LOS ANGELES – Put aside, for a moment, the star power that could illuminate all of SoCal and the five boroughs. The decisive players in this World Series may reside just off the red carpet, closer to the margins of their rosters.

It would certainly be poetic for the first World Series since 1981 pitting the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers to be decided by any of the many former MVPs and future Hall of Famers. But both teams are so tightly matched that the difference will likely reside deeper down the roster.

With that, here are five difference makers to watch as Game 1 gets underway Friday night at Dodger Stadium:

Luke Weaver, Yankees

It has been a startling turnabout both for the Yankees and their once-maligned bullpen, which faced the ire of fans as closer Clay Holmes struggled through a brutal second half.

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Who knew the elixir would be a 183-pound journeyman asked to pitch the ninth inning for a franchise with near-maniacal championship aspirations?

Yet Luke Weaver, who has generally embraced “wiry” as his middle name, took to the closer role with stunning confidence, saving the Yankees’ first four playoff wins and pitching two scoreless innings to win their ALCS clincher in 10 innings at Cleveland.

He has allowed just eight baserunners in 10 postseason innings, striking out 12, and the Yankee bullpen has pitched to a 2.56 ERA in nine postseason games.

Bullpens are built from the back forward, and the Yankees have learned to take their cue from their moderately goofy new closer.

“He’s quirky, he’s confident, he’s always cracking jokes and never taking things too seriously,” says Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt of Weaver, whose sense of humor tends to be as dry as a nice Chablis.

It’s a good mentality for a ninth-inning guy, who certainly wore the “failed starter” label in his early years with St. Louis and Arizona. But after landing with the Yankees following a handful of waiver wire moves, he impressed enough in a brief 2023 look to earn a contract this season.

Now, he’s learned to make the most of what he has on a given night, whether that’s a live fastball or a devastating changeup that has become his out pitch this postseason.

“Every day brings a different demand of, ‘What do I have?’” he says. “That’s something I’ve had to learn throughout this season.

“Now, if it don’t work, I ain’t throwing it. There are moments in a game where you don’t want to go to a pitch because something (bad) might happen.”

Such as the game-tying two-run homer he gave up to Jhonkensy Noel in the ninth inning of ALCS Game 4. Yet the good has far outweighed the bad this October. The Yankees are confident that will continue to be the case, both for Weaver and arms like Holmes who fell deftly into roles as October dawned.

“It means the world to have guys who have made adjustments,” says Schmidt. “It’s great to have guys pitching at the highest level right now. They’re at the top of their game.”

Gleyber Torres, Yankees

He’s the other pending free agent at the top of the Yankees’ lineup. Yet in this run to the World Series, Gleyber Torres has been their greatest offensive contributor.

Even if he’s somehow easier to forget in the shadow of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto these days.

Torres was an All-Star at 21 and earned a second consecutive honor in 2019. Yet his career has been marked by inconsistency in years since – up until the second half of this season.

A .231 average and .654 OPS in the first half gave way to .293 and .780 marks in the second half, the prelude to a postseason in which it’s been impossible to keep Torres off base. By August, he’d regained the leadoff spot he lost in that slow first half and now, Torres has a .400 OBP in the playoffs, reaching base 18 times in nine games and creating traffic in front of sluggers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.

“I always felt like this is a guy in the prime of his career that’s always hit,” says Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “Like water’s going to find its level. He’ll get there in the long 162-game season.

“He has absolutely been a catalyst for us and one of the big reasons why we’re sitting here right now.”

Torres, who turns 28 in December, has also nicely rebuilt his free agent profile. While Soto’s free agency will take precedence, Torres presents an interesting case for the Yankees to mull. And while relieved he galvanized his walk year with a second-half surge, Torres would love to stay a Yankee, too – perhaps with a championship ring in tow.

“I don’t see those guys as teammates,” he says. “I see those guys as family, the entire organization.”

Kiké Hernandez, Dodgers

Maybe his exuberance can’t last over 162 games. Perhaps his restless nature, his propensity to gas up his teammates via text message, his willingness to drop f-bombs on national television simply don’t play as well in a six-month grind.

