STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK, we're two games in, and the 2024 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees is already one for the history books.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, it's been fun to watch. Friday's Game 1 ended in the 10th inning with a dramatic first-ever walk-off grand slam. Here are Fox announcers' reactions.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: (Shouting) High fly ball, hit deep, back and gone.
INSKEEP: They seem a little excited.
A MARTÍNEZ: Hopefully he's got a voice - right? - for the rest of the Series.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
A MARTÍNEZ: Dodgers won both the first games in LA. And tonight, the Series goes to the East Coast. That's where the Yankees will host Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, Steve, 5.
INSKEEP: OK. Reporter Steve Futterman was at Dodger Stadium for the first two games. Steve, they pay you for this. You're at the game. They pay you for this.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Yes.
INSKEEP: Amazing. Anyway, I hope it was a lot of fun. Let's get to one of the more pressing issues, though, as we head toward Game 3. The Dodgers great Shohei Ohtani got hurt in Game 2, so will he play tonight?
FUTTERMAN: Well, yes, all signs certainly point to Ohtani playing here tonight at Yankee Stadium. He hurt himself in Game 2 trying to steal second base. As he was sliding, he braced himself with his left arm on the infield dirt. That apparently caused a partial shoulder separation.
INSKEEP: Ow.
FUTTERMAN: It was quickly apparent that he was in pain. The announcers on Fox quickly noticed.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: And he's in some pain. Ohtani's grabbing his left arm. No, that is not a good sign.
FUTTERMAN: Definitely not when you have the highest-paid player in maybe sports history. But the Dodger manager Dave Roberts told reporters yesterday that in New York, Ohtani has pretty much gotten back his normal range in his shoulder, is feeling better, and he does expect him to play.
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DAVE ROBERTS: Guys have had this before and played. And again, it's just everyone's tolerance.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How compromised do you think he might be?
ROBERTS: I don't see him being compromised. It's the left shoulder, which is the back shoulder. So I don't see how that affects his hitting if he's able to go. I really don't.
FUTTERMAN: So if Ohtani is indeed in the lineup, he'll be in that familiar position, leading off for the Dodgers in the very first inning.
INSKEEP: OK. So the Yankees lose twice. The Dodgers win twice. We've still got a ways to go, but what does history tell us about this position?
FUTTERMAN: Well, historically, teams that win the first two games - not a surprise - go on to win the Series more often than not, 80% of the time. But there have been many times - 10 times, in fact - that teams have come back from those 0-2 deficits. In fact, the last time these two teams met - the Dodgers and Yankees, 1981, 1978 - that's exactly what happened. In '78, the Dodgers won the first two games. They're all excited. Then they go back to New York, and the Yankees win four straight. Three years later, just the opposite. The Yankees take the first two games in the Yankee Stadium, come back to LA. The Dodgers sweep them there and then wrap it up in New York.
INSKEEP: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just a little kid when that '81 Series - I still have some memories of that. But let's talk about the Series over the weekend. Aaron Judge kept coming up to the bat, and I'm like, wow, Aaron Judge is up there. Something's going to happen. And then nothing would happen. What's going on?
FUTTERMAN: Yeah, he's - listen. He's having a tough postseason, which sometimes great players do. He's been New York's everything throughout the season - best batting average among the Yankees, best number of home runs, not just in the American league, in all of baseball - more than Ohtani - but here in the World Series, so far just 1 for 9. And at bats, he's struck out 6 of those 9 at bats, and some of them have come at some very critical situations, where he could really have brought home some runs with a solid hit. He's just having a bad postseason. He's hoping playing at home might give him that spark to change things.
INSKEEP: Ain't over till it's over. Steve Futterman, thanks so much.
FUTTERMAN: Thank you, Steve.
(SOUNDBITE OF WILL HARRISON'S "BAPTIZED AND BURIED") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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