The 2020 MLB World Series has its two contestants each pursuing a “first.”
The National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers, who won Game One on Tuesday, are seeking their first WS title since back in 1988, when LA swept the Oakland A’s, propelled by Kirk Gibson’s famous opening game walk-off pinch-hit home run.
The American League titlists Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, are after their first world title in the team’s history, which dates back to their inception in 1998.
In their only other WS appearance, the Rays fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008.
But the contestants appear to contrast in most other ways.
Start with the teams’ payrolls.
Two Dodgers, pitcher Clayton Kershaw and outfielder Mookie Betts, currently make more money yearly than the entire Rays’ roster does.
The Tampa Bay club make the fourth lowest in MLB — just US$28.6 million.
The Dodgers,…