Maybe Kiké Hernandez is simply built for the postseason.

Oh, the Dodgers have always appreciated what the 5-11, 195-pound multi-position dynamo has brought to the club. Any player who can man shortstop and center field with equal aplomb brings immense value. Yet Hernandez is a lifetime .238 hitter, with a 92 career adjusted OPS a decent tick below league average.

But come October, he’s a monster.

He’s been in nine of these postseasons and has almost always performed. Hernandez has belted 15 postseason home runs, putting him in a rent district reserved for the likes of Aaron Judge, and his .356 career postseason OBP and .889 OPS are built over 81 playoff games.

A deep sample, and that’s before his star turns are even considered.

The three-homer game to clinch the 2017 pennant at Wrigley Field. The solo homer to tie Game 7 of the 2020 NLCS, preserving the Dodgers’ run to a World Series title.

And this month, hitting a go-ahead homer to start the Dodgers’ Game 5 clinching party against San Diego in the NLDS.

Hernandez ascribes his postseason success to a concept that’s more Tony Robbins than Tony Gwynn: “The power of the mind,” he says.

Armchair sports psychology might suggest that regular season challenges plant doubt in Hernandez’s mind, an imposter syndrome of sorts. Yet come the playoffs, Hernandez’s achievements have provided enough reassurance that yes, he is that dude.

“The mind likes to question more than it likes to believe,” says Hernandez. “Even when you’re doing good things and start paying attention to what people are saying, you can ask yourself whether it was luck. But when you have a moment, and then you have another moment and another moment, eventually you’ll start believing it.

“Power of the mind.”

Simple enough.

Hernandez has been doing this for nearly a decade. He detoured to Boston for most of three seasons – slugging five home runs in their lone postseason run, of course – and, at 33, remains irrepressible.

“One thing I’ve always done and always will do,” he says, “is be myself.”

Come October, he’s the very best version of that.

Evan Phillips, Dodgers

He can see the finish line from here. But Evan Phillips knows the Dodgers may be compromised in their effort to reach it.

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been fantastic this postseason, salvaging their season with an epic eight-reliever relay to shut out San Diego and stave off elimination in Game 4 of the NLDS. Phillips was credited with the victory that game, part of a virtually perfect postseason for him: 6 2/3 innings, no runs given up, five outings of more than one inning.

Yet Phillips acknowledges the Dodgers might have been “playing with fire a little bit” with how far they’ve extended him and the bullpen so far.

On the other hand, that’s life for a reliever in the postseason – with four more wins they need to capture.

“It’s a long season. Soreness, fatigue – we’re all kind of going through our individual battles, some worse than others. We’re all doing everything we can to be as 100% as we can be,” says Phillips.

Unfortunately for Phillips, he will not be a part of the effort. Friday morning, the Dodgers released their World Series roster and Phillips was not included, after he exited their Game 6 NLCS victory one inning sooner than they’d scripted.

Instead, the Dodgers welcome back right-hander Brusdar Graterol, who missed a month with a shoulder injury, and top lefty Alex Vesia, who sat out the NLCS with an oblique injury.

That only adds intrigue and some bit of doubt to whether they can pull this off against the powerful Yankees. The Dodgers have a talented front three of their rotation – Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler – yet Yamamoto and Buehler have battled injury this season.

And beyond Flaherty’s seven-inning gem in Game 1 of the NLCS, they’ve left lots of outs on the table, with two five-inning starts, two three inning starts and a 4 1/3-inning outing.

Combined with the two bullpen games the relievers have turned in, it’s a lot.

“That’s something our entire bullpen has taken a lot of pride in – becoming an option in any situation,” says Phillips. “That’s what’s special about this group – we’re doing whatever it takes to win. We’re prepared to do the exact same thing this series.

“That’s something that’s truly day to day – a read and react situation where the coaching staff will do their preparation and communicate to us what’s expected.

