Why This Yankees Dodgers World Series Does Not Continue MLB History, It Starts A New One
It's not the continuation of an old rivalry, but the beginning of a new one. How the Yankees and Dodgers newest World Series matchup is a chance for the MLB to finally leave its past behind.
The 2024 World Series is finally set and the matchup could not be more beneficial for the sport. The New York Yankees will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in a World Series matchup many believed they would never see. This will be a vital showcase for the MLB and they should do their best to maximize the potential of this matchup.
How both teams play and line up against each other will obviously be vastly different from the 1981 matchup. Ron Guidry started Game 1 for the Yankees of that World Series, he pitched seven innings, throwing 85 pitches, giving up one run, and striking out six batters. That sounds like one of Guidry’s shorter days of work and it would easily be one of the best performances (statistically) in the current post-season.
However, we aren’t here to compare old to new, it is the complete opposite.
There is already a bit much being made of the Yankees-Dodgers World Series rivalry and with the two facing each other 11 times total, it is understandable. The two teams haven’t seen each other in the Fall Classic since the days of those like a Ron Guidry, Gene ‘Stick’ Michael and Tommy Lasorda managing, and George Steinbrenner verbally attacking players for their on-field performance (sorry Dave Winfield). We are already hearing far too many of the ‘Bob Costas’ in the media who want this upcoming series to be another chapter to a book that started in 1941, but that will not be the case for this upcoming slugfest.
The much different theme for the 2024 playoffs has opened the door to a new wave of fans. These fans do not care to see dominating starting pitching while they are lulled with prohibition-era statistics from the commentators, however. They welcome their league allowing the superstars to make a name for themselves, even if it means having a player who accrues the occasional error or two.
While it is nature as a baseball Lifer who prefers the (now) old-fashioned pitching duel once or twice a week, one should still be excited for what the sport could potentially turn into and this series will be the opportunity.
Despite all the mishaps and indecisiveness we have seen this year on the field, the drama is what baseball has been missing since the days of starting pitchers being the dominant force in the game. The things we used to gloss over have translated into positive energy, attention, and views that baseball had within its grasp all along.
This World Series starts the next generation of baseball from a talent perspective and it takes players like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Giancarlo Stanton to do it.
The mistake for so many years (in the MLB specifically) was not helping fans see how much better the future would be because they were too busy building up the past. There have been minimal changes to help fans think forward. Instead we try to draw century-old comparisons to players which in turn takes away from what they are now. In reality there are little to no comparisons to today’s athletes from a mental or physical standpoint.
The MLB fell behind through the 2000s, not only because of the admiration for records and statistics, but also using those numbers to market where they (thought) baseball was going by showcasing where it was. Fast forward to now and we are trying to draw parallels to a series in 1981 that included Fernando Valenzuela tossing an 147-pitch complete game in Game 3.
The history of baseball should always be celebrated and remembered, but when looking forward to this upcoming World Series specifically, it may be time to stop thinking about the past and put more work into building up the future. This series will be much more important for baseball than a near-century-old rivalry. It is not the continuation of an old rivalry, but the beginning of a new one, and the focal point should not be how it adds to baseball history, but why it is starting a different one.