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The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are headed back to the World Series — and they’ll do it as frequent foes. In fact, when the two teams meet up at Dodger Stadium Friday to kick off this year’s version of things, it will be the 12th time the two storied franchises will face each other in the Fall Classic.
Given their legacies, this may not come as a surprise. The 2024 matchup will see some of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars go head to head, including Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Mookie Betts. They’ll begin their story Friday. For now, let’s look back at the most common World Series meetings.
Most common World Series matchups
Yankees vs. Dodgers
Occurrence: 12 times (including 2024)
Result: 8-3 Yankees
Most recent matchup: 1981
Again, the entire premise for this list is the impressive history between these two clubs. This year marks their 12th meeting and the Yankees have a heady jump on their pairing. They first matched up in 1941, when the Bronx Bombers took the series against the then-Brooklyn Dodgers 3-2. Don Larsen threw his perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, which the Yankees went on to win in seven games in the final meeting of the franchises before the Dodgers moved west. Other highlights include a dominant 1963 sweep in which the Dodgers held the lead the entire time and Reggie Jackson’s iconic 1977 Mr. October show in which he slugged three home runs off three pitches in Game 6 to hand the Yankees their first championship since 1962. In their most recent matchup, 1981, the Yankees broke out early to take a 2-0 series lead before the Dodgers stormed back to win the next four games.
Yankees vs. Giants
Occurrence: 7 times
Result: 5-2 Yankees
Most recent matchup: 1962
As with the Dodgers, this was once a Subway Series for the Yankees. In fact, the two teams shared the Polo Grounds when they first matched up in 1921 (the Giants won the series 5-3 in the last best-of-nine World Series). The duo saw each other for three consecutive Fall Classics from 1921-23, then back-to-back again in 1936-37. The 1951 meeting was their last before the Giants moved to San Francisco and included Bobby Thompson’s infamous Shot Heard ‘Round the World. Their first and only cross-country Fall Classic matchup was their most recent in 1962, when Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson snagged Willie McCovey’s line drive out of the air to save Game 7 and hand New York the series victory.
Yankees vs. Cardinals
Occurrence: 5 times
Result: 3-2 Cardinals
Most recent matchup: 1964
Here marks the first time a non-Yankees team has the upper hand. The Cardinals took their first World Series 4-3 in 1926 behind player-manager Rogers Hornsby. And yet the most memorable moment of that Fall Classic still came at the hands of the Yankees when Babe Ruth allegedly promised a sick boy in the hospital that he would hit a home run for him in Game 4. Ruth hit three that day. The legitimacy of that story has been questioned over the years, but this is how legends are born. The Yankees took their next matchup in 1928 and they traded series wins again in 1942 and 1943. The 1964 World Series, which the Cardinals won in seven, saw Yankees manager Yogi Berra fired at the conclusion of the series. That would also begin a 12-year drought for the Yankees, who would not make the World Series again until 1976 after appearing in 14 out of 16 since 1949.
Tigers vs. Cubs
Occurrence: 4 times
Result: 2-2
Most recent matchup: 1945
Hey look, a pairing without the Yankees! Detroit and Chicago began their rivalry in 1907, when the Cubs swept Ty Cobb and the Tigers in just the fourth World Series. A year later, they faced off again and the Cubs won again, taking down the Tigers in five games to win their second consecutive championship. That, of course, would be their last until 2016. The Tigers won it all in 1935 to secure the franchise’s first trophy in five appearances, then did it again in 1945. That final matchup introduced the Curse of the Billy Goat when Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis got kicked out of Game 4 alongside his pet billy goat Murphy and vowed that the Cubs “ain’t gonna win no more” (according to legend, at least). The Cubs, in fact, would not make the World Series again for 71 years before winning the NLCS from the Dodgers on Oct. 22, 2016, the 46th anniversary of Sianis’s death.
Athletics vs. Giants
Occurrence: 4 times
Result: 3-1 Athletics
Most recent matchup: 1989
Ironically, the first three meetings of these two teams took place between the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Giants, rather than the California neighbors they became (until the A’s move again). The clubs met in 1905, 1911, 1918 and 1989, with the Giants taking the first trophy and the Athletics winning the final three. That 1989 World Series was famously interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck just prior to Game 3. Miraculously, Candlestick Park suffered only minor damage, but new commissioner Fay Vincent delayed the series for 10 days while the region recovered. Sixty-three people died in what ended up being the first televised earthquake thanks to the sports broadcasts. Officials have credited that World Series with saving lives, as most people were off the roads when they collapsed.
Yankees vs. Braves
Occurrence: 4 times
Result: 3-1 Yankees
Most recent matchup: 1999
The Yankees and then-Milwaukee Braves split the 1957 and 1958 World Series, then didn’t meet again for almost 40 years before going head to head in 1996. That series saw the Braves take the first two games before the Yankees won the next four, which also made Bob Watson the first Black general manager to win a World Series. The Yankees swept the 1999 World Series to win their second consecutive title and third in four years. That would be the last time until 2013 that the No. 1 seeds from their respective leagues would face off in the Fall Classic.
Red Sox vs. Cardinals
Occurrence: 4 times
Result: 2-2
Most recent matchup: 2013
While 2004 was certainly the most famous of these four matchups, the rivalry started in 1946, when a young stud named Ted Williams returned from war. That series, won by the Cardinals in seven games, included Enos Slaughter’s Game 7 “mad dash,” which saw him run through his third base coach’s stop sign (according to legend, again) on a hit-and-run and caught Red Sox shortstop Johnny Pesky in a moment of hesitation. The Cardinals won again in seven in 1967, beating the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox led by Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski. The aforementioned 2004 World Series ended the Curse of the Bambino and handed Boston its first win since 1918. David Ortiz led the Red Sox to another win in 2013.
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