Key events
Hello!
Good evening, morning and afternoon to you 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 the Yankees bidding for the oversized heavy and expensive jewellery, something they’ve done 11 times prior: seven times via Bronx/Brooklyn NYC subway and four times via continental jet. It’s the first time since they’ve met in the Fall Classic since the Dodgers beat the Yanks in 1981.
Both clubs are under enormous pressure to win a World Series title. The Dodgers won in the Covid-19 season of 2020 which, let’s be honest, few take seriously. The Yankees are in their first World Series since 2009, the longest such gap in appearances since the franchise’s founding in 1903. Babe Ruth helped the New York Americans into their first Fall Classic in 1921 v the Giants – a series played in Manhattan’s Polo Grounds, not in the yet to be built big ballpark in the Bronx.
Who has more pressure to win? Personally, I think since Yankees ownership has morphed into accountants under Hal Steinbrenner, son of the less patient George, it’s the Dodgers that need to win this series more. New York just seem happy to be there, which is un-Yankee like to say the least.
Both of these teams are loaded with star sluggers and strong bullpens, but the high-profile, overpowering starting pitcher that teams fear facing are notably absent.
Gerrit Cole, the solid but not currently spectacular Yankees ace has been inconsistent in a season shortened by elbow inflammation experienced this spring. He’ll start for New York tonight in Game 1. The Dodgers best arm, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has also had his issues, but can hardly complain about his first season in MLB after arriving from Japan this spring. He’ll pitch in Game 2 tomorrow. Tonight LA sends Jack Flaherty to the hill. Acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline, he’s been a reliable arm for the Dodgers, although the Mets roughed him up in Game 5 of the NLCS, after he shut New York down in Game 1.
There’s some pomp and circumstance before first pitch, which is scheduled for 17:08 LA time. Team introductions and the my traditional national anthem are yet to come. So sit back, relax pop some corn and grab a bevy. Oh, and if you want to see your name (or handle) in the paper, you can get me via tweet @LengelDavid or via email. Do it: I’ll make you famous.
More to come: stick with us!
David will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at the Guardian’s predictions for this year’s Fall Classic.