Welcome back, World Series! The Dodgers had an epic duel with the Yankees

Finally at home.

Home, after three rocky Octobers and two embarrassing breakdowns and deep blue bouts of doubt.

Home, where Jackie Robinson still steals home and Sandy Koufax still throws shutouts and Kirk Gibson still pumps his fist.

Home, to the World Series.

On a rollicking Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers silenced the critics, embraced their birthright and returned to their personal promised land with a 10-5 victory over the New York Mets, giving them a four-to-two triumph the season brought the National League championship series.

After three consecutive Octobers filled with classic falls, the Dodgers have returned to the Fall Classic for the fourth time in eight seasons, the 13th time in Los Angeles history and the 22nd time overall.

And guess who's waiting there?

For the love of Larsen, here come the New York Yankees!

Yes, those damn Yankees, their oldest rival in October, their worst playoff nemesis, the pinstripes that have plagued the Dodger franchise for more than a century.

Starting Friday, baseball's two most legendary franchises will meet at Dodger Stadium for the 12th time in a World Series, the most productive series duel in baseball history, even though they haven't shared the stage in 43 years.

The Yankees have won eight of their last 11 meetings, in games that included some of the greatest moments in World Series history. From Robinson's home run to Larsen's perfect game to Reggie Jackson's three home runs, the next two weeks will conjure up the ghosts of past greatness.

The Yankees replaced players like Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle with Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton.

For the Dodgers, the legacy of 3-Dog and Penguin and Big D is carried on by MVP, Moookie and Fred-die.

The current Yankees have more star power, but the Dodgers are more talented and will certainly be the favorites to win the series, which sounds about right. You should win it. Anything else would be a surprise. Anything else would be a failure.

It would be their eighth franchise championship and their seventh title in Los Angeles, but even more compelling is that it would be their first title with fans in the stands since 1988. Their only World Series win since then was in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, when the playoffs were largely played in a Texas bubble and no public celebration was planned.

Thirty-six years is a long time to wait for a parade. These Dodgers are good enough to start planning for now.

They closed out the Mets Sunday thanks to a home run and four RBIs from NLCS MVP Tommy Edman, a two-run home run from struggling catcher Will Smith and the usual array of effective relievers. They did it without the injured Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas, they did it with Ohtani and Betts playing supporting roles, they did it the way they have all season, everyone is fully involved.

This team is more complete and competitive than any in manager Dave Roberts' nine seasons. This team is deeper than the 2020 title-winning Dodgers, more talented than the underdog 1988 champions, and simply better than all but the Hall-of-Famer-studded 1955 champions and the 1965 Koufax crew.

Anthony Banda of the Dodgers reacts after striking out Jeff McNeil with the bases loaded to end the third inning.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Roberts admitted it was his best team, which is saying something considering he has the best winning percentage in coaching history and has led teams to the Series four times in his nine years.

“I think when you talk about collective hitting, pitching and all that stuff, it's hard to think of a team that played better team baseball than we did right now,” he said.

Roberts has now tied Tommy Lasorda with those four pennants and trails only Walter Alston, who played in seven World Series titles. Roberts has become the new Lasorda, although he refused to acknowledge it when asked about his place in the Dodger managerial hierarchy.

“I don’t want to do that because I’ll get nervous,” he said. “I just want to try to do my job and get our players to win baseball games and win baseball games for the Dodgers, that’s all.”

They've won a lot this season, and they should. They have the best ownership in baseball, the best manager in baseball, the best player in baseball, arguably the best manager in baseball, and the best fans in baseball.

They should be in the World Series. You should be there every year.

But what makes this year so special is the way they got here.

Yes, they spent more than $1 billion on offseason acquisitions, including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernández and Tyler Glasnow. Yes, they were already the clear favorites to advance to the World Series before the first pitch.

But then gambling scandals, position changes and injuries struck, and the summer nearly fell apart before the wisdom of baseball boss Andrew Friedman and Roberts' leadership saved them from themselves.

“It went as we expected given where we are today,” Roberts said. “How we got there, not at all how we imagined.”

Ohtani was distracted when his longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, admitted to stealing more than $16 million from the racket to fund his gambling habit.

Mookie Betts was distracted when the Dodgers started the season by moving him to an unknown shortstop.

The entire team was distracted when they lost eight starting pitchers to injuries.

At various times throughout the summer the team appeared to be in trouble, but they never fell out of first place and everyone figured it out.

Ohtani primed himself for National League MVP honors by becoming the first player in history to hit at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season.

Betts never complained about the position change, a model for the veteran clubhouse, and was eventually moved back to right field, where he thrived.

To adjust for all of these pitching injuries, the Dodgers developed a versatile and deep bullpen that was the star of the postseason.

After watching his facility weather several months of adversity, Friedman gave them a decisive boost by acquiring three key pieces in trade deadlines that carried them well into October.

Have you ever wondered what this team would look like without Jack Flaherty, Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech? Not. It's not pretty.

“It’s a credit to the organization and the resilience we have, it’s really cool,” Roberts said of the season. “At the end of the day we are in the same place we hoped we would be.”

And what a place indeed.

The World Series is here. The New York Yankees are on deck. History awaits.