- Share via
- The Dodgers clinch back-to-back World Series titles with a dramatic 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.
- Miguel Rojas hits a tying home run in the ninth inning; Will Smith delivers the go-ahead blast in the 11th to clinch the title.
- The first team in 25 years to win consecutive titles, the Dodgers have captured three championships in six seasons, cementing their dynasty status.
The Dynasty Dodgers.
Shout it as loud as a Will Smith home run, ball soaring, arms flailing, blue immortality awaiting.
Shout it as deep as a Miguel Rojas home run, impossible, unimaginable, shaking all of Los Angeles, forever.
Shout it long enough to line a parade.
The Dynasty Dodgers.
Two measly outs from a World Series Game 7 defeat, the Dodgers roared back in the final breaths of baseball’s ultimate game Saturday to pull off an ultimate victory, overtaking the gritty Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre to steal a 5-4, 11-inning win for their second consecutive World Series championship.
In becoming the first team in 25 years to win consecutive championships, in winning their third title in six seasons, the Dodgers are now certifiably a dynasty.
And Rojas and Smith are certifiably Dodgers icons after Rojas’ home run tied the score in the ninth and Smith’s home run gave them the lead and decided the game in the 11th.
“We’ve put together something pretty special, I do know that,” said manager Dave Roberts after leading their fifth champagne party this fall. “To do what we’ve done in this span of time is pretty remarkable. I guess let the pundits and all the fans talk about if it’s a dynasty or not, but I’m pretty happy with where we’re at.”
The classic ended with an Alejandro Kirk double play grounder in the bottom of 11th induced by a third icon, series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who finished with 2 ⅔ scoreless innings despite throwing 96 pitches 24 hours earlier.
The Dodgers raced to the center of the diamond where they bounced and danced in a group hug that became a massive dogpile of both exultation and relief.
It was a fitting celebration for an ending that was so wild, at one point Roberts simply tugged his cap down toward his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.
“There were so many pressure points and how that game could have flipped, and we just kept fighting, and guys stepped up big,” said Roberts. “So I could just go on and on about the big plays, the big performances, and it’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever been a part of.”
With one out in the ninth, trailing 4-3, Rojas, who entered the game without a hit in a month, hit a full-count slider from Jeff Hoffman over the left-field fence for only his second home run since August.
“We were going to play 27 outs,” said Roberts. “Obviously, it doesn’t look great in that moment, but I trust him to take the at-bat, and he got a pitch that he could handle and hit the biggest hit he’s ever had in his life.”
In an 11-inning thriller, the Dodgers rallied behind home runs from Miguel Rojas and Will Smith to defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 in Game 7 of the World Series.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth of a 4-all tie, with the Blue Jays having loaded the bases with one out, Rojas created greatness again by making a great stop of a Daulton Varsho grounder and throwing out Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the plate.
As if that wasn’t dramatic enough, Andy Pages added to that greatness by leaping over Kiké Hernández in left field to catch an Ernie Clement fly ball to end the inning.
Two innings later, Smith hit a Shane Bieber hanging slider 366 feet over the left-field fence for their first lead of the night, and one just knew the Dodgers weren’t going to give it away.
“I’m having a hard time unpacking it, just what a great series, what a great game, and I think we’re going to be talking about this game for a long time,” said Roberts.
It was an appropriately resilient three-inning finish that capped an ultimately inspirational eight-month marathon.
A season that began in Japan in March ended in Canada on Saturday night with the Dodgers conquering all worlds in between.
There was arguably more pressure on this team than any other collection of players in major league history, and, yet, somehow, the Dodgers thrived.
In the end, the team that couldn’t lose didn’t lose. The invincible Hall of Fame lineup proved unbeatable. The richest team in baseball history was pure money.
The team that everyone outside of Los Angeles booed ended up with cheers that will echo through the ages.
Goliath won. Sorry about that, Davids.
While celebrating the sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, Dave Roberts famously shouted to the Dodger Stadium crowd, “Before the season they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball. Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”
In showing their mettle time and again in this classic seven-game series, the Dodgers didn’t ruin baseball, they revived it.
It was first and foremost a victory for the Mark Walter-led Guggenheim Baseball Management. With this victory they become unquestionably the best owners in baseball and soon, with Walter’s purchase of the Lakers complete, they could soon be the best owners in all of sports.
They make a ton of money, but they pour it back into the team at a pace unmatched by their baseball peers. Ticket prices go up, but some of that money goes right to Freddie Freeman. Parking prices are obscene, but so is the ability of Shohei Ohtani.
Not once in their 13-year tenure has Guggenheim been accused of passing up talent to save money. In most other markets, that is an accusation made daily.
Second, this was a victory for the man in charge of spending all that money, baseball genius Andrew Friedman. Yes, he nearly blew it this year by wasting money on lousy relievers this winter and then not adding to the bullpen at the trade deadline. But it turns out his starting pitching would be enough, and it was, all four starters appearing in Game 7 at a cost of more than $1 billion. Friedman has been right far more than he’s been wrong as the architect of most of the 13 years of greatness.
The Dodgers’ 2025 championship parade starts at 11 am. on Monday and runs through downtown, followed by a rally at Dodger Stadium.
Third, the victory belongs to Roberts, the manager who, with this third title, has gone from hassled to the Hall of Fame. He is not only a worthy successor to the legend of Tommy Lasorda, he has won more than Lasorda while serving as the perfect face for the organization and a calming touchstone for its players.
Never a clubhouse controversy? That’s Roberts. Never a battle between super egos on a team with several future Hall of Famers? That’s Roberts. There was a time Roberts struggled with pitching changes, but he has seen matured and evolved and often now shares a heartbeat with the countless relievers he summons.
In the end, they not only ran it back, they sprinted it back, they slugged it back, and then, finally, they literally Will-ed it back.
The Dynasty Dodgers.
Highlights from the Dodgers’ 5-4 win in 11 innings over the Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series.
