Teams From the Nation’s Two Most Populous Cities Face Off in MLB Championship: New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have won seven World Series titles and 24 National League pennants; the Yankees have won 27 World Series (the last one in 2009) and 40 American League pennants.

As East meets West in Game 3 today, we present U.S. Census Bureau, Major League Baseball (MLB) and other data to highlight the demographic profile and sports statistics of the teams.

The American League (AL) won 68 and the National League (NL) 51 of the 119 World Series played through 2023.

This is the 12th World Series matchup between the Yankees and Dodgers and the Yankees won eight of the previous ones.

The Dodgers have won seven World Series titles and 24 National League pennants; the Yankees have won 27 World Series (the last one in 2009) and 40 American League pennants.

The Yankees have played in 40 World Series — the most championship appearances and victories by any team in the major North American professional sports leagues.

The 2024 World Series games will be split between each team’s home stadium: games 1 and 2 will be played in Los Angeles; games 3 and 4 in New York; and, if needed, game 5 also in New York and games 6 and 7 in Los Angeles.

Interested in information on the opposing teams? Here’s a snapshot of history and facts.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are based in the Bronx, a borough in New York City, the nation’s most populous city with 8,804,199 people.

The Yankees (known as the New York Highlanders from 1903 to 1912 have played 122 seasons from 1903 to 2024.

This year, the New York Yankees played 162 games during the regular season, won 94, lost 68, and finished in position. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium, where 3,309,838 fans watched as they finished the season with a .580 winning percentage.

Fun fact: the 2024 New York Yankees lineup includes four players from California – #45 Gerrit Cole (who was born in California but grew up in New York); #54 Tim Hill; #99 Aaron Judge; and #27 Giancarlo Stanton. The only native New Yorker on the team is #11 Anthony Volpe. Six Yankees hail from foreign countries.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are based in the city of Los Angeles, California, the nation’s second-most populous city with a population of 3,898,747.

Ironically, the LA Dodgers used to be a New York team known by various names and nicknames before moving to Los Angeles before the 1958 season. Among them, the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Robins, Brooklyn Superbas, Brooklyn Grooms, Brooklyn and Brooklyn Bridegrooms.

The Dodgers snagged seven World Series titles in 1955 (as the Brooklyn Dodgers), 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988, and 2020.

The Dodgers won 98 games and lost 64 during the regular 2024 season.

The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers lineup includes four players from Texas, one from Cuba, and two from Japan. Only two Dodgers are from California – #15, Austin Barnes from Riverside and #5 Freddie Freeman from Villa Park.

Fun Facts About Major League Baseball Teams

According to the 2023 Population Estimates of the 12 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) with MLB teams, New York (home of the Mets and the Yankees), with 19,498,249 is the largest and Milwaukee (home of the Brewers), is the smallest with 1,560,424.

Only six MLB teams, including the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and New York Mets, include their home state in their team’s name.

An MSA is a geographic entity delineated by the Office of Management and Budget for use by federal statistical agencies.

Metro areas consist of the county (counties) associated with at least one urban area with a population of at least 50,000 plus adjacent counties with high social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties.

Here are the teams that won the World Series this century:

2024 MLB World Series Background and Schedule

Twelve National and American League teams made it to the 2024 playoffs:

• New York Yankees
• Cleveland Guardians (Ohio)
• Houston Astros (Texas)
• Baltimore Orioles (Maryland)
• Kansas City Royals (Missouri)
• Detroit Tigers (Michigan)

 National League teams were represented by:

• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Philadelphia Phillies (Pennsylvania)
• Milwaukee Brewers (Wisconsin)
• New York Mets
• Atlanta Braves (Georgia)
• San Diego Padres (California)