OAKLAND, Calif. — The Los Angeles Dodgers franchise has been around, in different forms, since 1884. The Yankees’ roots date to 1903. They are among the most storied and successful teams in the sport’s history, having met in the World Series 11 times.

Yet because interleague play was not introduced in baseball until 1997, the Yankees and the Dodgers have faced each other in only 13 regular-season games in more than a century of coexistence. The most recent time was a three-game series in 2016 when the Dodgers were on their way to another National League West title and the Yankees were headed for a fourth-place finish in the American League East.

The circumstances will be much different in this weekend’s three-game series, which begins Friday in Los Angeles: The Yankees and the Dodgers have the two best records in baseball, and the matchup could be a preview of the World Series. In an everyday sport such as baseball, in which coaches and players preach keeping an even keel to cope with the rigors of the marathon season, this matchup felt deserving of the fanfare.

“It’s something we’ll all look forward to,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said this week, before his team was swept by the Oakland Athletics and matched a season high with four consecutive losses.