AARON JUDGE (Wikipedia).

Although division champions Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees won’t start their post-season play until Saturday, much of the baseball-watching world – sportswriters, fans, bookies, TV executives – is already holding its breath hoping for a late October collision between the MLB’s premier teams.

The rivalry between the Blue Crew and the Bronx Bombers has been front and center for decades. Although politically and demographically similar, the Big Apple and Tinseltown have different styles and one ambition: beat the other guys.

Yankees vs. Red Sox? Dodgers vs. Giants? Strictly second tier when it comes to the cross-continental clash that pits Coney Island against Disneyland; Statue of Liberty against the Hollywood sign.

This year such a hoped-for collision in the World Series would send TV ratings through the proverbial roof as it would include the two most electric players on the diamond today: Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge.

Now, most of us Left Coast folks are familiar with the exploits of Mr. Ohtani. Creator of the 50-50 Club. The Unicorn. His faithful dog, Decoy.

But Judge is no second-stringer. This season he batted .322 (best in baseball), hit 58 home runs and drove in 144 runs. In 2022 he hit 62 home runs, which I consider to be the true one-season record, throwing out those steroid-tainted blasts a while back.

Pretty impressive. But Dodger fans can take a wee bit of comfort in Judge’s underwhelming post-season stats: in 44 games he’s batted .211, although his 13 homers and 25 RBIs balances that a bit.

Regardless … think of it … Dodgers vs. Yankees … Ohtani vs. Judge. It may not get any better than this. If it happens.