This is sort of the Holy Grail of Southland big-league baseball.

The Dodgers vs. the Angels in the World Series.

SoCal print journalists have been writing about this concept almost from the minute the Angels were created, in 1961. And it’s never come close to happening. I can remember a dozen times when we did season previews suggesting it could happen. Usually because the Angels looked vaguely competitive, for a chance.

Who came up with the term “Freeway Series”? I don’t know, but it was a long time ago. Yes, probably 1961, the Angels’ first year. It’s not the wittiest thing ever, so maybe three or four scribes came up with it independently. It was fairly obvious, considering it had “Subway Series” (Yankees vs. Giants or Dodgers) as an antecedent.  Subway, Freeway, sure, of course.

Anyway, for only the second time in history, the Angels and Dodgers are in the playoffs in the same season. Thus, we can prattle on about a Freeway Series. You know, up and back on the I-5.

But don’t count on it.

The Angels have a real chance of making it to the World Series. The just won 100 games and demonstrated they have all the basics — strong starting pitching, adequate hitting, defense and speed. They also have home-field advantage for however long they last.

Dodgers? Flip side. They were an ordinary team for five months, got hot for two weeks (in a stunningly bad division) and ended up winning it with an 84-78 record — the 15th-best in baseball — and won’t have home-field advantage ever.

Now they get the Cubs in the first round, and will be an underdog, and if they somehow win that series (and, keep in mind, they haven’t won a playoffs series of any sort since 1988), they would get the Phillies or Brewers and be an underdog in that series, too.

And if they somehow survive, and the Angels don’t stub their toes against the Red Sox (which has happened a time or two) or the Devil Rays-Twins/White Sox survivor … then we’ve finally got that matchup we talked about but never really expected — a Freeway Series.

That would be a fairly big deal. As big a deal as baseball can be these days, which isn’t what it was 30, 40 years ago. But it would be a big deal. Both the Dodgers and Angels draw 3 million a year, so they have actual fans out there, even if they aren’t household concepts like the Lakers or the NFL or USC football.

Anyway, Dodgers and Angels? Could happen, because they’re both still playing.

But do I expect it? Not at all. Not for one minute. I think the Dodgers will be done a week from now.