Hollywood razzle-dazzle faces button-up pinstripe blue as the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees marks a thrilling new chapter in a bitter cross-coast rivalry that goes back decades.

The two teams will meet in the Fall Classic beginning on Friday for the first time since 1981 — when the Dodgers clinched the title in Game 6. This year offers a tantalizing series with star-studded rosters boasting hot MVP favorites Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in the two largest U.S. sports markets.

But while professional sport is rife with bitter enmity — from the NBA's Celtics and Lakers to the NFL's Patriots and Jets — the New York-Los Angeles rivalry cuts through culture, with each city insisting it is America's best.