“But frankly, it’s the playoffs and now it’s the World Series – we’re going to be ready to go from pitch one.”

Phillips is one of the Dodgers’ great reclamation stories, sticking in L.A. after he was waived by Tampa Bay and Baltimore. He’s saved 42 games over the past two seasons, but the bullpen hit a midseason wall of sorts.

They were reinvigorated by midseason acquisitions of Flaherty and reliever Michael Kopech that galvanized the staff. Now, they’ll try to find four more wins, and in Phillips’ case, that means trying to stay perfect.

“He’s been the best. He’s been able to live up to any moment,” Kopech says of Phillips. “He’s made himself a real centerpiece of this bullpen here with the Dodgers and to see how he goes about his business along with guys like Daniel Hudson, Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen – it’s a true group of professionals down there.

“And for everybody to take the ball with vigor and be able to do what they need to do makes it easy for the next guy up. Which is what I’ve felt since I’ve got here.”

Now, they’ll have to grind toward four more wins without him.

Tommy Edman, Dodgers

It’s pretty weird getting traded, weirder still to a team filled with superstars, and downright awkward when you’re injured at the time. But that’s the spot Tommy Edman found himself in when he and Kopech were shipped to L.A. in a three-team deal at the trade deadline.

 Edman, recovering from wrist surgery, was left behind with a handful of rehabbing players when the Dodgers went on the road.

“We were here, at Dodger Stadium at 11:30 in the morning, nobody in the stands, three or four players working to get back,” remembers shortstop Miguel Rojas, still slowed by an adductor injury. “It’s one of the things nobody really sees because this big moment is about what we’re doing right now. But I don’t forget the stuff we have to go through. Making him feel like part of the organization, talking about the way we do things here. I was happy I could help and make him feel comfortable right away.

“Because he’s a big part of what we’re doing right now.”

Edman comes into this World Series already flush with hardware: He tied a franchise record with 13 RBIs in winning NLCS MVP honors, banging out 11 hits in the six games.

It was an unlikely scenario: The 5-11, 193-pound Edman batting cleanup in the powerful Dodgers lineup – and cleaning up.

“We’ve got so many good hitters throughout the lineup, it seems like somebody’s always on base,” says Edman. “And I try to do the same thing, too: Make sure I’m on base for the great hitters after me.”

With Rojas and first baseman Freddie Freeman set to return for the World Series, Edman will assume whatever role the roster machinations create. In a sense, he’s stepped into the fungible roles filled so ably, sometimes, explosively, by Hernandez and Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor on past Dodger teams.

Rojas isn’t surprised. When he was a Marlin and Edman a Cardinal, he saw plenty of Edman as they shared a spring training complex in Florida. Now, he’s admiring him up close, in the biggest of games.

“I saw the way he can play different positions and help the team and be a team-first guy,” says Rojas. “Always playing whatever he feels he needs for the team to be better.

“He’s a perfect guy to be on our team, because he fits right in. He don’t care about any attention. He just wants to play and help the team.”

LOS ANGELES – The vast riches beyond his wildest dreams await just weeks from now. His impact in just one season with the most storied franchise in baseball has placed him back on the game’s biggest stage.

Yet Juan Soto knows, deep down, that for as fantastic his 2024 season as a New York Yankee mercenary has been, as rich his bank account will be once he hits free agency, that the meaning of it all – the definition of success – is riding on the outcome of this World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Not yet. Not yet. I have one more step to go – and that’s winning the World Series,” Soto said Thursday at Dodger Stadium, on the eve of the Yankees’ first World Series appearance since 2009.

“That’s one of the things people never forget – you can be the best player. You can do whatever you want. But at the end of the day, people remember you because you won a World Series, and what you did for that community.”

Especially in New York.

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Friday, Soto will celebrate his 26th birthday by playing in Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium, a moment that would represent the career apex for 99% of players his age. But Soto, while still a relative kid in big league terms, has done so much in his short time.

