11 Yankees-Dodgers World Series yielded 23 Hall of Fame players, six of the series managers have bronze plaques in Cooperstown-Dave Anderson

"The Brooklyn Dodgers won Game 2 of the 1949 World Series at Yankee Stadium. This week, the Los Angeles Dodgers will make their first regular-season visit to the Bronx," ap 

6/15/13, "Dodgers and Yankees: A Gathering Made for Autumn," Dave Anderson, NY Times

"When the Dodgers played in Yankee Stadium, it was always the World Series back in the day. Back in the decades, actually, from 1941 to 1981.

In Series history, the 11 Yankees-Dodgers duels are the most between two franchises; the Yankees and the Giants are next, with seven Series meetings. 

But interleague baseball has intruded on the autumn ritual. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the Dodgers will be at the Stadium for regular-season interleague games for the first time. 

The Yankees visited Los Angeles twice for three-game sets, with the Dodgers winning two in 2004 and the Yankees winning two in 2010. But this will be the Dodgers’ first visit to the Bronx in gray road uniforms since the 1981 World Series, more than three decades ago. 

No Series is in sight this year. The Yankees are in third place in the American League East; the Dodgers are wallowing in last in the National League West. And in another twist, Don Mattingly, once a Yankees idol as their first baseman, is the Dodgers’ manager. 

This happened before. Leo Durocher, although no Yankees idol as an infielder on their 1928 championship team, was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ manager in 1941 when the Series rivalry began. In a reverse situation, Casey Stengel, the Old Perfessor in four Yankee triumphs in five Series against the Dodgers from 1949 to 1956, had been a popular outfielder and unsuccessful manager in Brooklyn. 

In the teams’ 11 Series matchups, the numbers favor the Yankees. They won eight of the Series, and in games at the Stadium, they were 15-5 against Brooklyn and 7-4 against Los Angeles for a dominant 22-9 over all. In games at Ebbets Field in Flatbush, the Yankees had a 12-11 edge; at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers had an 8-3 advantage. In Brooklyn and Los Angeles, the Dodgers were 19-15 over all. 

Whatever the won-lost numbers, the rivalry’s quality of talent must be appreciated. Those 11 Series showcased 23 players who became Hall of Famers (14 Yankees and 9 Dodgers). 

The Yankees: Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Phil Rizzuto, Red Ruffing, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Johnny Mize, Enos Slaughter, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rich Gossage and Dave Winfield. The Dodgers: Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Billy Herman, Joe Medwick, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton. 

Six of the Series managers are honored with bronze plaques in Cooperstown: Joe McCarthy, Bucky Harris and Stengel with the Yankees; Durocher, Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda with the Dodgers. 

Each Series had moments that have endured in baseball history, mostly good for the Yankees, some good and some bad for the Dodgers. 

In 1941, the Dodgers appeared to have tied the Series at 2-2 when Tommy Henrich swung at and missed the right-hander Hugh Casey’s curveball for the final out of a 4-3 victory at Ebbets Field. But when the ball skipped past catcher Mickey Owen, Henrich hurried to first. DiMaggio singled. Charlie Keller doubled. Dickey walked. Gordon doubled. The Yankees won, 7-4, for a 3-1 lead and won again the next day."...

It’s not the World Series, but the Dodgers are coming back, and that’s enough." 

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