LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers, who live in the shadows of Hollywood, love a hip party as much as anyone.
It’s Tinseltown baby, where the stars come out at night, and party until daylight.
In New York, the City That Never Sleeps, the folks are busily planning their own ultimate extravaganza, featuring their two baseball teams playing in the World Series.
The New York Yankees vs. the New York Mets — the Subway Series.
“It’d be an unbelievable experience,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza says. “For the city of New York and for the two fanbases, it’ll be like a dream come true.’’
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Says Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo: “I don’t even know what the city would do. Man, it would almost just explode. It would be amazing, so definitely, if it comes to that point, we will enjoy the heck out of it. It would be an amazing time to be in the city and to be a part of these two organizations and see who wins.”
Well, before anyone gets carried away with the party planning, the Dodgers would like to interject their own feelings on the subject.
“We’ll gladly ruin that Subway Series idea,’’ Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips said.
No offense, but the Dodgers are planning to do everything possible to be the ultimate party poopers and end the New York Mets’ Cinderella season beginning Sunday night. The Dodgers host the Mets in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series (8:15 p.m. ET, FOX) at Dodger Stadium.
It’s the first time these two teams have met in the NLCS since 1988, the last time the Dodgers won the World Series in a full season.
The Dodgers have no control over the New York Yankees, who will take on the Cleveland Guardians beginning Monday at Yankee Stadium in the ALCS, but they can surely do their part to ruin half of the parlay.
“We know everyone in New York would love that Subway Series,’’ said Dodgers center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, “but sorry, we’re going to do everything in our power to make them fly cross-country to come watch us.’’
MLB has dreamed of a New York-Los Angeles World Series for the past 40 years.
The Shohei Ohtani-Aaron Judge matchup would be the most iconic duel since the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird days.
The way Dodgers manager Dave Roberts figures it, why not make it a 2-for-1 special.
“I want to take on both New York teams,’’ Roberts told USA TODAY Sports. “That’d be perfect, right?’’
They can visit Queens on this trip in the NLCS, and then the Bronx next in the World Series.
Who can say no?
Well, except for the Mets, baseball’s hottest and most surprising team left in the postseason.
Really, the Dodgers' biggest challenge may simply be preventing a letdown after their emotional five-game series against the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, where the two teams openly vented their hatred towards one another.
The Dodgers took it personal that the majority of the media predicted the Padres would win the series, with Max Muncy and Enrique Hernandez not bothering to disguise their disgust.
“Eighty percent of the experts said we were going to (expletive) lose,’’ Muncy screamed in the Dodgers’ celebration. “(Expletive) those guys, we know what we are. We’re the (expletive) best team in baseball and we’re out there to prove it.’’
Said Hernandez: “We have a lot of 'F-U' in us. We have a lot of people, a bunch of grown men that want to win at all costs, no matter how it comes, no matter how it looks.’’
And, just in case the Dodgers need a reminder that they can’t afford to let up, no matter how much they may believe that the Padres might have presented their stiffest challenge in October, there’s an electronic monitor with a message that went up in the Dodgers' clubhouse.
“Job’s not finished."
Kobe Bryant.
“I do feel that our guys kind of can feel everyone picking everyone against us,’’ Roberts said, “and us being sort of an afterthought. I think we have a pretty good ballclub. So guys took it, rightfully so, personally.
“I think for us, it's continue to have that edge that we had, because these guys are playing really good baseball. They've got a good thing going as well and we can't let off the gas.
“I think we have a very talented team, but I still don't mind that kind of underdog, fighter mentality.’’
The Dodgers realize this isn’t the same Mets team that was 11 games under .500 in early June. It’s not the same team they pummeled the last four times they played, outscoring them 28-5. Francisco Lindor wasn’t an All-Star, let alone an MVP candidate.
It has been so long since these teams met that “OMG’’ was simply an acronym, Grimace was just a McDonald's fictional mascot, and pumpkins weren’t brought out until Halloween.
“I'll tell you this,’’ Roberts said, “they're a completely different team than we saw. They're playing considerably better. Lindor is back to being Frankie. They've just got a lot of confidence.
“So, we've got to play good baseball. We have to come with the same intensity, focus and energy that we had this last series.’’
Roberts believes that Ohtani, who went just 3-for-18 with 10 strikeouts since his Game 1 homer, will be much better now that he doesn’t have to face Padres starter Yu Darvish, his childhood idol.
He’s grateful for the rest that Freddie Freeman and shortstop Miguel Rojas have gotten while batting their injuries.
And they get to reset their rotation with Jack Flaherty starting Game 1, and likely Walker Buehler in Game 2 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Game 3.
They also will have a fresh bullpen after terrorizing the Padres, a group responsible for all but five of the 24 consecutive shutout innings they managed. Dodgers pitchers have yielded just a .131 batting average since the fourth inning of Game 3.
Blake Treinen, who closed out Game 5, even was able to get some sleep after flying to Walla Walla, Washington, after Game 4 to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby girl.
The Mets certainly don’t have a bullpen like the Dodgers', but possess a strong rotation (2.43 ERA in October) and can certainly create problems with their trio of lefties (Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana and David Peterson). The Mets will use them to potentially neutralize Dodgers left-handed hitters Ohtani, Freeman, Muncy and Gavin Lux.
And don’t forget that their ace, Kodai Senga, just returned to the Mets' starting rotation. He made only one start in the regular season with a strained shoulder, but was dominant in two innings against the Philadelphia Phillies and is scheduled to start Game 1.
“We just came off an emotional series,’’ Phillips said, “but that’s behind us. This organization has always been ready for whatever is in front of us. We’ve had a very calming presence about ourselves the entire year, getting through the lulls and getting everyone healthy.
“But what I’ve seen in this clubhouse in the postseason, there’s more edge to it. We’ve had guys who have experienced falling short, and nobody wants to fall short anymore.
“There’s definitely a different edge to the clubhouse, and believe me, we’ll be ready.’’
Besides, they’ve got their own party to plan.
“How about an old-school showdown?’’ Treinen said. “The teams in the two biggest major markets playing in the World Series? Or, why not Cleveland?
“We’re not picky. We’ll play anyone.’’
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