If you’re like me, you’re pretty damn bitter about Major League Baseball and its financial system.

Why am I bitter? I’m a Pirates fan, damn it! Being a Pirates fan means supporting a small-market baseball team in a sports league that, unlike the other three professional sports entities that help make up America’s Big 4, has never and may never adopt a salary cap. Not only am I a fan of a small-market baseball team, but that team happens to be owned by maybe the cheapest small-market owner, Bob Nutting, a man who would rather take a huge public relations hit to save $200,000–I’m referring to the release of first baseman Rowdy Tellez just a handful of at-bats away from qualifying for a contract incentive–than pay that money.

With that in mind, you may think I’m a prime candidate to boycott the 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, starting with Game 1 at Dodgers Stadium on Friday night. I know I should, but I’m not. I’m actually looking forward to this year’s Fall Classic and will tune in whenever work and my schedule allows it.

Why is a bitter baseball fan of a small-market team so excited about this year’s World Series between two franchises owned by people who will continue to do everything in their power to prevent a salary cap and ensure that they can go on spending money unchecked? (The two teams spent a combined $577 million on payroll in 2024.)

This is a historic rivalry, that’s why. These two organizations met a combined 11 times in the Fall Classic before this year, and most of those matchups occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, back when baseball was our unquestioned national pastime (unlike now when the NFL is king, and we just call baseball our national pastime out of a sense of nostalgia).

The Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series seven times between 1941 and 1956. The Dodgers were in Brooklyn in those days, which meant that not only was baseball America’s pastime, but New York was the mecca of the sport. And the Bronx Bombers were the unquestioned “big brothers” of baseball in the Big Apple, winning six of seven matchups before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

Think of the baseball royalty that took part in those seven World Series. You’re talking about legends like Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges and Duke Snider.

Just to name a few.

Speaking of baseball royalty, pitcher Sandy Koufax helped lead the Dodgers to a four-game sweep over New York in the 1963 World Series. Los Angeles would win the World Series again in 1965 and the National League pennant in 1966 before fading into the background for the better part of a decade. The same could be said for the Yankees, who fell on some hard times in the mid-60s and had a bit of trouble navigating baseball’s expanded postseason field which started in 1969 and required a team to win its division and then play another division winner for the right to go to the World Series.

But the two organizations were strong again by the mid-1970s, just in time to meet in the World Series in 1977 and again in 1978.

Now, the managers–the Dodgers’ Tommy Lasorda and the Yankees’ Billy Martin–were household names and superstars in their own right. But the teams boasted plenty of player star-power, including Steve Garvey, Dusty Baker, Graig Nettles, Thurman Munson, and, oh yes, Mr. October, Reggie Jackson.

Jackson solidified his reputation as a postseason legend when he hit three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series to help clinch the first championship for the storied organization since 1962.

The two clubs ran it back the following year, and New York walked away with another 4-2 series win and a second-straight title.

Ironically enough, when the two franchises met again for all the marbles in 1981, the postseason format was a lot like it is now and included multiple rounds just to make it to the World Series. This was the result of a mid-season strike that forced the league to name a first and second-half winner for each division, leading to an extra best-of-five “divisional” round before the best-of-five League Championship Series.

Los Angeles defeated the Yankees in six games to claim its fifth world title and third over its hated American League rivals. Ron Cey, Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero split the MVP award, but the recently departed Fernando Valenzuela was the heart and soul of the franchise in those days. The quirky pitcher from Mexico took the Dodgers and the city of Los Angeles by storm in 1980. And in the ’81 Fall Classic, with his team trailing two games to none, he went the distance in Game 3 to jumpstart his team’s comeback.

The 2024 World Series matchup between the Yankees and Dodgers will feature Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, among others.

Who will shine? Who will win?

No matter what you may think of Major League Baseball’s financial system, this year’s World Series matchup between the Yankees and Dodgers is good for the sport.

Enjoy.