Just call it television’s home run

The Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers might not excite the masses, but from a TV ratings aspect, there’s potential gold in this October’s postseason field -- the possibility of not one but two New York-Los Angeles showdowns.

First, the Dodgers play the Mets in the division playoffs. If they win that series, and their bullpen survives the next round, the Dodgers will reach their first World Series since 1988 -- possibly against the Yankees.

For Fox, this would be the utmost in fantasy baseball. You can already picture the network splicing together the Dodgers-Yankees video montage: Don Larsen, Johnny Podres, Sandy Amoros down the left-field line, Al Gionfriddo against the left-field bullpen, Sandy Koufax against Mickey Mantle, Bob Welch striking out Reggie Jackson, Reggie launching three baseballs over the Yankee Stadium fence.

Tom Lasorda could join Tim McCarver in the booth for a mid-game chat. Joe Buck would be silenced for an entire inning.

Buck would remind everyone that the Red Sox went more than 80 years without winning the World Series after letting Babe Ruth go to the Yankees. (Old habits are hard to break.) And for a cleverly arranged reenactment from the 1978 World Series, Bill Russell would throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 4 and Jackson would hip-check it into the Yankees’ dugout.

Trivia time

How many times have the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Yankees in the World Series?

If Dodgers hold up their end

No other matchup could compete with the Dodgers-Yankees for national TV ratings, but other potential World Series pairings involving the Dodgers offer irresistible story lines ...

Dodgers versus A’s: Bill Buckner refuses to be interviewed about how he blew Game 5 of the 1974 World Series by getting thrown out at third while trying to take an extra base.

Dodgers-Tigers: Fox rolls out vintage footage of Kirk Gibson cussing out baseball reporters in both Los Angeles and Detroit.

Dodgers-Twins: Minnesota’s Torii Hunter wins Game 1 with a dramatic steal of home, calls it payback for L.A.’s steal of the Lakers.

But if they don’t

Other World Series story lines waiting to be beaten into the ground ...

Padres-Yankees: Whatever happened to Scott Brosius?

Padres-Tigers: Flashbacks of Padres in their ’84 uniforms losing to Tigers will be sponsored by Taco Bell.

Mets-Yankees: Six years later, revisionist historians reexamine Clemens-Piazza incident. Was it ‘roid rage?

Mets-A’s: Willie Mays to be brought out before Game 1 to drop ceremonial first pitch.

Mets-Twins: To inspire his players, Ron Gardenhire shows Twins the motivational film, “The Demolition of Old Metropolitan Stadium.”

Cardinals-Yankees: Do you suppose McCarver will mention the ’64 Series?

Cardinals-A’s: Young fans will be stunned to learn that Tony La Russa actually won a World Series with the ’89 A’s.

Cardinals-Twins: Young fans will be stunned to learn that Les Straker actually started two games against the Cardinals in ’87. And the Twins still won the Series.

Cardinals-Tigers: Rematch of ’68 Series. What odds will Denny McLain be laying?

Trivia answer

Since moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers are 2-2 in World Series against the Yankees, winning in 1963 and 1981, losing in 1977 and 1978. The Brooklyn Dodgers lost six World Series to the Yankees, Brooklyn scoring its lone triumph in 1955.

And finally

Minnesota’s late-season rally to win the American League Central title scrambled the AL division matchups. Detroit fell to the wild-card slot, drawing the Yankees, and the Twins wound up playing the A’s.

Subsequently, the first three games of the Twins-A’s series will be played during the day, whereas the Yankees and Tigers receive prime-time treatment.

“We’re just a piece of meat,” the Twins’ Hunter told USA Today. “We were prime steak when we were playing against the Yankees. Now we’re just turkey sandwiches.”

mike.penner@latimes.com