From start times to ticket prices, here’s the latest details on the 2023 World Series

Arizona Diamondbacks fans wait in a long line at Chase Field to buy last-minute World Series tickets. Ticket prices have doubled since the team advanced Tuesday with a win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 7 of the NLCS. (Photo by Hunter Fore/Cronkite News)

PHOENIX – To the amazement of much of the baseball world and the chagrin of a certain Mad Dog radio voice, the Arizona Diamondbacks, for the first time since 2001, are playing in the World Series. The Fall Classic begins Friday against the American League representative, the Texas Rangers, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, for Games 1 and 2 before the series shifts to Chase Field in the Valley.

No one could have predicted the Diamondbacks and Rangers would be the last two teams standing after the way their 2022 seasons fizzled. As a result, fans are buying expensive tickets, – up to $9,000 on some secondary markets sites – booking flights and hotels, placing bets and laying out gameday ‘fits.

Both teams finished more than 10 games below .500 in 2022, which makes it the second-lowest winning percentage in the previous season for World Series teams (.438). Only the Atlanta Braves-Minnesota Twins’ 1991 World Series matchup featured a lower winning percentage in the previous season (.429).

Few thought it would happen, including radio personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who said he would retire immediately if the Diamondbacks captured the NLCS. They did and he didn’t.

Longtime Diamondbacks fans still remember the 2001 finish as if it were yesterday. In what was one of the most iconic World Series ever, Luis Gonzalez etched his name in Arizona history in Game 7 against the New York Yankees by hitting a walk-off single against MLB Hall of Famer, Mariano Rivera. Tony Womack provided the team’s first-ever playoff walk-off hit against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. The “Big Unit” Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling offered a one-two pitching punch that still lingers in baseball lore.

Those were a few of the players the Diamondbacks relied on 22 years ago, and Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, Zac Gallen and Arizona’s bullpen are crucial for this season’s team.

Carroll and Marte have already cemented their names during the 2023 postseason. Carroll, the future NL Rookie of the Year, has looked like a veteran in his first-career playoff run. He became the youngest Diamondback to hit a postseason home run and was vital in the team’s Game 7 4-2 victory Tuesday night that left the Philadelphia Phillies bewildered in front of their home crowd.

Marte hit the Diamondbacks’ third-ever postseason walk-off hit during the NLCS and has recorded a hit in an MLB-record 16 consecutive postseason games to begin a career. Gallen has been named Arizona’s Game 1 starter and has struggled in his past two starts. Gallen allowed nine earned runs in 11 innings against the Phillies. The Diamondbacks’ bullpen has been lights out this postseason, especially against the Phillies. Arizona’s relief pitchers combined for nine scoreless innings in Game 6 and 7.

The Diamondbacks will look to shut down another star-studded lineup in the World Series, including ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia who hit five home runs for the Rangers in the series.

Here is everything else you need to know about the World Series:

Game 1:

Date: Friday at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Weather: 81 degrees (thunderstorms expected)
TV: FOX
Ticket prices: $424-$2,029 on Ticketmaster, $408-$7,119 on SeatGeek
Odds: Texas Rangers -156 Moneyline

Game 2:

Date: Saturday at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Weather: 80 degrees
TV: Fox
Ticket prices: $448-$2,306 on Ticketmaster, $416-$8,899 on SeatGeek
Odds: Not available

Game 3:

Date: Monday at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Weather: 82 degrees
TV: Fox
Ticket prices: Not available on Ticketmaster, $506-$5,231 on SeatGeek
Odds: Not available

Game 4:

Date: Tuesday at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Weather: 82 degrees
TV: Fox
Ticket prices: Not available on Ticketmaster, $472-$4,519 on SeatGeek
Odds: Not available

Game 5 if necessary:

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Weather: 77 degrees
TV: Fox
Ticket prices: Not available on Ticketmaster, $502-$5,231 on SeatGeek
Odds: Not available

Game 6 if necessary:

Date: Friday, Nov. 3, at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Weather: Not available
TV: Fox
Ticket prices: Not available on Ticketmaster, $478-$6,340 on SeatGeek
Odds: Not available

Game 7 if necessary:

Date: Saturday, Nov. 4, at 5:03 pm PDT
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Weather: Not available
TV: Fox
Ticket prices: Not available on Ticketmaster, $585-$31,849
Odds: Not available