He was a World Series champion at 20 – or 21, as that birthday passed by the time the 2019 Washington Nationals captured Game 7 of that World Series. He was traded by the time he was 23, the Nationals fading from contention and Soto rejecting a $440 million contract extension that, crazy as it sounds, was something of a lowball offer.

His time as a National and San Diego Padre almost felt like a prelude once the Padres shipped him to New York in a true win-win deal last December. Nothing against those markets, but the stakes that deal set up were undeniably huge.

A one-year rental – with no guarantees he’d stay any longer in the Bronx. An alliance with the great Aaron Judge, who needed a left-handed running mate in the thick of that Yankee lineup.

And the notion that any Yankee tenure that doesn’t end by winning the last game of the year is something of a failure – even if it’s just a one-year thing.

“This organization is based on championships. Either you’re a champion or not,” slugger Giancarlo Stanton, a Yankee since 2018 now in his first World Series, said Thursday. “Tenures are based on that. It’s not based on, you’re great but almost.

“It’s, are you a champion or not?”

‘He’s built for the biggest stage’

Soto knows the deal, knew it from day one, as he says. And it would be perfectly sensible for Yankee fans or even Soto himself – not that his competitive nature would allow it – to consider that he’s already done enough.

What a Bronx cameo: Forty-one home runs, 109 RBIs, a .989 OPS, and, for the heck of it, a Gold Glove finalist nod in right field that only buttressed his startling and career-best 8.8 Wins Above Replacement.

And if October is when Yankee legends are made, consider that box checked: Soto’s menacing at-bat culminating in a go-ahead, three-run 10th-inning home run to lock up the American League Championship Series against Cleveland and vault New York back into the Fall Classic.

“He’s built for the biggest stage,” says Stanton. “He can handle anything. He’s a great player, generational player, so I don’t think he’s too fazed by it.”

 Five years ago, Soto hit a stunning opposite-field home run off then-Houston Astro Gerrit Cole in Game 1 of the 2019 Series. Now, they are teammates, Cole the Game 1 starter and the one far likelier to bring up Soto’s ’19 blast.

More memories are on deck.

“It’s going to be really special for me, for my family,” he says. “It’s always great to be back and have those memories and share it with this group of guys.

“This group is really special and I’m lucky to have them.”

And then what?

Soto deftly dodged numerous inquiries about his future Thursday, a far more pleasant experience than the same time he was in this patch of Dodger Stadium’s center field plaza. It was 2022, Soto’s rejection of the Nationals’ extension offer was rejected days earlier and now Soto, dourly, faced a media inquisition at the All-Star Game.

“That was crazy. And it was hot, too,” he remembers.

Yet for Soto, the clouds never linger long. He won the Home Run Derby that night, was traded weeks later to San Diego and ended up in the 2022 NLCS.

Now, this moment of truth – and a free agency impossible to escape, especially when teammates Stanton and Jazz Chisholm implored Yankee management to pay this man after his ALCS heroics.

His agent, Scott Boras, is known for demanding top dollar, less renowned for his skills as human shield.

“Scott is doing a really good job not making it hard for me. He’s been taking all the bullets,” says Soto. “I’m just focused on playing baseball right now. And everything that comes to that, I’ll let him do it.

The conditions couldn’t be much better for a Yankee reunion. Soto is effusive in the love he has for his teammates and bonds developed. He’s a perfect fit for the New York stage. And the love is mutual.

“He’s a superstar,” says manager Aaron Boone, “that’s incredibly easy to be around.”

A half-billion dollars, a championship window

Come December, the suitors will be knocking. San Francisco, Toronto, the crosstown Mets and maybe Philadelphia are among the sleeper cells the Yankees will be most concerned with.

All can offer the half-billion dollars Soto figures to command. Most can offer a credible shot at a championship.

And beyond the money, that remains priority No. 1.

“Every player wants to be happy where they’re at. At the end of the day, whenever you win, you’re really going to be happy,” he says. “Wherever you are that you have the chance to win a championship, you’re going to be happy, excited to play for.

“That’s the biggest mindset: Where’s the biggest chance? And go from there.”

