The race was on to reach Shohei Ohtani first. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar waited calmly as a horde of media rushed toward him on the eve of his first World Series.

Last year, in his final season with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani produced impressive pitching numbers: 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings over 23 starts. He also led the American League at the plate with 44 homers, a .412 on-base percentage and a .654 slugging percentage to capture his second AL Most Valuable Player honor.

In the beginning, the World Series matchup of the Dodgers against the Yankees was a kind of charming intra-city showdown of two New York City boroughs, blue collar Brooklyn, equipped with a neighborhood called Gravesend, against the pretentious Bronx, with the fancy Grand Concourse.