The Red Sox and Dodgers will square off tonight in the opening game of the Fall Classic. There isn’t that much history between the two clubs. In fact, they have opposed each other in the World Series just once before.
The Dodgers and Red Sox squared off in the Fall Classic way back in 1916. That was 102 years ago, making this the longest gap between World Series meetings in MLB history. The Dodgers played in Brooklyn back then and were known as the Robins.
The Brooklyn games were played at Ebbets Field and the Boston games were played at Braves Field, a larger venue than Fenway Park, which was just four years old at the time.
The Red Sox beat the Robins, 4 games to 1, to win the World Series. Brooklyn didn’t win a single game in Boston.
The two teams would not play again for 86 years, when the Red Sox visited Los Angeles from June 21-23, 2002, for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. I was there for all three contests. Unfortunately, Los Angeles swept the series.
Since inter-league play began in 1997, the Red Sox are 8-7 against the Dodgers. Boston hasn’t hosted LA since 2010, and the teams haven’t faced each other since 2016.
The Dodgers have beaten the Red Sox in Boston just once, on June 12, 2004. Interestingly, Alex Cora scored and drove in a run for the Dodgers during a 14-5 pummeling of the Red Sox.
Los Angeles is aiming for its first championship since 1988. The Red Sox are vying for their fourth championship in the past 15 years.
Not surprisingly, Boston is the favorite. The Red Sox were the best team in baseball this season, winning a franchise-record 108 games. LA finished with a 92-71 record and needed 163 games to make the playoffs.
This is the Series that MLB wanted. Both cities are top-10 US media markets; Los Angeles is No. 2, while Boston is No. 9, according to Nielsen.
These are also two of the most-storied franchises in all sports.
The Red Sox inaugural season was 1901, while the Dodgers can trace their history all the way back to 1884, as the Brooklyn Atlantics. The team would not be known as the Dodgers until the 1932 season.
In between, the team from Brooklyn was known as: the Bridegrooms (1888–1890); the Grooms (1891–1895), the Bridegrooms (1896–1898); the Superbas (1899–1910); the Trolley Dodgers (1911–1912); the Superbas (1913) and the Robins (1914–1931). In 1958, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.
The Dodgers won the World Series in 1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981 and 1988 (six times) and they've won the National League pennant a remarkable 23 times.
The Boston franchise was a baseball powerhouse a century ago. The team won its first World Series in 1903, just two years after its inception. Back then, the club was known as the Americans. At the time, there were just eight teams in each league and the only time the opposing leagues played each other was in the World Series.
Boston again won the World Series in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916 and 1918, giving the franchise four championships in seven years and six in a span of 16 seasons. The team was baseball’s first juggernaut, before the Yankees reimagined what it was to be a dynasty.
Here we are, 100 years later, and the Red Sox are again vying to be the preeminent team of this century. Since the start of the millennium, Boston has won three World Series crowns (2004, 2007, 2013), while the Giants have also won three titles (2010, 2012, 2014). The Cardinals (2006, 2011) and the Yankees (2000, 2009) have each won two championships this century.
The Red Sox greatest strength this season may be its offense, which led the majors in virtually every major statistical category.
When the playoffs began, the biggest question the Red Sox faced was their bullpen. How would manager Alex Cora bridge the gap from the five or six innings his starters might give him to get to closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth. However, it turned out that Kimbrel was the biggest concern.
The usually reliable closer gave up at least one run in each of his first four postseason appearances against the Yankees and Astros, which was a first in his career. In that span, Kimbrel yielded six hits, five earned runs and five walks in 5⅓ innings.
Former Dodgers’ and Red Sox’ closer Eric Gagne informed Cora, his close friend, that Kimbrel was tipping his pitches. After making some corrections, Cora believes that Kimbrel will now be back to his usual, brilliant self.
“I’m sorry Boston that I gave quite a few of you heart attacks the last few days," Kimbrel said. “But we’re all good now."
We’ll know if that’s true by the end of this week.
Predication: Red Sox in six games.
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