As a girl who loves baseball, and, more specifically, as a girl who loves the Red Sox, I am not excited to see a Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series. Admittedly, I found it hard to root against former Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, but I was pulling for the Mets to clinch the NLCS and make it to the World Series.
I am not alone in this sentiment. Many fans were gunning for a “Subway Series,” or, in other words, a Yankees vs. Mets World Series matchup.
In the words of @TheNels on Twitter: “A Dodgers/Yankees World Series was the best possible outcome for MLB and the worst possible outcome for anyone who actually likes baseball.” I could not have put it better myself. This is a marketing dream for the MLB: an Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani faceoff. Arguably the two best players in the league at the moment, with Shohei Ohtani already sparking debates about whether he may become known as the best to ever play the game of baseball. The MLB could not have gotten a better matchup for the World Series: two powerhouse teams stacked with stars that promise immense viewership. Just to name a few, the MLB gets Judge, Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, and Soto all in one series; and not just any series, the World Series.
So, why are fans upset if this is seemingly such a great matchup? For one, neither of these teams are underdogs, and everyone loves a good, classic underdog/Cinderella story. No one ever doubted the ability of the Yankees or the Dodgers to make it to the World Series. It was a predictable outcome. Boring, even, simply because it was predictable. There’s no doubt the series will be competitive and stocked with talent; but it won’t be as exciting as, say, an underdog New York Mets vs. the dominant Yankees series would be.
The reality of a Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series is old news. Fans have seen this film before (11 times, to be exact. The Yankees and the Dodgers have faced off in the World Series eleven times in the past).
However, if the NLCS and ALCS had turned out differently, we could be looking at a Guardians vs. Mets World Series. Would this have been as financially successful for the MLB? Definitely not. But I, for one, would have preferred that outcome to the age-old Yankees vs. Dodgers. A Subway Series would have been better. Even an unexpected Guardians vs. Dodgers World Series would be better.
Could this be coming from a place of personal bias as a Red Sox fan who has hated the Yankees since birth? Maybe. But the outpouring of similar sentiments on social media leads me to believe that it is not just Red Sox fans who don’t want to see the Yankees in the World Series.
Ultimately, however, we are stuck with the Yankees vs. Dodgers series that is set to begin on Friday, October 25th. Pessimism aside, this series is sure to be entertaining for all the reasons mentioned earlier: star-studded lineups, old rivalries, and intense competition.
All that being said, I will still derive some selfish joy from rooting vehemently against the Yankees, even if the matchup is not what I would have preferred.