Dodgers vs. Yankees in the World Series? It's more common than you think

The Fall Classic is set, and the matchup is a classic all right.

The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League pennant on Sunday, closing out the New York Mets in six games in the NL Championship Series.

That means that baseball fans are getting a dream matchup in the World Series.

For the 12th (yes, you read that right) time, the Dodgers will take on the New York Yankees in the World Series. Eight of the Bronx Bombers’ 27 titles have come from series against the Dodgers.

But if Dodgers fans from the Southland don’t want to claim some of those losses, they don’t have to. The first seven of those series were part of a crosstown rivalry, while the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.

Dodgers vs. Yankees in the World Series? It's more common than you think — Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto sails over the head of Dodger first baseman Jackie Robinson at second base in the first inning of the sixth game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, New York, Oct. 5, 1947. At left is Yankee second baseman George Stirnweiss. (AP Photo/Harry Harris)

For the most part, those series didn’t go well for the boys in blue. The Yankees took the first five of those series. But in 1955, led by the legendary Jackie Robinson, the Dodgers secured the first of the franchise’s seven World Series titles by defeating the Yankees in seven games.

That 1955 series opened in memorable fashion with one of Robinson’s iconic plays as he slid just under Yogi Berra’s glove to steal home in Game 1.

Brooklyn Dodgers third baseman Jackie Robinson (42) steals home and slides under catcher Yogi Berra’s mitt in the eighth inning of the World Series game opener at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y., Sept. 28, 1955. Pinch-hitter Frank Kellert (12) stands at bat as steal is made. Umpire Bill Summes calls Robinson safe. The New York Yankees beat the Dodgers, 6-5. (AP Photo)

Then, in 1958, the Dodgers moved across the country to Southern California, where they remain today. In their second year at Dodger Stadium in 1963, they faced the Yankees in the World Series once again, this time stomping on their former crosstown rival in a four-game sweep.

The final three times the matchup occurred was in a five-year span, with the Yankees taking two of the series. Both in six games, New York defeated L.A. in 1977 and 1978.

Los Angeles Dodgers runner Steve Garvey slides into third base safely, as New York Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles drops the ball in the fifth inning of World Series game 2 in New York, Oct. 21, 1981. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)

But in 1981, the most recent meeting until Game 1 of this year’s matchup on Friday, the Dodgers won their first title in 16 years in a six-game series over the Yankees. The Dodgers, led by Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager, won their first of four World Series in the 1980s, kicking off a dynasty.

Unidentified Dodgers embrace after they won Game 6 of the World Series, after losing the first two to the Yankees in New York, Oct. 28, 1981. (AP Photo)

Now, this upcoming matchup will look a little different. The Dodgers and Yankees both sport high powered offenses led by powerful bats like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, the likely MVPs in their respective leagues this season.

Will the Dodgers finish the job and claim World Series No. 8? Or will the Yankees look like the teams of old and collect trophy No. 28? Whatever the outcome, this series is set up to be a classic.

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