Yankees, Dodgers resume historic rivalry with 12th World Series meeting – starring Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani

Jackie Robinson stealing home.

Don Larsen’s perfect game.

Reggie Jackson becoming Mr. October.

Some of the most iconic MLB moments occurred during past World Series between the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who, at long last, are set to meet in the Fall Classic for the 12th time in the history of what was once an unrelenting interborough rivalry.

The Yankees’ ALCS win in five games over the Cleveland Guardians and the Dodgers’ NLCS victory in six games over the Mets set up the first World Series matchup between baseball’s two biggest juggernauts since 1981.

It’s the latest chapter in a Hall-of-Famer-filled feud that’s featured Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax and many other all-time greats.

And now, MLB’s biggest present-day stars are set to grapple for immortality, with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani fighting for their first rings while Juan Soto and Mookie Betts look to add to their jewelry collections.

“I think it’s great,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday. “I grew up with my dad [Bob Boone] in the ’70s and ’80s playing for the Phillies, who won a bunch of eastern division championships, and the Dodgers sent them home in back-to-back championship series … with the right to play the Yankees in the Fall Classic.

“That’s right in my wheelhouse, those teams in those days,” he said. “It’s definitely meaningful to me and not lost upon me.”

No two teams have faced each other in the World Series more often than the Yankees, who boast 27 championships, and the Dodgers, who own seven. The Yankees won eight of the previous 11 World Series meetings with the Dodgers, who still called Brooklyn home for the first seven of them.

Their World Series rivalry dates back to 1941, when a dominant rotation headlined by Red Ruffing led the Yankees past the Dodgers in five games.

The teams met again for an instant-classic 1947 series that went the distance, with DiMaggio homering twice during the seven games to help outlast a Brooklyn team starring Robinson in his first MLB season.

The Yankees ultimately won each of their first five World Series faceoffs with the Dodgers, with the next three coming in 1949, 1952 and 1953. Mantle hit a go-ahead home run in Game 7 of the ‘52 series, then homered twice and recorded seven RBI in ‘53 as the Yankees won in six games.

Brooklyn finally emerged victorious in a 1955 World Series featuring one of the most controversial plays in the history of the sport.

Long before instant-replay existed, Robinson stole home in the eighth inning of Game 1 against Yankees ace Whitey Ford. Home-plate umpire Bill Summers called Robinson safe on a feet-first slide past Berra, but Berra maintained for decades that he tagged out the speedy infielder.

The good-natured debate persisted every time Berra saw Robinson’s widow, Rachel Robinson, over the years, with the latter simply saying “safe” and the late Yankees catcher always replying “out.”

The Yankees won that game but lost the series in seven as the Dodgers clinched the first championship in franchise history.

The 1956 rematch was even more memorable. Larsen, an average pitcher for much of his career, hurled the first — and only — perfect game in MLB postseason history in Game 5, delivering the ultimate highlight on baseball’s biggest stage.

The Yankees went on to win that series in seven games, with Berra, who was on the receiving end of Larsen’s perfecto, homering twice in Game 7.

The teams would not meet again until the 1963 World Series, six years after owner Walter O’Malley moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles. The Dodgers swept that series, with Koufax holding down the Yankees in Games 1 and 4 and Don Drysdale delivering a shutout in a 1-0 victory in Game 3.

The 1977 World Series featured all-time hitting heroics by Jackson, who, in his first year with Yankees, homered five times in the six-game series victory, including three times in Game 6.

Jackson was similarly prolific in the 1978 rematch, hitting four home runs in that series to help the Yankees overcome a 2-0 deficit and win it six games.

Game 4 of that series was particularly dramatic, as shortstop Bill Russell’s throw on a double-play attempt hit a leaning Jackson in the hip after he stopped in the base path, allowing Lou Piniella to score. The play incensed Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, whose animated argument remains a lasting image.

But for all of that Yankees dominance, the Dodgers own the most recent bragging rights. They won the ‘81 series in six games, returning the favor from three years earlier by bouncing back from their own 2-0 deficit to do so.

“Just some legendary teams with Reggie and Thurman Munson and Willie Randolph and on and on, and the Dodgers with the stability they had with their infield of [Steve] Garvey, [Davey] Lopes, [Ron] Cey. Dusty [Baker] in the outfield,” Boone said.

“Just iconic teams, and East meets West. This is Dodgers-Yankees, Lakers-Celtics, whatever you want to say. It has that kind of feel to it, and I certainly remember those times and those teams very well.”

Baseball fans clamored in the subsequent decades for another iteration of Yankees-Dodgers, but it never aligned, even as both teams repeatedly invested in championship-caliber rosters.

The Yankees have not won — or appeared in — a World Series since 2009, while the Dodgers’ only championship since 1988 came in the neutral-site 2020 World Series after a COVID-shortened season.

The Dodgers and Yankees have faced each other sporadically in recent years, including in June for a much-hyped three-game series in the Bronx.

Los Angeles won two of those three games, including the opener in which Japanese rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto, an offseason target of the Yankees, hurled seven shutout innings.

Soto missed that entire series, however, with left forearm tightness.

“You could feel the buzz of Dodgers-Yankees,” Boone said Monday, reflecting on those three games.

“The series we had this summer with them felt like competitive, heavy, tough games.”

There’s no shortage of storylines in this year’s World Series.

Judge led the majors with 58 home runs this season, while Ohtani led the NL with 54, making this the first World Series to feature both leagues’ home run leaders since 1956 with Mantle and Snider, according to MLB.com.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is already an enemy among Yankees fans, having stolen a crucial base as a member of the Boston Red Sox against Mariano Rivera in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.

“You live to play in October baseball, and certainly this market is always fun,” Roberts said last week before facing the Mets at Citi Field in NLCS Game 3. “I loved beating that team across town.”

Stanton, the ALCS MVP after clubbing four home runs against Cleveland, grew up a Dodgers fan in Los Angeles.

And after starting his first MLB postseason with one home run in seven games, Ohtani broke out against the Mets, going 6-for-15 with two home runs, five RBI, six walks and seven runs in the final four games of the NLCS.

“I really feel like we finally arrived, I finally arrived at this stage,” Ohtani said after the Dodgers eliminated the Mets. “A lot of the games we played were really tough and hard to win, and it was truly a team effort to get here.”

He and Judge alternated AL MVP Awards when Ohtani was a member of the Los Angeles Angels, with the Japanese superstar winning the honor in 2021 and 2023 and Judge claiming the crown during his record-setting 62-homer campaign in 2022.

Judge hit two home runs with six RBI in the five games against Cleveland, while Soto hit three home runs — including the game-winning three-run shot in the 10th inning of Game 5.

“I’m looking forward to all of it,” Boone said of the World Series. “The stars will be out. The eyeballs will be watching. Hopefully, we can deliver on a great series.”