The first World Series I watched on television was in 1950 between The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. The overmatched Phils were swept by the Yanks, and I went on to see some 75 years of great games. No World Series, however, matched the one we saw that ended in extra innings in Game 7 on the first Saturday night in November.
I must admit that when Toronto and Seattle were playing each other in the post-season playoffs for the right to represent the American League in The World Series, I was rooting for Seattle to win and face the National League-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. After all, the Seattle Mariners have never had a team in the World Series and Toronto is a Canadian team and the country’s top politician is calling for a Palestinian state. Much better for our president to invite an American team to the White House.
The third game of the World Series between Los Angeles and Toronto was tied after eight innings and I had a hunch that it would go into extra innings, so I decided that this old man would go to sleep and find out who won the next morning. The game was one for the ages. It went 18 innings with the Dodgers winning 6-5 via a home run by Freddie Freeman. Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs, two doubles and walked five times for a night to remember.
The game took six hours and thirty-nine minutes. 609 pitches were thrown, 312 by Dodgers pitchers and 297 by the Blue Jays. Game 7, however, was the best, most dazzling, best defensively played and featured more heroics than any final World Series game that I have ever seen in my 75 years of following the game, including years of press box credentials.
The Series winning Dodgers were outscored by the Blue Jays over seven games 34 to 26, but the final score in each game, of course, is what matters. One reason the Dodgers didn’t score many runs was Mookie Betts. He played a great shortstop but his bat was silent. In 29 official at-bats (Betts walked six times), the highly-paid superstar only managed four singles for a .138 average.
Hitter-pitcher Shohei Ohtani, who hit 55 home runs in the regular season, hit three homers in the World Series and batted .333. The surprising hero for the Dodgers in Game 7 was second baseman Miguel Rojas, who hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning. It was his first hit in a month and only his second home run since the middle of July.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was comfortable on the big stage with the spotlight shining. He started Game 6 and finished Game 7 by shutting down Toronto. Overall, Yosh-Yam pitched 17.2 innings and compiled a low 1.02 Earned Run Average and was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Series. The two best pitchers on the Dodgers are Japanese. Baseball guys call Japanese baseball teams part of the Dodgers’ minor league system. You can bet that the Dodgers will sign the current biggest star in Japan before next season.
The Dodgers and Blue Jays were good teams as the regular season proved. Toronto won 94 games and Los Angeles had 93 victories. Right now, they’re the favorites to repeat in 2026, but free agent signings can push some teams higher.