Commentary: Yankees-Dodgers is charming, obnoxious and a baseball dream

LOS ANGELES – Shohei Ohtani stood on the infield grass, delighted to be in disbelief. He put both hands over his head. He smiled like he seldom does, and as he kept showing his teeth, you could’ve mistaken the 30-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers superstar for a child who had learned a new skill.

Look at what Ohtani can do now: He knows how to get to the World Series. He knows how to bask in team success. He’s not just an MVP who can do all things, except lead a team deep into October. On Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, he wore his hat backward and pulled a gray T-shirt over his broad shoulders. In blue and white letters, it read: “National League Champions.”

As usual, a hive of cameras and microphones swallowed Ohtani, but for a change, he acted like he didn’t notice the crowd. He was so light he could have levitated.

Let him float all the way to the World Series.

“It’s the place that I’ve dreamt of playing all my life,” Ohtani told Fox Sports before escaping to the clubhouse to shower in champagne and beer.

The dream-makers are really showing off right now. It would have been exciting enough to await Ohtani, the best player in baseball, stepping onto the sport’s grandest stage for the first time. But on the other side, prolific home run artist Aaron Judge is a World Series rookie, too. And most irresistible of all, two iconic brands – the Dodgers and New York Yankees – are meeting in a World Series for the first time in 43 years.

“I think the whole world was looking for, or hoping for, this potential matchup,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers pounded the New York Mets, 10-5, in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. “This showdown, it’s going to be great.”

Well, the whole world is presumptuous, but such arrogance is part of the charm – and annoyance – of this matchup. Dodgers-Yankees won’t generate much indifference. They’re both easy to love or hate. But they’ll be impossible to ignore because of their history and star power that also includes Juan Soto, a reborn Giancarlo Stanton, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman if healthy.

“Playing for the Dodgers against the Yankees, it’s pretty surreal,” said Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman, the NLCS MVP. “It’s a dream come true, for sure.”

Ohtani and Betts played fantastic in the NLCS. Edman, on the other hand, was otherworldly. He hit .407 in the series and drove in 11 runs, tying Corey Seager’s playoff franchise record. In Game 6, Edman had two extra-base hits and drove in four runs.

The unlikely clean-up hitter came through, proving to be another shrewd trade deadline acquisition for a franchise that does an exemplary job evaluating talent in all areas of the roster.

“I never imagined once we acquired him that he’d be hitting fourth in a postseason game,” Roberts said. “But I trust him. The guys trust him. He’s made huge defensive plays for us and had huge hits. So I’m just very fortunate to have a player like Tommy.”

Ohtani appreciates the well-rounded team he has with the Dodgers. That’s why he left the Los Angeles Angels and negotiated a novel, record-breaking $700 million contract that included $680 million in deferred money. He wanted to play for a resourceful team. While no one likes to praise the resilience of big-spending squads, the Dodgers have withstood extreme injury turbulence this season, particularly to the starting rotation, because they do more than throw money at their roster. They invest thoroughly. Andrew Friedman, the president of baseball operations, leads a staff that utilizes every roster-building avenue. The Dodgers draft and develop. They make good international signings. They make aggressive trades. So when they open their wallet, they aren’t finding mercenaries to erase their mistakes. They’re pursuing rare talent to add to an established culture.

Ohtani stands out, and he fits in. He’s a Dodger. And after failing to make the playoffs his first six seasons with the Angels, he is realizing his competitive dreams.

“The goal was to get this far,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I also pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I’ve signed. And, again, just being able to play on this kind of stage with the team effort, and all the games were really hard. But I’m just glad that we’re at this stage right now.”

In baseball, greatness is often inadequate because it doesn’t receive proper support. Ohtani should win the National League MVP, which would be the third MYP honor of his career. Judge should be named American League MVP for a second time. Both know how it feels to carry teams that fall short of expectations.

It has become rare for a regular season MVP to win the World Series. After Kirk Gibson did it with the Dodgers in 1988, it took 24 years before Buster Posey did the same for the San Francisco Giants in 2012. That started a cluster of MVP champions that decade: Kris Bryant with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, Jose Altuve with the Houston Astros in 2017, Betts with the Boston Red Sox in 2018. Assuming Judge and Ohtani indeed win the individual honors, this World Series is certain to see a 162-game MVP celebrating at the end.

Baseball is built around surviving disappointment. The theme often extends to the postseason, where expanded playoffs produce wonky results that sometimes undermine consistency in favor of tournament madness. It’s not always a reflection of what the long regular season really taught us. This World Series is the perfect matchup at the perfect time.

After the game Sunday night, I went down one side of the escalator toward the clubhouse. I looked up, and Dave Winfield was going up the escalator on the other side. I said hello. He grinned and nodded in acknowledgment. Winfield played for New York in the last Dodgers-Yankees World Series. That was 1981. Winfield is 73 now, though he barely looks it.

It’s been way too long, but on Friday, the teams will meet in the World Series for a 12th time. This one feels historically significant, even for these franchises.

Ohtani. Judge. Dodgers. Yankees. Every media organization in L.A., New York and Tokyo on the scene. No doubt, it’s a dream World Series.