Dodgers Repeat
Outer Wilds, 2019, Image by Mobius Games.
This article was originally published on FarFromProfessional.com (11/2/25).Against the odds, the L.A. Dodgers defend their 2024 title in Toronto.
The Dodgers pulled off the improbable comeback, down 3 games to 2 in the series, and then down 3 runs to 0 in Game 7. They were statistically the lesser of the two teams. Mentally, it looked like the Blue Jays had all the mojo throughout the series, and they had tapped into it again at the perfect time in Game 7. Every time they needed a big hit, they seemed to get it, except in the four games they lost. In those games, the Blue Jays may have had the first punch, but they didn’t have the last.
They had Vlad Guerrero Jr. on one of the great postseason offensive runs. They had Ernie Clement, who wasn’t a household name before the series but ended up with the most hits in postseason history. They had George Springer, who people like for some reason. They had Barger and Kirk and Varsho and Gimenez racking up hits like they were the Beatles of batting. They represented a city with the only baseball team in the country. They represented the entire Dodger-hating world, and they had home-field advantage.
They didn’t have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won three of the four games in the best-of-seven (Will Klein won the other game, an 18-inning gauntlet of attrition). They didn’t have Mr. World Series, Freddie Freeman. They made the wrong mistake at the wrong time and couldn’t scrape across a single run when it mattered the most. They couldn’t put the knockout punch on the defending champs, and they got knocked out in the end.
From this Dodgers’ fan’s perspective, the 2025 World Series was an emotional roller coaster of frustration and elation. Game 1 was a blowout, and I didn’t want to believe it set the tone. After Game 2, I felt better about where the Dodgers were at in the series. With three games in L.A., it wasn’t unreasonable to think they could win two of them. Game 3 went six hours plus and ended with the Dodgers winning. This was the best I felt all series about how things were going. I thought they would ride the momentum of an 18-inning win right into a Game 4 win, but that didn’t happen. Now worries because there was always Game 5. When they lost that one to fall in the series, 3 games to 2, heading back to Toronto, I felt bad about the series but held on to a shred of hope because of Yoshi. He did enough to get the win, and Game 7 was pretty much a nail-biter until the end. When Freddie threw his hands up after completing the double play, it was a shock. I couldn’t believe the series was actually over. The Dodgers had done it. Many people have already called this the greatest World Series ever. I agree. The two best teams in each league sqaured off and went beyond the distance, playing an entire extra game and then some.
Thanks to an unlikely hero, a familiar slugger, and a downright gangster on the mound, the Dodgers made history, going back-to-back for the first time in MLB since the Yankees of the lates 90s (1998–2000). Before we get to speculating whether or not the Dodgers can pull off a three-peat, I just want to enjoy the offseason, another one of basking in the joy of being the best team in baseball.
