Let’s play a game.

When was the last time the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees played each other in the World Series?

1981.

When was the last time the American League and National League home run kings played each other in the World Series?

1956.

Have two opponents with at least 50 home runs ever faced off in the World Series?

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No.

How many times have the AL MVP and NL MVP met in the World Series since 1988?

Once.

And how many times has the best team in the AL played the best team in the NL in the World Series this century?

Twice – and one of them was in the pandemic-shortened season.

When the first pitch is thrown in Los Angeles to kick off the 2024 Fall Classic, it will be a culmination of all the above factors.

The clash between the Dodgers and Yankees, the game’s signature cross-country rivalry, will be the first World Series showdown for the teams in more than 40 years. It’s also the first battle between the AL and NL home run leaders since Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider, the first championship game between the AL and NL’s best teams in the twelve-team postseason era, and a showcase for the two most exciting players in the game: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, who have already won three MVPs between them and are each favored to win this year.

It’s rare enough to see even one of the aforementioned storylines in baseball’s final round of playoffs. And with the expanded postseason, there is a good chance that these types of games will be even fewer and further apart. But this World Series has it all.

“I think the world wanted to see this,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts told reporters after the National League Championship Series. “It’s going to be fun. It’s good for baseball.”

Of all the historical outliers involved in this iteration of Los Angeles versus New York, perhaps none is more exciting than the prospect of Ohtani and Judge trading haymakers.

Forget the playoffs – despite winning two MVPs, Rookie of the Year, batting And As a pitcher, Ohtani never played for a team that finished with a record better than .500 until he joined the Dodgers. With a loaded roster around him, Ohtani had a historic season, becoming the first 50-50 player in league history with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases. He set career records in home runs, RBIs, batting average and WAR.

“He hits for average, he hits for power, speed,” Judge said at a news conference on Tuesday. “By doing what he did this year with the 50 stolen bases, it was talked about a lot, but I don’t think it was talked about enough. He is an impressive, impressive athlete, the best player in the game, and what an ambassador for this sport.”

The Yankees slugger is no slouch. After hitting 62 home runs two seasons ago, Judge hit 58 this year and set career marks in batting average, slugging, OPS and WAR.

“I’m excited that (Judge) will take this stage,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said at a news conference Tuesday. “Obviously I know he’s playing against Shohei, what a great talent he is, and if he goes to the Dodgers this year and has the kind of season he put together there, I think it’s great for the sport, great for baseball , and it looks great.” looking forward to the battle over all of this.”

This series is somehow still more than just a match between two titans or two legendary franchises. It’s also a chance for MLB to showcase several stars.

There’s Betts, a former MVP who has won two World Series.

There’s Juan Soto, a four-time All-Star and former champion in his first season with the Yanks, who is only 25 years old and inexplicably still looking for his long-term home.

There’s 34-year-old Giancarlo Stanton, a former NL MVP looking to cement his legacy in New York. (Oh, and he once hit a home run literally out of Dodger Stadium.)

A year ago, MLB’s unpredictable playoff format produced two Cinderellas in the World Series, the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, a matchup between two wild-card teams that ended in five games. It was fun in its own way to watch two underdogs battle their way into the Fall Classic, but the baggage of seeing two teams with big markets and big spending and raucous fans being the last two teams standing , shouldn’t take away from how unique this World Series is.

“You’re talking about the biggest stars in the game, and they’re going to play on the biggest stage,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy told reporters after the NLCS. “As a fan, how special is this, man? This is incredible.”