History Repeats Itself: Seven Games of Pure Cinema.
By: Cole Taft
The 2025 Major League Baseball World Series was one for the history books. Records were broken and familiar faces were crowned. The matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays reminded everyone that baseball is, and always will be, America’s favorite pastime.
The Dodgers came into the series with a regular season record of 93-69, while the Blue Jays surpassed all expectations with a 94-68 record. The Dodgers’ path to the World Series came with ease as they only lost one postseason game before clinching the National League pennant. On the other hand, the Blue Jays had lost four postseason games, before finally winning the American League pennant for the first time since 1993. Both teams brought superstars to the table such as the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts. Ohtani also is a favorite to win the National League MVP award. This would be his fourth in just five years. The Blue Jays featured Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and George Springer.
There was plenty of hype surrounding the series, even though most people thought that the Dodgers would dominate like they had all postseason. The Blue Jays proved they belonged after a successful Game 1 performance in which they whipped the Dodgers 11-4. Game 2 went to the Dodgers as they squeezed by, winning 5-1, after putting up four runs in the last three innings.
The first two games had nothing on Game 3. Game 3 featured a record-breaking eighteen innings. Other records broken during the six-hour and thirty-nine-minute soap opera included: 19 pitchers from both teams, 130 total at-bats, 609 pitches, and 19 stranded runners for Toronto. Individual records included: Ohtani reaching base nine times and Freeman hitting his second career walk-off home run in the World Series, being the only person to do so more than once. This game ended 6-5 with a Dodgers walk-off homerun.
The next two games belonged to the Blue Jays. Game 4 ended in a mighty 6-2 victory. Game 5 had an almost identical result, with the Blue Jays winning 6-1. The Toronto Bluejays were then 3-2 in the series, shocking many. They had overcome a devastating Game 3 loss and responded with back-to-back victories. Game Six would belong to Los Angeles, with the Dodgers ending in a 3-1 victory. This would tie the series up 3-3.
Now, the greatest words in sports… Game 7! All sports fanatics dream of these words. These words mean last minute drama, anticipation, and history being decided in just nine innings. The game lived up to the hype as it truly came down to the wire. It would go into extra innings, before catcher Will Smith hit a clutch homerun in the top of the 11th to make it 5-4 Dodgers. In the bottom of the 11th, the Bluejays attempted to revive their season hopes, but Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto would retire all three batters. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series for the second consecutive year. The MVP of this series would rightfully belong to Yamamoto.
Even though Game 3 had lots of records broken, there were others throughout the other six games. In Game 7, the final out was a double play. This is the first time a double play was recorded to win Game 7. It was the most watched MLB game globally in thirty-four years with 51 million viewers. Will Smith caught the most innings with 73 total innings. Yamamoto was 3-0 on the road, which made him the first pitcher to do so.
This year’s World Series was definitely one to remember and will be talked about for many years to come.
