Will the ‘Super World Series (WS)’ between the New York Yankees vs. the LA Dodgers and Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Otay be successful

The Major League Baseball (MLB) will finish its regular season schedule on October 1st (Korea Standard Time), and the postseason will begin on the 2nd to determine the final champion.

In this season’s American League, the Yankees (94 wins and 68 losses) ranked first in the East Division and recorded the highest winning percentage, going straight to the Division Series (three out of five) as the No. 1 seed. Following the Yankees, the Central Division champion Cleveland Guardians took the second seed, and the Western Division champion Houston Astros took the third seed. The Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and Detroit Tigers, who rank first and third among wild cards, will then play in the fall baseball as the fourth and sixth seeds, respectively.

In the NL, the Dodgers topped the overall winning percentage of the two major league teams with 98 wins and 64 losses, securing the No. 1 seed. If the Dodgers win the WS, it will have the home advantage of playing four of the seven games at its home turf. After the Dodgers, the East Division champion Philadelphia Phillies took the second seed, and the Central Division champion Milwaukee Brewers took the third seed. The San Diego Padres, which confirmed the top wild card, took the fourth seed.

Two NL wildcard spots have yet to be determined. The result of a doubleheader between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves at 2 a.m. on Oct. 1 at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Mets and Atlanta will advance to the postseason by ranking second and third with wild cards, if they exchange one win each in a doubleheader. On the other hand, if a team loses both games, the team will be eliminated. Instead, the Arizona Diamondbacks will win the last train ticket.

The biggest interest is whether the Yankees and Dodgers, the top seeds in the two major leagues, will make it to the WS. The two teams used to be rivals in the region that shared their hometowns in New York. The Los Angeles Dodgers used to be called the Brooklyn Dodgers when it was in New York. Since then, the Dodgers has moved its headquarters from New York to Los Angeles, no longer having a sense of rivalry in the region, but its image as a rival still remains strong.

Yankees is a prestigious baseball team that has played the most games (40 times) and won the most titles (27 times). Including its time in Brooklyn, Dodgers entered the WS 21 times (second in total) and won the title seven times (sixth in total).

The two teams have also recorded the largest number of competitions (11 times) in the WS history. Among the 11th WS matches, the Yankees won eight times and the Dodgers won three times. The last WS that the two teams met was in 1981. At that time, the Dodgers beat the Yankees four times and lifted the trophy. The Dodgers lost the first and second games to the Yankees first, but then went down to win four consecutive games to achieve an upset victory.

In particular, baseball fans desperately want the Yankees vs. Dodgers this year for another reason. It is because superstars Aaron Judge (Yankees) and Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers), who represent the two teams, exist.

Judge hit 58 home runs and 144 RBIs, the most among batters in the entire Major League. Judge hit 62 home runs in 2022 to break the AL record of most home runs in 61 years, and although he narrowly missed the record of 60 home runs for the second time in his career, Judge has already reserved the AL MVP.

Ohtani, who retired from pitching due to elbow surgery in September last year and became the designated hitter, became the first player in MLB history to win the title of 50 homers and 50 steals. He updated his record until the end of the season, posting an outrageous record of 54 homers and 59 steals. Ohtani has also virtually won the NL MVP, ranking first in homers and RBIs (130), first in OPS (1.036) and second in batting average (0.310) and hits (197).

In order for the two teams to be on the WS as fans want, they need to overcome tough opponents. The most uncomfortable team for the Yankees is the Houston Astros, the “Autumn Baseball Taza” who won the League Championship Series for seven consecutive years until last year.

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