THE 2024 WORLD SERIES: A SPECIAL CLASSIC

The 2024 World Series promises to be a global spectacle as two iconic teams face off, with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge headlining the matchup.

Dodgers man­ag­er Dave Roberts expressed his enthu­si­asm, not­ing that fans from the U.S. to Japan are eager­ly await­ing this clash of baseball’s biggest stars.

“This World Series will be spe­cial,” Roberts told reporters at Dodger Sta­di­um before Game One. “With our two renowned orga­ni­za­tions, it’s going to be watched around the world. It’s unique, and it’s a moment for base­ball.”

Ohtani, already a nation­al hero in Japan, made his­to­ry this sea­son as the first play­er to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, cre­at­ing MLB’s inau­gur­al 50/50 club. Japan­ese fans fol­lowed his jour­ney close­ly, and mil­lions tuned in when the Dodgers faced the Padres ear­li­er this month, mak­ing it Japan’s most-watched MLB post­sea­son game to date.

The Dodgers’ ros­ter is glob­al­ly diverse, with Domini­can slug­ger Teoscar Her­nan­dez and Puer­to Rican infield­er Enrique Her­nan­dez. The Yan­kees bring inter­na­tion­al tal­ent as well, includ­ing Venezue­lan Gley­ber Tor­res and Bahami­an Jazz Chisholm.

The Dodgers will hon­or the mem­o­ry of Mex­i­can pitch­er Fer­nan­do Valen­zuela, a key fig­ure in their 1981 World Series vic­to­ry over the Yan­kees, with spe­cial patch­es fea­tur­ing his name and num­ber, 34. Valenzuela’s con­tri­bu­tions helped expand the Dodgers’ fan­base in Mex­i­co, and his lega­cy con­tin­ues to shape the team’s iden­ti­ty.

With the Dodgers and Yan­kees meet­ing for the 12th time in World Series his­to­ry, and the first since 1981, Roberts antic­i­pates a record-break­ing audi­ence: “More eyes will be on this World Series than any in his­to­ry,” he pre­dict­ed.