A Cubs Fan's Guide to the World Series

The World Series is here, and every year the broadcast networks get exactly what they dream of – a battle between the two largest media markets in the country. It will definitely attract a lot of spectators. I'll definitely be tuning in, even though I'm already moaning about the sycophantic behavior of the media in New York and Los Angeles.

And to be clear, it has almost nothing to do with the players who will be showing off their skills and changing over the next week. This World Series will pit the likely National League MVP and only member of the 50-50 club, Shohei Ohtani, against the likely American League MVP, Aaron Judge, who hit 58 home runs while posting a remarkable OBP of scored .458. Assisting Judge is 26-year-old phenom and soon-to-be free agent Juan Soto, who got on base at a .421 clip and hit 201 home runs – two incomplete – in his first seven seasons. Meanwhile, at the top of the Dodgers lineup is a killer line-up of hitters, with Ohtani leading the way, followed by former MVPs Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. NLCS MVP Tommy Edman lurks in the eighth hole.

Pitching is a little more difficult for the Dodgers, although Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler and the bullpen did it against a strong Mets team in the Championship Series. The Yankees have true starters with two of the 10 highest-paid pitchers in baseball, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, as their aces.

The problem isn't the talent on the field. It's that every player I just named, except Aaron Judge and Walker Buehler, began their careers as hopes and dreams for the future of a different fan base. The biggest hitter for another team that simply couldn't be bothered to part with the hundreds of millions of dollars it certainly owns because it makes a lucrative business of owning a baseball team in the name of retaining generational talent. Okay, maybe the former Cardinals on this list are a little below that talent ceiling, but you get the gist – for most people who live and die by a 162-game season for one of baseball's 28 other teams, the Yankees and Dodgers are just the annoyingly rich teams laughing at the luxury tax. The athleteGrant Brisbee put it well in his “Hater's Guide to the World Series” earlier this week:

Both franchises stare at themselves in the mirror when no one is looking. They do it even when everyone is watching. Monuments and plaques, a deserved sense of history that still manages to be exaggerated at the same time. No mascots. Jerseys that have barely changed in a century.

They insist on themselves. They think they are better than you and your team. And of course that's true about going to the World Series, but they don't have to push themselves so hard all the time. It's much funnier when legitimate, historic teams strike again and again so close and lose year after year.

The only way this World Series could be more annoying is if the St. Louis Cardinals were in it instead of the Dodgers. I don't want either team to win. The reason so many more people will potentially watch this World Series than other possible matchups is because the Dodgers and Yankees have a lot of fair-weather fans who don't care enough about baseball to watch the games just for baseball's sake . I'm not even sure some of these people are baseball fans. Maybe they're simply influencers sensing that a World Series where general admission tickets go for $1,300 is a place to be seen.

In addition to the superstars listed above, there are also individual players that I will be cheering for during these games. It's a real joy to see Anthony Rizzo play in another World Series – almost as much joy as the heartache that comes with not being a Cub for life. I really like former Cubs Marcus Stroman and Mark Leiter Jr. and wish well for Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jason Domínguez, who are both outstanding young players and dynamic to watch.

There are no former Cubs to cheer for on the Dodgers side, but there are still intriguing talents and fun guys, including two who share the same last name. Teoscar Hernández has signed a one-year deal to show the world that his offensive performance during a year in Seattle was exceptional and that he performed really well. The 32-year-old slashed .272/.339/.501 with 33 home runs for the Dodgers and will surely be paid by someone this offseason (maybe the Dodgers or the Yankees, they're definitely into it). Enrique Hernández is 33 years old and has struggled in each of the last three seasons – but in October the man is electric. He slashed .278/.356/.533 in 239 postseason plate appearances. And no, these numbers are not supplemented by earlier years of his career. In the 2024 postseason, Hernández is batting .303/378/.485 with a wRC+ of 145 in 37 plate appearances.

The media and coverage surrounding this World Series will be nauseating, but the baseball should be exceptional. Try to focus on the incredible hitting and deft fielding and not the large crowd of bandwagon fans who couldn't pick out Vin Scully or John Sterling from the lineup. You can see the Yankees World Series roster and the Dodgers World Series roster on MLB.com. I refrain from cheering on the meteor, especially since it would one day deprive us all of an important spot in the Hall of Fame. Game 1 begins tonight at 7:08 p.m. CT on Fox. A game thread will be posted at 6:00 PM CT.