Anthony Gharib, ESPN
The 2024 World Series is here, featuring a star-studded matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
Two of baseball’s most storied franchises have faced off 12 times in the Fall Classic, the most played Major League Baseball postseason matchup of all-time.
The Yankees have won eight of the 11 series, including five straight from 1941 to 1953. However, the Dodgers won the most recent meeting in 1981 — and quite a bit has changed since then.
Here’s a look back at what the world was like the last time the Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series.
“Fernandomania” in full effect
Fernando Valenzuela took Major League Baseball by storm in his rookie season.
He amassed a 13-7 record across 25 starts, had a 2.48 ERA and a league-leading 11 complete games. Valenzuela ended up winning the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year award, becoming the only player to do so.
Down 2-0, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda sent Valenzuela to the mound for Game 3 and he delivered. Valenzuela threw a complete game and struck out six in a 5-4 win at Dodger Stadium, snapping momentum back to the Dodgers.
Sadly, the Dodgers announced Tuesday night that Valenzuela had died.
Managers nearing teens
Aaron Boone (Yankees) and Dave Roberts (Dodgers) are the men in charge of their respective ball clubs and their paths have crossed before.
They played baseball at rival colleges — Boone at USC, Roberts at UCLA. They also appeared in the World Series for rival teams one year apart — Boone with the Yankees in 2003 and Roberts with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
The similarities don’t end there — the last time New York and Los Angeles faced off in the World Series, Boone and Roberts were both in grade school.
“Arthur’s Theme” tops the charts
The 1981 comedy “Arthur” grossed $95 million domestically in 1981, the fourth-highest among all movies, but it also made its mark on the Billboard Hot 100.
The film’s main track, “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” finally reached the top spot of the chart the week of the World Series. Written by Christopher Cross, the song spent 24 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, three of which were in the top spot.
It also won Best Original Song at the 54th Academy Awards and 39th Golden Globe Awards — and has recently become a staple of “Yacht Rock” playlists.
Comparable to the present, the Celtics reigned supreme in the NBA, coming off a championship-winning season when the Dodgers and Yankees played in 1981.
Boston defeated the Houston Rockets in six games for its first of three championships that decade. Larry Bird averaged 15.3 points and rebounds each in his first NBA Finals. Cedric Maxwell averaged 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds, winning NBA Finals MVP honors.
Two days after the Dodgers won the championship, the Celtics raised their 14th banner against the Washington Bullets.
MTV officially launches
It’s difficult to think of the 1980s and not recall MTV, the iconic cable television channel that focused on music-related programming.
MTV launched just after midnight on August 1, 1981 with the music video for “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. As the decade went on, MTV proved influential in the music scene, playing a key role in the promotion of stars such as Michael Jackson, Prince and Duran Duran.
ESPN Research contributed to this story.
