A look at all 16 potential World Series matchups

Now, baseball really has a 1981 feel to it.

There were already some similarities between the pandemic-shortened season of 2020 and the strike-interrupted version 39 years earlier, but the resemblance is even stronger now that the four division series are about to start.

In 1981, the season was split into two halves, so each division champion from the first half played the second-half champ to start the playoffs. That meant two AL East teams facing each other, two AL West teams, two NL East teams and two NL West teams.

That’s also what we have this season in the AL and NL Division Series: Rays-Yankees, Astros-Athletics, Braves-Marlins and Dodgers-Padres. It wasn’t planned that way. It’s just how the bracket worked out. The teams from the AL Central and NL Central — divisions that didn’t exist in ’81 — happened to be knocked out.

With only four teams left in each league, there are now 16 possible World Series matchups for this year. Here’s a look at each one — and what would make it interesting. The matchups are listed in descending order of likelihood, using probability figures from Fangraphs.com heading into Monday's action.

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YANKEES-DODGERS (13.0%)

That 1981 postseason ended with a matchup between these old rivals — the Dodgers beat New York in six games — but we haven’t seen it since in the World Series. It would be fitting for it to happen in 2020.

ASTROS-DODGERS (11.5%)

In terms of pure hostility, this is the matchup to watch for. Houston beat Los Angeles in seven games in the 2017 World Series, but the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal put that victory in a new light, and the Dodgers haven’t taken kindly to it. Los Angeles reliever Joe Kelly was suspended early this season for throwing pitches near the heads of Houston hitters.

Dusty...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/A-look-at-all-16-potential-World-Series-matchups-15621124.php