Friday night, the Yankees and Soto can get to work on capping this very special one-year arrangement. And perhaps make the notion of breaking it up feel impossible.

Let’s begin with the obvious: we’re 25 days into October, and Texas still hasn’t played a true SEC road game.

We’re eight weeks into the college football season, and Texas – the wealthiest and most powerful sports program in all of college sports, and the prized jewel of the most recent round of conference expansion – will finally on Saturday play its first true SEC road game. 

At longtime SEC lightweight Vanderbilt.

Excuse me while I unfurl this doublewide conspiracy flag, wave it wildly and plant it in firmly in the mud. 

Or as an SEC athletic director told me this week, ‘more than a handful” of the conference athletic directors are furious about the Texas schedule and optics it presents. How it looks – take a deep breath, Deep South – like the Longhorns already run the league.

And away we go. 

We’re barely four months into We’re Texas And You’re Not in the SEC (ask the good folks at the Big 12, they’ll explain it), and I’m not saying there’s buyer remorse, but it’s not all as hunky-dory as it looks. 

Maybe that’s why the league office came out guns blazing in response to Texas fans last week throwing garbage and other assorted nonsense on the field during a welcome to the SEC paddling from Georgia.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey fined Texas some walkin’ around cash ($250,000), and required the school to use “all available resources” to identify fans who threw trash on the field (and at Georgia players) and prohibit them from attending future games. You know, every good conspiracy needs a useful idiot.

Then the SEC declared one more misstep, and the ability to sell alcohol at Texas games could be altered. 

TOP 10 LIST: These remaining games will decide the playoff field

Before you think this is drastic, heavy lifting, understand that Sankey and the presidents did the same thing to Tennessee not so long ago when Vols fans threw trash on the field (and at Ole Miss players) because they, too, knew more than officials. Tennessee’s alcohol sales were also threatened, which is sort of like threatening oxygen for the rest of us.

Officials at Tennessee eventually rounded up all of 25 fans who couldn’t behave, did what had to be done, and no one throws anything on the field in Knoxville anymore. 

This is the way the SEC works: all for one, one for all. Everyone earns equal shares of the billions in media rights, and everyone earns similar punishments for similar incidents.

But as the great George Orwell once wrote in Animal Farm, “All SEC teams are equal, but some SEC teams are more equal than others.” Or something like that.  

It is here where we circle back to the whole schedule thing, an offensive wink and nod to Texas and its first run at the big time. If you think the league’s athletic directors aren’t happy about the gift road to the SEC championship game, the conference coaches are livid.

I spoke to three coaches this week, and each not only confirmed the rift about the laughable schedule given to Texas in its inaugural season, but each also made sure to text Georgia coach Kirby Smart and thank him for making it perfectly clear that Texas may be a member of the conference — but Texas hasn’t come close to experiencing the conference.

Prior to playing host to Georgia, Texas played wildly overrated Michigan, the worst team in the SEC (Mississippi State) at home, the worst Oklahoma team in decades in a neutral site game, and three non-conference punching bags at home. 

The Bulldogs then rolled into Austin, and star quarterback Carson Beck played the worst game of his career. Didn’t throw a touchdown pass, had three interceptions and his receivers dropped nine passes. And it was still 24-0 before you could say all hat, no cattle.

Smart may have wailed after the game that “no one believed” in Georgia, but you better believe everyone in the SEC not named Bevo wanted Georgia to do what Georgia does against every team not named Alabama.

Every team in the SEC wants another Vanderbilt win this weekend, and another goalpost thrown in the Cumberland River. They want Florida coach Billy Napier to save his job two weeks after that, and Arkansas to win its third consecutive game against its former Southwest Conference rival, and Kentucky to find its big game mojo, and Texas A&M to extract 12 years of frustration from Bevo’s hide.

Three of those games (Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Texas A&M) are on the road, where life in the meatgrinder league is difficult no matter who or where you’re playing. It’s just that, you know, Texas got Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Texas A&M. 

While Georgia got Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss.

