LOS ANGELES—The Dodgers and New York Yankees will open the World Series Friday at Dodger Stadium with the Dodgers honoring the life and legacy of legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.
Before pregame ceremonies begin, a special tribute video for Valenzuela will play on the DodgerVision video boards. A mariachi performance featuring Julian Torres y Deyra Barrera will be held in the Left Field Pavilion to honor Valenzuela, who died Tuesday night at the age of 63.
A No. 34 patch will be worn on all Dodger jerseys for the duration of the 2024 World Series in honor of Valenzuela. A printed commemorative mural will adorn the left field wall of Dodger Stadium, adjacent to the left field stadium entrance gates.
A moment of silence will be observed prior to the game.
Valenzuela made his lone World Series appearance 43 years ago Wednesday, taking to the Dodger Stadium mound in Game 3 of the 1981 World Series to face the Yankees, who were leading two games to none.
The Dodgers took a 3–0 lead on Ron Cey’s three-run home run in the bottom on the first, but Valenzuela allowed a home run to Bob Watson leading off the second. The next batter, Rick Cerrone doubled and scored one out later on Larry Milbourne’s single.
Cerrone’s two-run home run in the third gave the Yankees a 4–3 lead, but Valenzuela shut out the Yankees for the final 6 1/3 innings in the Dodgers’ 5–4 victory in a game he threw 147 pitches. The Dodgers would also win the next three games for their first World Series championship since 1965.
This is the record 12th time the Dodgers have faced the Yankees in the World Series and first since 1981. The Yankees have won eight times and the Dodgers three.
The Dodgers will be playing in the World Series for the 22nd time, 13th since moving to Los Angeles from Brooklyn following the 1957 season and first since 2020 when they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win their seventh World Series and first since 1988.
The Yankees will be making their record 41st World Series appearance and first since 2009. They have won a record 27 World Series championships, most recently in 2009.
This will be the first World Series game at Dodger Stadium since Oct. 28, 2018, when the Dodgers lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5–1, as the Red Sox won the Series, four games to one.
The entire 2020 World Series was played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jack Flaherty will start for the Dodgers, trying to rebound from one of the worst performances of his eight-season major league career.
The right-hander allowed eight runs in three innings in the Dodgers’ 12–6 loss to the New York Mets Friday in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field in New York. Only twice has he allowed more runs—10 in a 11–7 loss to the Angels on May 4, 2023, and nine in an 18–3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 15, 2020.
Flaherty pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in both games.
The former Harvard-Westlake School standout had a 6–2 regular-season record with a 3.58 ERA after being acquired by the Dodgers on July 30 from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for minor leaguers Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney. The Dodgers were 7–3 in his 10 regular-season starts.
Flaherty is 1–2 with a 7.04 ERA in the postseason.
Flaherty has faced the Yankees once—pitching six shutout innings and getting the victory in St. Louis’ 11–4 victory on July 1, 2023.
The Yankees will also start a pitcher from Southern California—Newport Beach-born Gerrit Cole, a former Orange Lutheran High and UCLA standout.
Cole began the season on the 60-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation and began a rehabilitation assignment June 4 with the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees’ Double-A Eastern League affiliate.
After two starts with the Patriots, Cole made a start with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees’ Triple-A International League affiliate.
Cole pitched for the Yankees for the first time in 2024 on June 19. He finished the regular season with an 8–5 record and 3.41 ERA. The Yankees were 10–7 in his 17 starts.
Cole is 4–2 with a 5.01 ERA in eight career starts against the Dodgers.
Dodger designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is 4-for-20 lifetime for a .200 batting average with one home run and three RBIs against Cole.
The Dodgers won two of three games against the Yankees July 7–9 at Yankee Stadium.
In the 115 World Series played with the best-of-seven format, the team winning Game 1 has gone on to win the World Series 74 times, 64.3 percent.
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Dodgers a 54.7 percent chance of winning, the Yankees a 45.3 percent chance.
Orel Hershiser will throw the ceremonial first pitch to Steve Yeager. Hershiser was the MVP of the Dodgers’ five-game victory over the Oakland Athletics in 1988 World Series. Yeager was one of the three MVPs in the Dodgers’ six-game victory over the Yankees in the 1981 World Series.
Grammy Award winning country music star Brad Paisley will perform the national anthem.
Actor Bryan Cranston will make the “It’s time for Dodger baseball” announcement.
The game ball will be delivered by 18-year-old Julieta Ramirez, a Cal State Fullerton freshman and an alumna of the Watts Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club.
The 5:08 p.m. game will be televised by Fox.
