Dodgers-Yankees World Series renews rivalry not seen in a generation
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New York Yankees Jerry Coleman (42) in action, attempting to pick-off Brooklyn Dodgers Jackie Robinson (42) in Game Five of the 1955 World Series at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. Photo: Mark Kauffman/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
The 2024 World Series will bring back a historic rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees that hasn't been seen in the Fall Classic since 1981.
The big picture: The two most storied franchises in Major League Baseball have met 11 times in the World Series (Yankees have won 8, Dodgers 3), battling amid a looming World War II, immigration transformations, racial desegregation and urban unrest.
- The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, but their rivalry continued into three decades.
State of play: This year's World Series, which begins Friday, will take place against the backdrop of a contentious U.S. election and threats of political violence as the country sees a rise in hate crimes and racist rhetoric.
- And yet, the Dodgers-Yankees 2024 World Series will be more diverse and global than any of their previous contests, with players from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and across the U.S.
The intrigue: In each of those World Series matchups since 1941, the future Hall of Famers on the field reflected the shifting nation at the time.
- Joe DiMaggio (born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio to Sicilian-born parents) led the Yankees to a World Series win in 1941 as Italian immigrants faced discrimination in the U.S.
- Jackie Robinson, the first Black American to break MLB's modern color line, helped get his Brooklyn Dodgers to multiple World Series with white Kentucky-born teammate and friend Pee Wee Reese.
- Los Angeles Dodgers Sandy Koufax, who is Jewish, dominated the Yankees in 1963 amid rising antisemitism and just weeks before John F. Kennedy was killed following months of heated political rhetoric.
- Reggie Jackson, who is Puerto Rican and endured racism playing minor league baseball in Alabama, in 1977 belted multiple home runs against the Dodgers as Nuyoricans fought poverty and discrimination in New York.
- Mexican-born Fernando Valenzuela, who died Tuesday, helped the Dodgers defeat the Yankees in 1981, two decades after the team forcibly displaced Mexican Americans from Chavez Ravine. He transformed the Dodgers into one of the most popular teams for Mexican American fans.
Zoom in: This World Series contest will feature the four hardest-hitting players in baseball: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani, according to MLB.com.
- The Japanese-born Ohtani is finishing his first year with the Dodgers and has become a global icon. He ended the 2024 regular season with one of the sport's greatest accomplishments: becoming the first person to hit more than 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
Fun fact: Luis "Campanella" Galván, the grandfather of Axios Latino editor Astrid Galván, covered the 1952 World Series as a sports reporter while working for El Fronterizo newspaper in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
- He covered all seven games between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees during the 1952 World Series, traveling via subway to the games.
- Galván, now 95, tells his granddaughter that he convinced his boss to send him because he also worked for the railroad and got a free (48-hour) train ride to New York.
- Covering the series was a "marvelous experience" for the young Mexican journalist who recalls how loud the games got as fans screamed endlessly. He interviewed Roy Campanella and Billy Martin, among others.