No other SEC team went further than Oct. 5 without playing a true road game. Oklahoma, Texas’ expansion brother, played its first true SEC road game a month before the Longhorns ― at Auburn, one of the three toughest road venues in the conference.

Texas got Vanderbilt, the easiest place to play in the SEC. if you don’t believe me, ask Nick Saban.

Look, this isn’t a raging, shoot first, aim second conspiracy. These are facts. And because the SEC decided to stay with its current schedule for the 2025 season, Texas will play the same teams in Year 2 with home sites swapped. 

Texas, everyone, is quickly making friends in its new conference. 

Not long after the SEC’s response to Texas fans, Longhorns president Jay Hartzell published an open letter to fans, stating, among other things, that “these actions made a bad early impression on Georgia and our new conference colleagues.”

Don’t worry, Jay. The Texas reputation precedes it. 

The difference is, you’re not in the Big 12 anymore.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X @MattHayesCFB.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi will play his first MLS Cup Playoff game tonight as Inter Miami hosts Atlanta United at Chase Stadium to begin their best-of-three, first-round series.

The match will be available to stream for free via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET (9:30 p.m. in Argentina).

Messi and Inter Miami have won the MLS Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best record, and set the MLS record with 74 points during the regular season. He is also one of five finalists for MLS MVP.

Now, Inter Miami is in pursuit of its third title of the Messi era, while Messi is vying for his 47th title for club and country throughout his illustrious career.

“Well, I think we are one of the favorites,” Messi said during an interview with Apple TV and 433 Football, a soccer content creator company, before the match on Inter Miami’s chances of winning MLS Cup. “I think we are a team that has grown and learned to compete and that will compete with anyone. But I think there are also tough teams who will be very difficult rivals and who will not make it easy. But I think the other teams respect us like we respect them.”

Here’s everything you need to know for the match. Follow live scores and highlights below after kickoff:

How to watch Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United free live stream

The match is available for free on Apple TV, which said this could be the most-viewed match on MLS Season Pass history.

TikTok Messi cam: How to watch Messi on TikTok live stream

The @MLS and @InterMiamiCF TikTok accounts will feature a live stream of Messi during the playoff game. It’s the first time in TikTok’s history a single player will be followed during an entire soccer match.

Is Messi playing tonight?

Yes, Messi is expected to be in the starting lineup for Inter Miami’s playoff game against Atlanta.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United betting odds

Here are the BETMGM moneyline odds: Inter Miami (-250); Atlanta (+575); Draw after regulation (+400). The over/under is set at 3.5 goals.

The line moved significantly since Tuesday: Inter Miami moved from -210 to -250, while Atlanta dropped from +425 to +575.

Messi enters MLS Cup Playoffs at his strongest

Messi’s Copa America ankle injury is long behind him. He appears at full strength, and perhaps stronger than he’s ever been since joining Inter Miami, evident from two hat tricks in his last two matches played.

Messi was also named one of five finalists for MLS MVP on Thursday, and is considered a favorite to win the award.

The Messi marketing machine is also in full effect with the debut of Captain Messi, a superhero toy with Hard Rock International, among other ventures the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is pursing off the pitch.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta stats

What makes this MLS Cup Playoff matchup so enticing is Atlanta is one of four clubs to beat Inter Miami this season.

Messi scored a goal, but Atlanta beat Inter Miami 3-1 on May 29. For context, the match was three days after Inter Miami’s trip to Vancouver, the longest road trip in Major League Soccer.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United MLS Cup Playoff Series

Game 2 will be played Saturday, Nov. 2, in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And Game 3, if necessary, will be played on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Chase Stadium.

The winner advances to meet the winner between No. 4 Orlando City and No. 5 Charlotte.

MLS Cup Playoff format

The MLS Cup Playoffs is not a traditional, two-game, aggregate score format. Instead, every match in the MLS Cup Playoffs is a standalone opportunity to earn a victory. If a score is tied after regulation in the first round, both clubs will immediately compete in a penalty shootout.