'What the people wanted': Dream World Series of Yankees vs. Dodgers is here

LOS ANGELES − The Los Angeles Dodgers, their shirts stripped off, wading in a pool of beer and champagne nearly up to their ankles in the clubhouse Sunday night, were drunk with emotion trying to explain what this meant to them.

They had just pounded the New York Mets 10-5 and won the National League pennant at Dodger Stadium, but this title was nothing more than the warmup act.

Now comes the moment that Major League Baseball, its TV partners, its corporate advertisers and millions of baseball fans have been clamoring for the past 43 years.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, for the first time since 1981, will face each other in the World Series.

Hollywood vs. Broadway.

Rodeo Drive vs. Fifth Avenue.

Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge.

Mookie Betts vs. Juan Soto.

Freddie Freeman vs. Giancarlo Stanton.

The rich vs. the richer.

Two of the most iconic franchises in sports, which had the best records in their respective leagues this season, playing for baseball’s ultimate prize.

"As a fan of baseball, how can you not be excited about this?" Dodgers infielder Max Muncy asked. "You’re talking about two of the biggest franchises. The biggest stars in the sport. We got Shohei, Freddie and Mookie. On the other side, you got Aaron Judge, Giancarlo, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole.

"The game’s biggest stars on the absolute biggest stage.

"So how can you not be excited about this? This is the World Series."

This is Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird.

This is Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier.

This is Jack Nicklaus vs. Arnold Palmer.

This is Coke vs. Pepsi.

"It’s what the people wanted," Betts said. "What we all wanted."

Just the idea of Judge and Ohtani being on the same stage, the two MVP favorites who are fighting for the same ultimate team prize, could cause an international meltdown with all of the hype.

"I can’t even imagine how excited the whole nation of Japan is now," said Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman, the MVP of the National League Championship Series with 11 RBI, tying a postseason franchise record. "If they weren’t already fans of baseball before, even more so now. Everybody wants to see these two teams play on the biggest stages. It’s a World Series full of superstars."

Judge, who led the American League with 58 homers, and Ohtani, who led the National League with 54 homers, will mark the World Series’ first matchup between home-run leaders since the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and the Dodgers’ Duke Snider met in 1956.

It will be the first time Ohtani and Judge have ever played in a World Series.

"I really feel like we finally arrived, I finally arrived at this stage," Ohtani said. "The goal was to get to this far. I also pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I've signed (10 years, $700 million). Just being able to play on this kind of stage with the team effort, and all the games were really hard. But I'm just glad that we're at this stage right now."

Dodgers center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who’s retiring after the season, battled emotions trying to describe what this means to him. He was on that Tampa Bay Rays team that lost to the Dodgers in the 2020 World Series. It was the COVID World Series, played on a neutral site in Arlington, Texas, with limited fan seating.

When the Dodgers won that World Series, they passed out masks instead of champagne bottles. There was no parade in downtown Los Angeles, or anywhere else.

Now there will be a parade for the ages in New York or Los Angeles, with the Yankees hoping to celebrate their first championship since 2009 and the Dodgers their first in a full season since 1988.

"This is great for baseball," Kiermaier said. "Two iconic organizations, two perennial powerhouses, teams that are always in the thick of it. It doesn’t get better than this.

"I play baseball, but I’m a fan of baseball. The amount of talent that’s going to be on the field for the next few weeks, it’s going to be must-see TV.

"It should be one hell of a Series. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds."

The World Series starts Friday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1) at Dodger Stadium, and when the two teams see each other and exchange pleasantries, they will share a deep appreciation knowing what it took to get there.

The two teams have been carrying a heavy burden with enormous expectations and pressure to win the World Series.

No one cares that the Yankees have been to the playoffs 25 times since 1995, or that they haven’t had a losing season since 1992.

No one cares that the Dodgers have been to the playoffs 12 consecutive years, winning four pennants.

All that matters is whether they won a World Series trophy at the end of the year.

It’s World Series or bust every year.

It’s life in New York and LA.

“There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations," said Muncy, who set a postseason record by reaching base 12 consecutive times. "Especially this year when you’re talking about some of the names we have. It definitely played heavy."

The Dodgers, knocked out of the playoffs in the first round the past two years, knew that another first-round exit could have serious repercussions. There were people whose jobs were on the line.

“We changed things about how we went about it this year,’’ Muncy said. “This year, it was very player-driven. The past couple of years, we kind of sat around waiting for the organization to tell us what we were going to do. They tried to do certain things. They wanted to up the intensity.

"This year, all of us players that have been here, we said: 'Hey, no. This is what we’re doing. We’re changing things up. This is what we want to do.'"

So instead of letting their first-round bye become a hindrance because of the five off-days, they took advantage of the opportunity, hanging out together and bonding, asking their families to understand.

"Everyone stresses about having five days off," Muncy said. "We said, 'This is a reward.' So we wanted to treat it as a reward. We had a lot of fun. So the biggest thing we all did was we were here as a group at the stadium, seven or eight hours a day, hanging out, getting closer, having fun, eating good food, talking about what we wanted to do.

"So instead of spending five days at home, we spent five days here at the field, and that brought us all together."

It was similar to the rallying cry they had in Atlanta in mid-September when they were told starter Tyler Glasnow was out for the season. The players openly wondered if it ended their World Series hopes. Manager Dave Roberts told them to quit feeling sorry for themselves, and if he believed in them, they should believe in one another.

"We were talking about a starting rotation that was supposed to have All-Stars, Hall of Famers, and that just didn’t happen,’’ Muncy said. "When you’re talking about your ace that’s done for the year, that was a kick in the gut. You could tell everyone was down. It was like, 'Oh, man, not again.’

"Then we had a meeting, and it was: 'Guys, look around. We still have Hall of Famers in this room. We have guys that are getting paid a lot of money in this room. We can still do this.’

"Well, look at us now."

The bulk of the credit, says Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers' president of baseball operations, goes to Roberts. He held the team together when it seemed things were unraveling with all the devastating injuries, requiring the use of a franchise-record 40 pitchers.

"This is as determined of a group as any I’ve been around," Friedman said. "The professionalism. The way they prepare. The way they complete. It’s a really special group.

"Beyond the talent, which is obvious, the passion to win was something that was so apparent during the year with the adversity we faced."

Roberts, who watched his team score an NLCS record 46 runs, shouted to the sellout crowd of 52,674 while accepting the National League trophy: “I’ve never believed in a group of guys more than I believe in these guys. Most importantly, they believe in each other."

Now, here they are, about to play the biggest Series of their lives, resurrecting memories of the ’81 World Series with Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Goose Gossage, Fernando Valenzuela, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and Tommy Lasorda.

"The whole world was hoping for this potential matchup, this showdown," Roberts said. "I think it’s going to be great."

Not just for the Dodgers.

Not just for the Yankees.

But all of baseball.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers vs. Yankees, Ohtani vs. Judge: Classic World Series awaits