Baseball has long called its championship the World Series although it only involves teams playing in the United States and Canada .
It started in 1903 when the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League beat the Boston Americans of the American League for the championship .
But the first official World Series , as it is known today , was in 1905 between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics .
Since then , the New York Yankees have won 27 World Series titles , more than any other team .
This year , the Yankees will face the Los Angeles Dodgers for what sports fans believe will be a World Series seen around the world .
That means four wins in the series are needed to become the champion .
This year's series might have everything that sports fans could want .
It is a competition between teams from the two largest cities in the U.S . It is a competition between the two best teams in baseball .
And the contest involves two of the biggest baseball stars , Shohei Ohtani of Japan and Aaron Judge of the U.S .
Both players have already won the Most Valuable Player Award or MVP , given to the best player in the National League and the American League .
Ohtani has won it twice and Judge once .
The two are likely to be named MVP in each league again this year .
Ohtani joined the Dodgers earlier this year with a record 10-year contract valued at $700 million .
Talking to reporters on Tuesday , October 22 , Judge called Ohtani “the best player in the game .”
He added that Ohtani “hits for average , he hits for power , the speed .”
And he also leads all of baseball , both American and National Leagues , in offensive numbers , including 144 RBIs , 133 walks , on-base percentage , and slugging percentage .
The two best players , though , have a lot of help .
The Dodgers have two former MVPs , Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman , in the lineup .
The Yankees have just one former MVP in Giancarlo Stanton .
But they also have Juan Soto of the Dominican Republic , who is often called a “generational talent ” in the game .
The first game of the 2024 World Series will start on Friday , October 25 .
The games are sold out meaning all tickets have been sold .
Others can watch the television broadcast that is expected to set a record for people watching in Ohtani's home country of Japan .
After the Dodgers beat the New York Mets to get to the World Series , Ohtani told reporters , “The goal was to get this far .”
I'm Mario Ritter , Jr .