Important events
Hello!
Good evening, morning and afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of Game 1 of Major League Baseball’s 120th World Series. In case you haven’t heard, it’s the Dodgers and Yankees who are bidding on the oversized, heavy and expensive jewelry, something they’ve done eleven times before: seven times via the Bronx/Brooklyn NYC subway and four times via a continental jet. It’s the first time they’ve met in the Fall Classic since the Dodgers defeated the Yanks in 1981.
Both clubs are under immense pressure to win a World Series title. The Dodgers won in the 2020 Covid-19 season, which, let’s face it, few took seriously. The Yankees are in their first World Series since 2009, the longest gap in appearances since the franchise’s founding in 1903. Babe Ruth helped the New York Americans win their first Fall Classic in 1921 against the Giants – a series played in the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, not in the yet-to-be-built large stadium in the Bronx.
Who has more pressure to win? Personally, I think since Yankees ownership turned into accountants under Hal Steinbrenner, son of the less patient George, it’s the Dodgers who need to win this series more. New York just seems happy to be there, which is un-Yankee-like to say the least.
Both teams are loaded with star sluggers and strong bullpens, but the high-profile, overpowering starting pitcher that teams fear is noticeably absent.
Gerrit Cole, the solid but currently unspectacular Yankees ace, has been inconsistent in a season shortened by elbow infections this spring. He will start for New York tonight in Game 1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ top arm, has also had his share of issues, but can hardly complain about his first season in the MLB after arriving from Japan this spring. He’ll pitch in Game 2 tomorrow. Tonight, LA sends Jack Flaherty to the mound. Acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline, he was a reliable arm for the Dodgers, although the Mets trounced him in Game 5 of the NLCS after shutting down New York in Game 1.
There’s some pomp and circumstance before the first pitch, scheduled for 5:08 PM LA time. Team introductions and my traditional national anthem are still to come. So sit back, relax some corn and grab a crowd. Oh, and if you want to see your name (or address) in the paper, you can reach me via tweet @LengelDavid or via email. Do it: I will make you famous.
More to come: stay with us!
David will be here soon. In the meantime, here’s a look at the Guardian’s predictions for this year’s Fall Classic.
