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BOSTON – The 114th World Series is upon us, and if you can stick to the trend of your personal team for a while, you have to admit that the Red Sox-Dodgers couple has all the ingredients of a good match .
For your consideration: Despite all the talk of how these markets never faced each other in the Fall Classic, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox faced each other in front of the biggest crowd ever seen at a football match. baseball. That happened on March 29, 2008 and, as you can guess from that date, it was an exhibition. But what an exhibition. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, they played in Boston at the Los Angeles Coliseum. There were 115,300 fans on hand.
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It was an exhibition. Can you imagine the fury that will be unleashed around a tension and – yes, we will say it – controversial World Series? This could be the emerging rivalry that baseball needs. The next 10 days will decide if we are on this path.
"You have two of the best organizations in every sport that face each other," said Manny Machado, the Dodgers' short-stop, which Fenway fans do not really appreciate. "The cities have a history with basketball, but it was a little before my time.You have two excellent teams that got on badly this year to qualify for the World Series.It will definitely be a good one. "
Boston and Los Angeles have had parallel lives as flagship franchises for 60 years now. There are connective tissues, personalities who worked for both franchises. Nobody touched 100 circuits for both franchises. Reggie Smith came closest, falling three lobster L.A. short. Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez and Adrian Beltre are top players who have played at least one full season for both teams. Pedro Martinez came with the Dodgers but enjoyed the glory of the Expos and Red Sox. There have been others.
More timely is that the two managers of the series have played for both teams. This has never happened before. And they are good friends. Alex Cora and Dave Roberts were teammates in Los Angeles when Roberts was transferred to Boston in 2004. Roberts' career in the Red Sox allowed a pinch runner to win the most sustainable glory ever. On Monday, Cora, who is one of five players to have participated in at least 300 games for both clubs, entertained reporters with a false jealousy of Roberts' position in Beantown.
"You never know who will take the lead or who will play the defense or who will play the defense that can be the hero," said Cora. "Dave Roberts in 2004. He came here, he stole this base against the Yankees, and the rest belongs to the story.Now he comes here and he earns a lot of money by signing autographs. I know it's "The biggest stolen base in the game's history."
There is of course a long-standing sports rivalry between cities, although it has little to do with hardball and all things hardwood. If you access rivalry search on basketball-reference.com, the default setting is Celtics and Lakers. This will happen when the teams have played 74 games in the finals of the NBA against each other.
It would be nice if Larry Bird was a minority owner of the Red Sox, like Magic Johnson with the Dodgers, but that's not the case. Larry Bird's closest connection to baseball is that he shares a birthday with Johnny Bench and Kyle Hendricks. But a postponement effect of this former NBA rivalry is that it was in Boston in the early 1980s that the "Beat L.A.!" the song began.
"I hope that they would not have started this," said Justin Turner of the Dodgers. "It's annoying everywhere we go."
The Celtics and Lakers have not met for one title for more than eight years, and unless LeBron James works miracles in a year or two in Los Angeles, this drought will probably last at least a decade. That means it's the perfect chance for the Red Sox and the Dodgers to renew the composure of cross-country racing in a whole new environment.
Why does this meeting arouse so much aesthetic interest? You can not say for sure, but there is something about the icons involved in the pairing. Think of the Platonic version of a Dodgers game. Pick a time – Koufax, Sutton, Hershiser, Kershaw – and whatever, you're probably thinking of a starting pitcher. It's the same. It's a sunny afternoon at Dodger Stadium, with mountains in the background and swaying palms. Wine Scully calls the game its silky voice. The uniforms are white and the timeless script of the Dodgers spreads in blue on all the jerseys.
Now, let's go to the Red Sox. You probably think of the left field, not just because of the green monster, but because of the players who were placed in front of him. Duffy Lewis, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Greenwell Mike, Manny-be-Manny and, now, Andrew Benintendi. It's probably a greyish afternoon, and Jerry Remy's unmistakable Boston accent accentuates the action. The uniforms are white, with the old letters in red.
Face it: This series presents some of the most timeless images and play venues of American sport. And we manage to mix everything and scramble it: the Red Sox work in front of the palm trees, Justin Turner aiming at the Green Monster.
"When you think of the two legendary franchises," said Rich Hill, Dodgers star, a native of New England who grew up engaging for the Red Sox, "and two of the biggest markets – not just baseball , but of all sports – It's going to be great for the sport, and for the fans too, I think people will just enjoy the exacerbated emotions that will come out of this World Series, but also the historical past of both organizations . "
Hill, who also backed the Celtics and Bruins in their youth, admitted that "probably at some point," he could have joined a "Beat L.A.!" song.
