$45k for a front row seat: MLB get its ’World Series of dreams’ with Yankees vs Dodgers

Major League Baseball has got the World Series of its dreams with two genuine titans of the sport meeting on the biggest stage for the first time in more than four decades.

It seems strange that the last time the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers met in a World Series was in 1981 given they have been two of the league’s most successful teams, but the wait is set to be worth it for baseball fans.

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And this year’s World Series promises to be full of drama when it begins on Friday (Saturday Australian time) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

There will be polarising discussions about the astronomical price tags of both squads, fans being priced out of tickets to the games, and parallels to history’s greatest moments as modern greats seek to etch themselves into baseball folklore.

Opposing fans love to hate the Yankees and Dodgers but there is no denying that two of the mightiest MLB franchises are box office entities and will deliver a riveting best-of-seven series.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MONEY

When New York and Los Angeles are involved, fortune follows.

Which spells bad news for the average baseball fan.

The cheapest ticket available for any of the games at Dodger Stadium is US$1,074 while Yankee Stadium was not a whole lot better with standing room passes for US$896 before fees and seats starting at US$981 before fees, according to the New York Post.

At other end of the range, a front row seat near the dugout will set you back an eye-watering $US30,000.

It is not surprising the two teams with the highest average attendances this season have such a high demand for World Series tickets.

Broadcasters are also licking their lips with total viewership tipped to surpass this year’s NBA finals – which had an average of 11.3 million people tune in each game. –

It is set to be a strong bounce back for the MLB from last year’s record low of 9.1 million average viewers watching the Texas Rangers claim their first World Series title by defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But pricing out many fans from attending the games is in some ways symbolic of what the Yankees and Dodgers have done to their MLB rivals.

They have each spent more than $US300 million assembling their squads this season to have the two biggest payrolls in the league when you factor out the New York Mets’ – who lost to the Dodgers in the National League Championship series – ‘dead money’ for players no longer on their roster.

The Yankees and Dodgers expenditure is well above the MLB average of US$167.5 million.

Between them, they possess the three highest-paid pitchers (Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers), as well as the two highest-paid hitters (the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Ohtani).

Meanwhile Yankees free agent Juan Soto could become the league’s highest earner when he signs his next contract.

Japanese sensation Ohtani boasts that mantle currently after he signed a ten-year, US$700 million contract with the Dodgers earlier this year.

Ohtani’s contract is truly bizarre however as he will be paid US$2 million annually until 2034 before receiving US$68 million annually for the following ten years in deferred payments.

The unusual arrangement showcases the financial power baseball’s heavyweights possesses, however.

The Yankees and the Dodgers have three players apiece on contracts worth more than US$300 million.

In comparison, the MLB had five teams who spent less than US$100 million on their total squad this season including the creators of ‘Moneyball’ the Oakland Athletics who spent the least in the league with $US63 million.

They are the sorts of astronomical sums that are tough to compete with.

There is no salary cap nor is there a salary floor – a minimum amount of money spent on player salaries – in the MLB.

Introducing financial restrictions has been an ongoing debate for many years.

Naturally, the rich and powerful teams are against it while the battlers repeatedly call for measures to help them out.

Wealth will surely be a regular talking point as the rest of the baseball community watches the Yankees and Dodgers slug it out for the World Series.

WHO WILL BE THE STARS?

Speaking of money, those who earn lots of it are expected to make the World Series stage their own.

Yankee Aaron Judge and Dodger Shohei Ohtani are the two highest-paid hitters in the league and now is the time to live up to their price tags.

They are highly fancied to win the MVP for the National League and the American League respectively, but neither have played in a World Series before.

The fact the game’s biggest stars, two almost certain future Hall of Famers, are unknown quantities on the biggest stage makes things all the more interesting.

Judge, who is nicknamed ‘The Bronx Bomber’, is the fastest player to 300 home runs in league history and he has walloped 58 of them so far this season.

But he has been a little down on his lofty heights during the playoffs so far.

He has hit two runs and walked seven times in the post-season, but 13 strikeouts have been below his usual standards.

The Yankees hopes are underpinned by him returning to his regular season dominance.

Likewise, for Ohtani and the Dodgers.

The Japanese sensation will have the spotlight firmly fixed on him when he steps up the plate with a huge television audience in his home country expected throughout the series.

They simply adore the 30-year-old nicknamed ‘Shotime’ and it is easy to see why when he is arguably the most dynamic player in the league.

He has smashed a career best 54 homes run this season while playing as a designated hitter because of a ligament injury in his elbow has stopped him from pitching at all this season.

There had been speculation in recent days that Ohtani may return to the mound as a relief pitcher during the World Series, but Dodgers officials quickly shut down.

Instead, he can continue to focus purely on his batting which some critics have found a little underwhelming during the playoffs as he has had a few outs when the bases were empty.

But he still has three home runs, ten runs batted in, 11 walks and 12 runs in 11 postseason games.

Another player who brings undeniable star power is Soto.

The 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic hit a clutch three-run homer in the tenth innings with two outs which put the Yankees into the World Series with a game five win against the Cleveland Guardians.

He even had the showmanship to reveal in an interview afterwards that he told a friend that he was ending the series that night.

Coupled with the ongoing speculation surrounding the free agent signing a record-breaking contract for next season and it is clear the spotlight will be shining brightly on Soto.

He has been on this stage before however as in just his second season in 2019, he won the World Series with the Washington Nationals.

That series he truly announced himself to the league by leading the champions in home runs, hits, walks and runs scored.

As a result, Soto was the co-winner of the Babe Ruth Award – given to the player with the best postseason performance – alongside pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

HISTORY OF THE YANKEES/DODGERS RIVALRY

It is undeniable that the financial might of the Yankees and Dodgers has been built off legacy.

The Yankees have won more World Series titles than any other with a mind-blowing 27 – 16 more than the next best Cardinals.

The Dodgers meanwhile are sixth all time with seven World Series crowns of their own.

The two were neighbours until the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles in 1958.

They also boast many of the most famous names in baseball amongst their alumni.

Think Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe Di Maggio and Derek Jeter for the Yankees.

The Dodgers also possess plenty of legends with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Sandy Coufax, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully and Duke Snider spanning across both their Brooklyn and Los Angeles eras.

Before the Dodgers headed west, they met eight times in the World Series.

The Yankees undeniably asserted themselves as the dominant big brother by winning on seven of those occasions.

The foundations for both teams becoming modern day giants were laid during the 1950s when they met four times in the World Series.

The flow on effect of their popularity is that today, you could walk through any major city in the world, and you are likely to spot several Yankees and Dodgers caps.

Both teams’ legion of celebrity fans has popularised wearing the team’s merchandise, and sport stores can expect another sales boost as they face off for a record 12th time in a World Series.

But success has not come as they would have hoped in recent times.

More often than not, both sides have featured in the playoffs and been contenders, but the ultimate prize has been somewhat elusive.

The Dodgers won the World Series in 2020, but fans lament the fact it came during a Covid pandemic impacted season, and many regard it as having an asterisk next to it because LA prevailed in a 60-game season rather than the usual 162-game marathon.

Their last triumph in a non-reduced campaign came back in 1988.

The Yankees on the other hand have not won a World Series title since 2009 – which was their second crown of this millennium and the last time they featured in a World Series.

Those records create urgency for both teams who are very familiar with winning to taste more success.

Either way that hunger will create another brilliant chapter in a storied rivalry.