Rivalry in the 21st Century Dodgers–Yankees rivalry

1 rivalry in 21st century

1.1 first interleague matchup
1.2 yankee years controversy
1.3 bronx

rivalry in 21st century

yankees great don mattingly, manager of dodgers.

although yankees , dodgers haven t met in playoffs since 1981 world series, interleague matchups between 2 teams, whether in new york or los angeles, have become quite popular. tickets in both cities have become exclusive shortly after going on sale , games between 2 teams have drawn sell out crowds, evidenced during doubleheader @ new yankee stadium in june 2013, first time dodgers visited bronx since interleague play introduced , first time visited new yankee stadium.

first interleague matchup

after 23 years of not facing yankees, la hosted interleague weekend series in june 2004 took 2 out of 3 contests. 1 ending had closer Éric gagné strike out bernie williams final out. third , final game espn sunday night game weekend.

the rivalry renewed when joe torre, led yankees 4 world series championships, accepted three-year, $13 million contract manage dodgers on november 1, 2007. brought along former yankee first baseman don mattingly , larry bowa coaching staff. coaches rick honeycutt , mariano duncan each played both teams. torre , left fielder manny ramirez, had been part of fierce yankees–red sox rivalry before being traded dodgers mid-season, led dodgers 2008 west division pennant. yankees failed make 2008 postseason, ending 13-year consecutive postseason appearance streak 12 of under torre s.

the yankee years controversy

in 2009, torre co-authored book, yankee years, time in new york criticized principal owner george steinbrenner , third baseman alex rodriguez. book cited term a-fraud used name alex rodriguez s common nickname a-rod. book stated on p 245:

back in 2004, @ first rodriguez did best try fit yankee culture – cloying, b-grade actor best. slathered on polish. people in clubhouse, including teammates , support personnel, calling him ‘a-fraud’ behind back.

torre later explain comments being jestful , in humor torre , larry bowa rodriguez.

both teams made playoffs year, dodgers lost in nlcs second straight year defending champion philadelphia phillies (whom dodgers beat in nlcs in 1977 , 1978 before losing yankees in world series in both years), lose yankees in world series, giving new york first championship since torre left manager.

the yankees , dodgers met again @ dodger stadium interleague series june 25–27, 2010. joe torre , don mattingly played against yankees, won series 2 games one, first time since joining dodgers , torre s first meeting rodriguez since writing of torre s book.

back bronx

mattingly succeeded torre manager of dodgers after 2010 season. dodgers never played regular season series @ original yankee stadium. teams met during 2013 season. double header of june 19 not dodgers return bronx after long absence; mattingly s first return bronx since became dodger manager (excluding mattingly s visit new yankee stadium on night honored george steinbrenner monument in monument park). former dodger pitcher hiroki kuroda won first game yankees while dodgers rebounded in night cap behind pitching of chris capuano. 2 split 2-game series @ dodger stadium. recent meeting occurred september 12-14, 2016 @ yankee stadium, dodgers took 2 out of 3 games yankees.