a major surprise, the two should take the MVP Award in their respective leagues.

Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to post a 50-50 season (54 home runs and 59 steals). In addition to homers, he led the NL in plate appearances, runs scored, runs batted in, on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging, total bases and awkward lovableness.

Judge led the majors in a host of categories, including home runs (58), runs batted in, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and total bases. He also posted an 11.2 WAR, compared to 9.1 for Ohtani, according to Fangraphs.

All of this is ignoring the Dodgers' Mookie Betts and Yankees' Juan Soto, who play second fiddle on their respective teams, but are also likely among the top 10 players in baseball. Soto's three-run homer in the 10th inning of Game 5 will go down as one of the greatest in Yankees history, no small feat, especially if they win the title.

Toss in Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, a six-time All-Star and the defending Cy Young winner, and Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, an eight-time All-Star and the active career leader in hits, runs and runs batted in, and you have more marquee names than any other matchup could've provided.

Oh, and by the way, Ohtani is also probably the best pitcher on the Dodgers. But you'll have to wait to see Ohtani take the mound during a World Series game, he's still recovering from offseason Tommy John surgery. (For the record, John may be the player with the most success for both the Yankees and Dodgers in their career. He's one of just four players -- Wee Willie Keeler, Steve Sax and Hiroki Kuroda -- with a double-digit WAR for both clubs in their careers, per Baseball Reference.)

3. Big-time stars across the eras

If you want to make a name for yourself in baseball, a World Series game with the Dodgers and Yankees is a good way to do it.

Besides the greatest Yankee of them all (Babe Ruth) and his battery mate (Lou Gehrig), there's hardly been a big-name member to wear the Pinstripes who hasn't played the Dodgers in the Fall Classic -- that is, until the most recent dynasty of the 1990s. From Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra in the '40s to Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford in the '50s and Reggie Jackson and Ron Guidry in the '70s, all shined against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have certainly had their fair share of stars shine against the Yankees too. Jackie Robinson faced the Yankees six times in the World Series -- and lost five of them. He finally broke through in 1955 and recorded maybe the greatest single moment of his career as well. Berra disagreed with the call to his grave, but Robinson's famous steal of home in Game 1 off Ford set the tone for the series and showed the Dodgers wouldn't be pushed around like the five previous defeats by New York.

Berra and the Yankees would exact some measure of revenge the next year against the Dodgers in the greatest single performance in World Series history when Don Larsen through a perfect game in Game 5.

The 1963 matchup won by the Dodgers featured two brilliant outings by arguably the greatest pitcher of all time -- Sandy Koufax. In twice facing fellow Hall of Famer Ford, the second on three days rest, he was 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA over 18 innings -- two complete games -- with 23 strikeouts. Don Drysdale, also a Hall of Famer, pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout in Game 3 of the series. With those two pitchers and a fellow star in Johnny Podres, it's no wonder they swept the Yankees. In 11 meetings, it's the only time either team has swept the other.

The Dodgers' 1981 team featured two stars in the news this week. Infielder Steve Garvey, who batted over .400 in that World Series, is in a hotly contested U.S. Senate race. Sadly, Fernando Valenzuela, then at the height of Fernandomania in his Cy Young season, died earlier this week at just 63.

4. Dodgers' banged-up pitching staff

They say pitching wins championships. If that's true, the Dodgers may be in trouble.

Tyler Glasnow, who was signed to a five-year, $136.5 million contract in the offseason to be the team's ace, battled injuries much of the season and is out until next year. Gavin Stone, the 26-year-old who had become the Dodgers' best pitcher this season, injured his shoulder and may be out all of next year, too. Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw was shut down after making just seven starts this season.

So, who's left? Rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the other big-name Japanese player signed this offseason, wasn't dominant in his first year, but he was good. It's been a rougher go in his first postseason, pitching to a 5.11 ERA in three starts against the Padres and Mets. Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers' big acquisition at the trade deadline, has been even worse. The Game 1 starter has a 7.04 ERA in three starts this postseason.

The Yankees will answer with Cole, who has looked good in the playoffs (three starts, 3.31 ERA, 16.1 innings, 12 strikeouts), and Carlos Rodon, who looked excellent against the Guardians with 15 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.

The Dodgers will rely heavily on their bullpen, the fourth-best by ERA in the majors during the regular season. Of course, the Yankees were sixth, so their bullpen is hardly a shortcoming.

And no, Ohtani will not run into the proverbial phone booth and sprint out to the mound to surprise everyone. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered the question of whether there was any chance Ohtani could pitch in the World Series for a final time on Thursday.

"There's no possibility, none whatsoever," he told reporters.

5. Familiar managers face off

Speaking of Roberts, the chess game in the dugout will be one to watch -- not just for the levers they pull but for the history they created as players.

In the span of two seasons, Yankees manager Aaron Boone featured in one of the greatest moments in franchise history and Roberts featured in one of the worst. Boone's walk-off home run against the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS off Tim Wakefield remains an all-time great moment even if New York couldn't seal the deal in the World Series. In 2024, Roberts' steal of second base in Game 4 swung momentum in favor of the Red Sox like no play had ever done before. A few days later, Boston became the first team to come back from down 3-0 in a series in MLB history.

Yankees fans have never been truly enamored with Boone as manager, but they definitely like Roberts a lot less. And Boone has pushed a lot of the right buttons coming down the stretch in 2024. The move from Clay Holmes to Luke Weaver as closer has paid big dividends, while moving Gleyber Torres into the leadoff spot in the lineup coalesced the offense.

Roberts has faced his fair share of criticism from his own fans as well. Trailing 2-1 in the NLDS, it looked like Roberts' days as LA manager may be over. But he deployed his bullpen to stunning efficiency in Game 4 with eight different relievers shutting out a great Padres lineup. He also utilized little-known relievers like rookies Ben Casparius and Edgardo Henriquez expertly in the team's NLCS win over the Mets.

In an era where managers have been devalued more than ever before, it would be ironic in a series filled with stars on the field if the former players determined the outcome.