2024 MLB World Series: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge headline Dodgers-Yankees matchup — Preview, schedule, how to watch
Two of baseball's most storied and world-renowned franchises face off in the 2024 'Fall Classic', each with its own band of superstars. Here's what to know about the series, which begins on Friday (25 October).
Baseball Softball
The 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) post-season reaches its resounding climax beginning this week as two of the sport's most storied franchises, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, face off in the 2024 World Series.
Spearheading the two teams in this year's 'Fall Classic' are the hot favourites to win their respective leagues' Most Valuable Player awards: Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
The best-of-seven series begins on Friday (25 October) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and could run until Saturday 2 November, when a potential Game 7 is scheduled.
Here's what to know about the matchup.
Shohei Ohtani hits a home run off Jose Quintana in Game 4 of the 2024 National League Championship Series.
LA Dodgers and NY Yankees: Two star-studded teams
There's no doubting that Ohtani and Judge are the biggest names playing in this year's World Series.
Ohtani has broken all kinds of records as a two-way player – someone who both hits and plays in the field as well as pitchers – since he joined the MLB from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball in 2018.
This year, elbow surgery reduced – if you could even use that word to describe his performances – Ohtani's role to designated hitter, meaning the Japanese star hasn't pitched all year.
But that hasn't stopped Ohtani from re-writing the record books, becoming the first man in modern MLB American League or National League history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.
In fact, the ball from Ohtani's 50th home run of the season sold at auction on Tuesday for a reported U.S. $4.392 million dollars, making it supposedly the highest sale price for a ball item of sports memorabilia.
Ohtani's chase for the milestone captivated viewers not just across the United States and Canada but also his native Japan, which has followed his record-setting Major League career with interest.
Despite not pitching, the two-time unanimous MVP in the American League with his previous team, the Angels, led the National League in runs scored (134), home runs (54), runs batted in (130), on base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.646), on-base-plus-slugging (1.036), and total bases (411) this season. It's no surprise he's expected to win his first MVP in the NL this year.
Meanwhile, Judge has bounced back from a relatively quiet 2023 in style. His 58 home runs not only led the AL, but all of the MLB – alongside MLB-best numbers in RBI (144), walks (133), on base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701), and OPS (1.159), plus an AL-high 392 total bases.
This will be the first time in World Series history both teams feature a player who hit 50 or more home runs that season, according to MLB.
The Yankees outfielder has, however, had a quiet 2024 postseason so far, slashing just .161/.317/.387 (batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage) compared to Ohtani's .286/.434/.500.
Both teams are also stacked with superstars beyond the headline names of Ohtani and Judge.
They include past MVPs Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts on the Dodgers and Giancarlo Stanton on the Yankees, as well as big names including Yamamoto Yoshinobu (Dodgers), Juan Soto, and Gerrit Cole (Yankees).
The Dodgers also have extra motivation to win the title following the passing of the franchise's pitching icon Fernando Valenzuela on Tuesday aged 63. Valenzuela was a marquee name for the Dodgers in the 80s and one of the first Mexican MLB stars.
Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees – How they reached the World Series
Both teams enjoyed a successful regular season, finishing with the best records in their respective divisions and leagues, providing each team with a bye directly to the Division Series.
But despite owning the MLB's best regular-season record, the Dodgers very nearly did not make it this far in the postseason, needing a deciding Game 5 in the National League Division Series against their NL West divisional rival San Diego Padres to progress to the Championship Series.
There, they took six games to see off the Yankees' cross-town rivals, the New York Mets, to book their spot in the Fall Classic.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have had a smoother run through the postseason, dropping only two games.
They defeated the Kansas City Royals 3–1 in the American League Division Series, before clinching the AL pennant in the Championship Series 4–1 against the Cleveland Guardians.
Los Angeles Dodgers:
- Regular season record: 98–64 (1st in NL West, 1st in NL, 1st in MLB)
- Wild Card round: Bye
- Division Series vs San Diego Padres: 3–2 (won Game 1, 7–5; lost Game 2, 2–10; lost Game 3, 5–6; won Game 4, 8–0; won Game 5, 2–0)
- Championship Series vs New York Mets: 4–2 (won Game 1, 9–0; lost Game 2, 3–7; won Game 3, 8–0; won Game 4, 10–2; lost Game 5, 6–12; won Game 6, 10–5)
New York Yankees:
- Regular season record: 94–68 (1st in AL East, 1st in AL, 3rd in MLB)
- Wild Card round: Bye
- Division Series vs Kansas City Royals: 3–1 (won Game 1, 6–5; lost Game 2, 2–4; won Game 3, 3–2; won Game 4, 3–1)
- Championship Series vs Cleveland Guardians: 4–1 (won Game 1, 5–2, won Game 2, 6–3, lost Game 3, 5–7 [F/10]; won Game 4, 8–6; won Game 5, 5–2 [F/10])
World Series 2024 – MLB postseason schedule
Times listed in Pacific Time (PDT) and Eastern Time (EDT). UTC is EDT +4 hours and PDT +7 hours. Japan Standard Time is EDT +13 hours and PDT +16 hours.
How to watch 2024 World Series live
In the United States, FOX Sports (including FOX Deportes in Spanish) will carry every game of the World Series.
Fans in Canada can watch on Sportsnet in English and RDS and TVA in French.
Fans outside the United States and Canada can watch through MLB TV's postseason subscription plan, and through MLB International's global rights partners, including BBC Sport and TNT Sports in the United Kingdom, ESPN in Oceania including Australia and New Zealand, NHK and J Sports in Japan, and SPOTV in the Republic of Korea.
A full list of international broadcasters can be found on MLB.com. Check local listings for further details.