2024 League Championship Series Preview

Here we go, folks! The League Championship Series has arrived! I've said this many times before, I always love the semifinal rounds in sports, that last round before the big one. In the NBA and NHL, it's the Conference Finals, the NFL has the Conference Championship, and MLB has the League Championship Series. The LCS was created in 1969 as a result of the American and National Leagues splitting into two divisions, East and West, which was the result of the growing expansion and relocation in the 1960s.

Originally, the LCS pitted the winners of the East and West Divisions in each league, and from the beginning until the end of the 1993 season, it served as the opening round of baseball's postseason. Since 1995, the LCS now pits the winners of the Division Series against each other, and regarding the series format, the LCS was originally a best-of-five series from 1969 until 1984. It's been best-of-seven since 1985. It's one of the reasons why I love the LCS: because it comes after the best-of-five LDS, and winning that round gives the team that extra margin of error that comes with a best-of-seven.

This year's LCS looks to be quite intriguing and very epic, and could result in a possible legendary World Series matchup. Here are the series:

ALCS: Yankees vs Guardians

You know, a lot more attention will be paid to the other LCS, but this one deserves a lot of pomp and circumstance. The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians have a lot of history in October. This is despite the fact that the two clubs didn't meet in the postseason until they were finally placed in separate divisions (they were in the American League East together for 25 seasons). This is the seventh postseason meeting between the Yankees and Guardians, and the second since Cleveland's name change.

Cleveland's road to the pennant in 1997 began with defeating the then-defending champion Yankees in the ALDS. The Yankees would defeat Cleveland in the following year's ALCS, and nine years later in 2007, Cleveland defeated the Yankees in the ALDS. A memorable 2017 ALDS saw Cleveland win the first two games but lose the next three to New York, and 2020 saw the Yankees sweep Cleveland in the Wild Card Series. Their last meeting was a five-game ALDS that saw the Yankees victorious over the Guardians.

The Yankees and Guardians finished as the top two teams in the American League, and regarding the former, Giancarlo Stanton continues to show his postseason hitting prowess, going 6/16 with a home run and four RBIs entering this series. Gleyber Torres and Jazz Chisholm, Jr. also have homers, but Aaron Judge hasn't come up with the hits so far. Regarding the Guardians, Lane Thomas has been the leader, driving in nine runs this postseason. David Fry has five RBIs, and Steven Kwan has 11 hits in 21 at bats, but he hasn't driven in a run. As for their top star, Jose Ramirez, he does have a home run, but it's one of three hits he has so far.

The Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals in four games in the ALDS, while the Guardians needed all five games to defeat the Detroit Tigers. Regarding the regular season, the Yankees won the season series, 4-2, over the Guardians.

NLCS: Dodgers vs Mets

Los Angeles vs New York. It's always something when the two biggest sports markets in North America get together in a playoff atmosphere. I still remember the 2014 Stanley Cup Final between the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers, and here it is, 10 years later, and we have the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets battling it out for the pennant. This is the fourth postseason meeting between the clubs, but the last time they faced each other for the pennant was the 1988 season, which saw the Dodgers win that series as part of their road to a championship.

The Dodgers spent several mints on Shohei Ohtani to lead them to glory, but so far, he has not been the leader. Ohtani's first game was spectacular, but not much else after that. The Dodgers have nine total home runs entering the NLCS, with Teoscar Hernandez and Mookie Betts hitting two each. The former has seven RBIs, and while Ohtani is second with four RBIs, three of them came in Game One. Hernandez also leads the way with six hits, while Gavin Lux is a close second with five hits--one of them being a home run.

As for the Mets, Mark Vientos has been the hits leader with a full dozen, and he's driven in seven runs this postseason. Per usual, Pete Alonso has been the home runs leader with three, and has six RBIs. Francisco Lindor has the same amount of RBIs, and it was his grand slam that led the Mets to the NLCS for the first time since 2015. For the third straight year, the National League's #6 seed is playing for the pennant. That is a hell of a sweet spot.

The Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres in a five game NLDS. As for the Mets, they're the only Wild Card in the Final Four, winning a three game Wild Card Series over the Milwaukee Brewers, and then defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in four games in the NLDS. The Dodgers won the season series, 4-2, over the Mets.

Regarding TV coverage, the ALCS will air entirely on TBS, and will be simulcast on TruTV and Max, while the NLCS will air on Fox and FS1. The Final Four is all set and it has arrived, and I'm very excited for this year's LCS, especially with the Yankees being part of this fun. Both series look like they'll be immensely epic, and I can't wait for the LCS to begin!