In landlocked areas of the baseball world, not everyone agrees with some of these feelings. Some see this as a series of bullets – two words, not like the book, because it is about green things, not the intelligent deployment of a quantitative analysis. It is certainly true that Boston and Los Angeles are two major markets, with the Red Sox leading the payroll and the Dodgers third. We can stipulate that these things are true.
But if you focus on baseball – top talent, strategic intrigue, the historical nature of franchises, venerable gaming – this series has it all.
"The Celtics and Lakers, of course, will tie that to baseball," said Matt Kemp, who will be DH for the Dodgers in the first game against Chris Sale. "That's what it is, Boston is passionate about his sport, and LA is really passionate about his sport, it will be exciting, it will be noisy, it will be interesting, two great teams." I can not wait. " "
Much has been written about the nature of this game for the first time, perhaps because it sounds so wonderful that since the Dodgers arrived in Los Angeles in the 60 seasons, these two well-known brands have not met during the Fall Classic. But here they are, and for all practical purposes, they meet on an equal footing.
Repeat this because many of the questions posed to the Dodgers since they won the National League pennant in Milwaukee concerned the entry into the World Series as underdogs. From the point of view of Vegas / Paris, it's true. The chances in these markets are what they are. But make no mistake: these teams are of virtually equal quality. You can indicate the total number of club wins in the regular season and start deferring, but these numbers are very contextual and each adjustment brings teams closer together:
"It's a bit of a role reversal for us," said Roberts, amusing himself with the outsider status of his team. "These are the high-wage and high-wage Red Soxs, and for us, being the type to play is a good thing for us.
"I like the role of underdog.I know everyone in our club does not see it as a cherry on the cake.It's our goal since last year to win a World Series." It's a good club out there, but we're like our guys, it's going to be a good one, they're going to get everything we have. "
The Red Sox led the majors with 877 points, while the Dodgers scored 804 to finish fifth. L.A. granted only 610 points (second in the majors) to 648 in Boston (sixth). The net was over-229 for Boston, ranked second and over-194 for Los Angeles, third. The expected gains from these differentials were 103 for the Red Sox and 101 for the Dodgers. Already, the number of actual victories of Boston against the 16 matches is practically over, and that is before you take into account the landscape of the American League sown with reenactments of teams.
The first game of the series will be a rare treat: two real ace in the strength of their career face each other in a confrontation between pitchers in the old.
Two of the great left-handers of our time face Fenway in the first match of the 2018 Fall Classic. What's going to make a victory?
From the Wild Cards round to the World Series, we'll be covering the 2018 playoffs.
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The main reason for this gap was the performance in tight games. Boston went 42-21 in games decided by two points or less; Los Angeles was 37-42. The general opinion is that the true quality of the teams is better represented in the erupting parts. Well, both teams played 21 games over .500 in games decided by at least five points. Only Houston was better.
So do not get carried away by a discussion about the favorites and the overlooked regarding this series. The Red Sox could be considered as slightly favored because all these victories gave them an advantage on their field for the series. Beyond that, it's a tight match between two powerful teams and a series that promises to be deep.
"Obviously, these are two of the most important teams on the market," said Dodgers second baseman Brian Dozier. "The story behind the two, I think America wants it for a long time.Other teams want the same thing, but me, I'm in the American League for a long time, I look at the Dodgers , their story and other things, having the chance to wear the Dodger uniform is really important, it's not just another team, and obviously Fenway's success speaks for itself. . "
All of this means that if the show runs as it should, it's a golden opportunity for one of the featured players to add signature touches to his career resume. And between the Red Sox and the Dodgers, the power of the stars is not lacking.
According to fWAR over the last three seasons – the players who have been the best of the best – eight of the top 50 players are in the Red Sox and Dodgers: Mookie Betts, Machado, Turner, JD Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Dozier, Ian Kinsler and Jackie Bradley Jr. Among the pitchers, seven participants are in the top 50: Chris Sale, Clayton Kershaw, Rick Porcello, David Price, Hill, Kenta Maeda and Alex Wood. The two lockers, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, rank among the top five picks.
These teams are stacked.
"It should be huge," said Betts. "I guess that should add some buzz to the fans, they have a lot of fans, we have a lot of fans, it will be good for baseball, of course."
The scenarios will multiply as difficulties over the next few days. Here is one: time. The maximum temperatures in Boston this week range from 40 to 50 years old. In Los Angeles this weekend, the thermometer should break 90 degrees a few times. Try to pack your bags for a trip like this.
But before entering the subplots, assumptions and real-time responses to future actions, let's take a moment to appreciate what lies ahead. That's Dodgers vs. Red Sox. Dodger Stadium vs. Fenway Park. East coast against west coast. Hot versus cold. Dave friend against friend Alex.
Finally, it's Boston versus Los Angeles, with a basketball in sight, for the first time. This is a chapter in the history of baseball history that has been missing for far too long. Finally, we can start writing it.
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