Two teams with storied history clash in Interleague play. It’s been 3 years since the Dodgers and Yankees played (2010 Series at Dodger Stadium). This is the first time the Dodgers will make a regular season visit to Yankee Stadium (New and Old Yankee Stadium that is) and the Dodgers first visit to the Bronx since the 1981 World Series. While many baseball fans are excited for this the expectations aren’t as high as we all thought they would be. The Dodgers are in last place in the NL West and both teams have been hit by injuries but regardless it’ll still be an interesting series in what will be the start of a Home and home 2 game each series.
Now when you at the current Yankees and Dodgers roster there’s very few connections between the two teams. We all know Don Mattingly is one of the Yankee greats but many also have to remember he was a coach under Joe Torre when they were both with the Yankees. Current players like Jerry Harriston Jr was a member of the Yankees 2009 World Series Championship team. Hiroki Kuroda, who is having another solid season with the Yankees, Was the Dodgers starting pitcher from 2008 to 2011. We all know Mattingly will get a good reaction from a lot of the Yankee fans in the Bronx. This game is also lacking the “Star Power” as many say with injuries to both teams BUT to many it’s Dodgers/Yankees so hey.
As far as the game goes this will be an important series for both teams. For the Dodgers this series along with the Padres series will determine a lot for the Dodgers and their NL West fate and for the Yankees they can move closer in the AL East standings. It’s June so games really do matter here. If the Dodgers want to pull of the win then they’ll need a good showing from their bats with runners in scoring position (RISP). Too many times in games where the Dodgers get guys on base and then their bats go completely missing. Also the Bullpen will need to not add fuel to the fire. That’s basically all I have to say on the Bullpen as I have nothing nice to say about them. The sense of urgency have to come here and be ready for a ball game. While playing at Yankee Stadium is an amazing thing along with being in New York City, They can’t afford to be in awe in the Stadium. You have to come ready to play baseball.
This is going to be a great series in my view. The Dodgers and Yankees twitter account already went back and forth with each other and many Dodger faithful made the trip to the Bronx. It will be a good series in New York. When the Yankees come to Los Angeles in July you can expect a good anticipation and hopefully some key players healthy as well. As for now just sit back and enjoy the Dodgers vs Yankees.
