Sometimes having that much money really helps.

The big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees will meet in a matchup of World Series heavyweights at Dodger Stadium starting Friday night. Yankees He ranked second in payroll this season with $311 million According to MLB’s latest estimates, the Dodgers came in third at $266 million.

The two franchises are among the most successful in the sport. The Yankees just won their 41st American League pennant and the Dodgers just won their 25th National League title.

New York is aiming for its 28th World Series title, but for the first time since 2009, the Dodgers finished eighth and second in a five-year span.

Here’s a look at some things to watch as the series begins:

Ohtani vs. Judge

The series pits two of this generation’s biggest slackers against each other: Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani and New York’s Aaron Judge.

Ohtani happened First player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases He reached the milestone on September 19 with the second of his three regular season homers against the Marlins. He largely continued that production in the playoffs, batting .286 with three homers and 10 RBIs.

Judge had another huge regular season, leading the major leagues in strikeouts with 58 homers. He also hit .322 with 144 RBIs. The 32-year-old has been somewhat quiet in these playoffs, batting .161 with two homers and six RBIs.

unsung heroes

Ohtani vs. The Judge matchup is sure to attract the most attention, but there are other players on both teams who have featured so far in October.

Veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton is having an excellent postseason, batting .294 with five homers and 11 RBIs and winning the AL Championship Series MVP. The 34-year-old has struggled with injuries and inconsistency since joining the Yankees in 2018, but could cement his place on the team with a big World Series.

The Dodgers enter October with an unlikely middle-order threat: 6-foot-1, 193-pound Tommy Edman.

Edman was acquired from the Cardinals at the trade deadline and has been invaluable in this postseason. He is batting .341 and He batted a two-run homer in the team’s NLCS-clinching win Sunday at the Mets. He won the NLCS MVP.

hot ticket

Big budgets will be required for teams and fans to attend this year’s Fall Classic.

lowest asking ticket price According to Stubhub, the price of any given game on the resale market hovers around $1,200 to $1,300.

StubHub said Monday that sales beat last year’s final numbers and were four times faster than the 2022 Series’ pace. 3-5 in New York. Sales of the games were 40% higher than sales of Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Los Angeles.

Rule changes

most baseball’s latest rule changes The pitch clock is still in effect in the postseason, including a ban on excessive pitch changes and a limit on how many times a pitcher can leave the rubber. Pitch time was a major change in the sport and was widely celebrated, with playing times shortened by approximately half an hour.

There’s one rule that won’t cut it in the postseason: Automatic runner in extra innings.

During the MLB regular season, if a game goes into extra innings, a runner is placed on second base to start the 10th inning when each team bats. That doesn’t happen in the postseason. Extra innings will be played as in the previous nine.

Betting favorites

The Dodgers (-130) are among the betting favorites to win the World Series. According to BetMGM Sports betting. The underdog Yankees are at +110.

How to watch

All seven games will air on Fox. Also available on Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV and YouTube TV.

World Series schedule

Game 1: New York, Los Angeles, Friday, 8:08 PM EDT

Game 2: New York, Los Angeles, Saturday, 20:08 EDT

Game 3: Los Angeles at New York, October 28, 20:08 EDT

Game 4: Los Angeles, New York, October 29, 20:08 EDT

Game 5: Los Angeles vs. New York, October 30, 8:08 PM EDT (if needed)

Game 6: New York vs. Los Angeles, November 1, 8:08 PM EDT (if needed)

Game 7: New York, Los Angeles, November 2, 8:08 PM EDT (if needed)

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB