Dodgers and Mattingly return to the Bronx to renew rivalry with Yankees

The Los Angeles Dodgers return to the Big Apple to renew one of sport’s biggest rivalries with the New York Yankees. These two teams have faced one another in the World Series on 11 occasions.

However, with the onset of interleague play the teams can now meet in the regular season. In addition, returning to where he played his major league career for 14 seasons is Don Mattingly now the manager of the Dodgers.

Mattingly retired in 1995 and did not ever reach a World Series leaving the year before the Yankees won the title first title in 15 years. In 2004, Mattingly became a coach for the Yankees.

The series was scheduled to start on Tuesday night, but the opening game was postponed and will be played as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. The two will play just two games in a quick interleague series. This will be the first time Mattingly has been back in Yankee Stadium since 2007, when he left to coach for Los Angeles with former Yankees manager Joe Torre.

Mattingly has a storied career with the Yankees having his uniform retired to become the only Yankees player to have his number retired who never played in the World Series. Mattingly will be well received by the Yankees fans, prior to the start of the doubleheader on Wednesday.

This time round the two games in the series will not have the drama attached to them like in the past when the teams met in the World Series. The Dodgers sit in the cellar of the National League West, while New York sits in third place in the American League East behind first place Boston and second place Baltimore.

The Dodgers are just 29-39 on the season even though they have one of baseball’s highest payrolls. There are signs that the Dodgers offense could be coming around. Most of the season Adrian Gonzalez has been the offensive leader in the team, as Matt Kemp has struggled since opening day.

However, Andre Ethier has hit 10 for 24 over his past six games. If his bat comes around and Gonzalez can stay hot then the Dodgers might do something during the second half of the season.

The Dodgers have a load of talent in the outfield with Ethier, Kemp, Carl Crawford and rookie sensation Yasiel Puig. Mattingly told reporters on Tuesday he would find a way to play all four once they are all healthy.

Speaking of Puig, on Sunday he had 3 hits in 4 at bat to end the game with a .479 batting average in just 13 games in the majors. Gonzalez, who played with the Red Sox in the American League East, is very familiar with the short porch that sits out in right field at Yankee Stadium. In his 15 career games at the stadium, Gonzalez has 5 home runs.

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