Under the impact of the death of Mexican Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the New York Yankees enlist for a World Series with the most renowned bombers in Major League Baseball.
From the first game on Friday, the reflectors will target Japanese Shohei Ohtani, American Aaron Judge, and Dominican Juan Soto, three of the four players with the most home runs of the season.
But the drums of toasters from both franchises, the two best in the regular phase, include other Latin American figures such as Venezuelan Gleyber Torres, Mexican-American Alex Verdugo, Puerto Rican Kike Hernández, or Cuban Andy Pages.
Also Read: Fernando Valenzuela Died at the Age of 63
Ohtani and Judge, the favorites to split the MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards this year will star in an explosive duel in the first World Series of their extraordinary races.
The Japanese, the sport’s great current phenomenon, wants to round out with the title a first season with the Dodgers full of hits and controversies.
Ohtani, 30, began the course in the eye of the hurricane for the trial against Ippei Mizuhara, his translator and personal friend, for seizing about $17 million from the baseball player to pay gambling debts.
The Japanese isolated himself from the controversy and began justifying the $700 million contract for a decade the Dodgers had to offer to take over the most special baseball player since Babe Ruth.
Ohtani finished the campaign with 54 home runs, only surpassed by Judge’s 58, and was the first to register more than 50 quadrangulars and 50 steals in a season, which practically secures his third MVP award.
If Ohtani competes in his first playoffs, after six years of late vacation with the Angels, Judge has lived numerous flares with the Yankees, who haven’t stepped on the World Series since 2009.
The 32-year-old California batsman has regained his relentless form this campaign by staying on only four home runs out of the 62 he accumulated in 2022, the American League’s all-time record.
In August, the Judge achieved another milestone by becoming the fastest player to reach 300 quadrangulars in the Major Leagues.
The Soto factor
If Ohtani is flanked by two other MVP winners, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, Judge counts alongside Juan Soto, the key piece for the resurrection of some Yankees who were left out of the postseason last year.
The 25-year-old Dominican already has experience in the World Series after his triumph with the San Diego Padres in 2019.
Landed this campaign in the Bronx, Soto set his personal home run record with 41, fourth in the overall standings, and has built himself on the new idol at Yankee Stadium.
Although the affection seems reciprocated, Soto will be free after the World Series and there will be no shortage of franchises that try to seduce him with monumental proposals.
Latin power
In addition to the Dominican, other Latin American balls will want to be present in the most anticipated World Series of recent times.
For the Yankees, Venezuelan Gleyber Torres will premiere in an Autumn Classic after some playoffs in which he has shone with 11 hits in nine games.
Next to him, Mexican-American Alex Verdugo, a former Dodgers player, will try to regain his form of the regular phase after discreet eliminations.
At the Dodgers, Puerto Rican Kike Hernandez, crucial to the triumph in the championship series against the Mets, chases the second title of his career in his fourth World Series while Cuban Andy Pages, 23, has been a defensive bulwark and a threat to bat with two quadrangulars and four hits in the playoffs.
