The smile got a little bigger, the emotions a little deeper, the meaning a little greater the more Dave Roberts looked around the room.In the wake of last year’s World Series title, in which Roberts led the Dodgers to the second championship of his decorated tenure,

Shohei Ohtani took the field at the Tokyo Dome to the roar of applause as a brief snippet of his walk-up song, "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco, played in the background. Never mind that Friday was just a workout day -- the excitement was real,

They will attempt to defend their eighth World Series title in franchise history. They will also look to become the first MLB franchise to win back-to-back titles since the New York Yankees won three in a row between 1998 and 2000.