By the time game 1 of the World Series starts Friday night, the defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, will have had a full week's rest after sweeping away the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series. The Toronto Blue Jays, in the Fall Classic for the first time since they last won the title in 1993, will have had just 3 days rest, after eliminating Seattle on Monday.
When the teams met during the regular season, Toronto won 2 of 3, but, back then, the Dodgers weren't at full strength like they are now. The Dodgers' goal now is to send Clayton Kershaw off to retirement with another ring, and be the first team since the Yankees (1998-2000) to go back-to-back.
The 518 factor: This refers not only to Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman, a graduate of Shaker High, but also ex-Tri-City Valleycats George Springer (Toronto) and Enrique "Kike" Hernandez (Los Angeles). Sports bars throughout the region will be tuned in, with at least 1-2 sets showing the game, the alternatives being hockey, basketball, and college football.
Repeat, revenge, or both: As noted, Toronto won the regular season series, and has the home field for the World Series. If the NLCS taught us anything, the Dodgers now have a lethal starting rotation, with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, NLCS MVP Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Add Ohtani's bat to the mix, on offense, with the likes of ex-Blue Jay Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, and Toronto pitching will be up against it. Again, this is not the same Dodger team that Toronto beat earlier in the season. Toronto used starters Kevin Gausman & Chris Bassitt out of the bullpen Monday, but bank on one or both starting in this series.
Fox announcer Joe Davis is also one of the Dodgers' play-by-play voices, but don't look for him to be a "homer". His Milwaukee counterpart, Brian Anderson, put team loyalty aside in the NLCS, calling the games for TBS, and Davis has done the same when the Dodgers have been on Baseball Night in America.
Even though he's not related to the actor-singer that shares his name, Toronto manager John Schneider might want to book a trip to Hazzard County after the series.
The pick: Los Angeles in 5.
Of course, I could be wrong.
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