Big Bear Nolan's Blog

Last night, game 7 of the MLB World Series took place between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays took place. For 90% of the game it looked like the Jays were going to take home their first Championship since 1993, but in the 9th inning, a game tying home run from Miguel Rojas and incredible defensive plays from Rojas and center fielder Andy Pages got the winner take all game to extras tied at 4-4. The Dodgers ended up taking it in the 11th inning after a go-ahead home run from Will Smith and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk to ground into a game ending double play to win the game and the World Series. This was not an easy series for LA as the Dodgers had to come back from a 3-2 deficit and win the final two games on the road at a hostile environment in the Rogers Centre.

Many MLB fans were disregarding the Dodgers for how they have been able to get all these superstars. Yes, they found a loophole in the deferred contracts. But I do not think fans should be that mad at the Dodgers. This whole Postseason and World Series, in fact the whole season was anything BUT the Dodgers cruising. In the middle of the season, the Dodgers were dealing with injuries and a really rough bullpen. The Dodgers summer involved it getting a season sweep from its neighbors in the Los Angeles Angels. Heck the rough summer only allowed the Dodgers to get the No. 3 seed in the National League Playoffs despite still coming through and winning the NL West.

The Dodgers run to get here even with the loaded roster was nothing short of impressive. Los Angeles opened up the Postseason with the Wildcard round against the red hot No. 6 seed Cincinnati Reds. LA did not fool around as they crushed the reds 10-5, and 8-4 to sweep the series and advance.

In the NLDS, Los Angeles met with No. 2 seeded Philadelphia, it was a series that most dubbed the unofficial NLCS. Philadelphia had home field advantage as the Phillies started the series at Citizens Bank Park. Dodgers did all of its offense actually in the two games at CBP. LA won both games 5-3 and 4-3, the Dodgers caused the Philadelphia fans to actually boo Jhoan Duran’s flaming walkout intro. After Philly won game 3 8-2, Dodgers grinded out a long 11 inning game 4 where with the bases loaded, Pages put a grounder in play and forced Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering to make a throwing error towards home and the Dodgers won the series.

Dodgers advanced to its second straight NLCS and it faced the NL and MLB No. 1 seed Milwaukee Brewers. Not only was this the first NLCS between the two since 2018 where the Dodgers won in 7, it was also the first time both met up since Milwaukee won all 6 regular season games between the two. This time around, the script completely flipped as the Dodgers led by the four headed dragon of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani crushed the Brewers. The only game Milwaukee really could’ve won was game one as the Brewers left the bases loaded down by one to end the game. Otherwise, the Dodgers played fundamentally better in all phases of the game on the way to a 4-0 sweep

LA wrapped up the Postseason run with the teams second straight appearance in the World Series with a match against the Toronto Blue Jays. Similar to last year, the Dodgers faced the AL East champion and the AL No. 1 seed. After getting dominated in game one, LA won game two 5-1 behind a complete game from Yamamoto and the Dodgers came out with the win in the 18 inning marathon in game three behind another walkoff home run from Freddie Freeman.

Toronto dominated the next two games in all phases of the game and as the series shifted back to Toronto with the Jays holding a 3-2 lead it looked to be all but over. However, similar to the 2024 NLDS where the Dodgers came back from a 2-1 deficit to the rival Padres, Los Angeles did not quit. Behind another big outing from Yamamoto, the Dodgers used a 3-run third inning to carry themselves to the win. LA also needed a big fly out double play from LF Kike Hernandez and Rojas to secure the win.

Game seven to wrap it up was nothing short of incredible, despite the Blue Jays holding the lead for 90% of that game behind the Bo Bichette 3-run home run. It looked like Toronto was going to get the World Series, that was until in the 9th with one out down 3-4, Rojas came up with the biggest home run of his life as he tied the game in the final frame of regulation. The bottom of the inning after Snell put two Jays on base with one out and Yamamoto came in for relief and hit his first batter. The bases were loaded, again Rojas came up in a big spot but this time was with his glove as he scooped up a fast grounder and was able to get the throw home just in time to get the speedy Isiah Kiner-Falefa out at home by a foot. Then when it looked like Ernie Clement was about to get the winning run in with a drive to the outfield, Pages crashed into his teammate Kike Hernandez and the wall to make a game saving catch and send the game to extras.

After a scoreless 10th, Dodgers catcher Will Smith broke the tie with a go-ahead home run to left field to make it 5-4 in the 11th. With Yamamoto still on the mound, Vladimir Guerrero Jr led off the bottom of the inning with a double and then got to third with a sacrifice bunt from IKF. The Dodgers ended up walking Addison Barger to put runners on the corners with a double play canidate in Kirk coming up. They got the double play from Kirk and the Dodgers officially did what was last done by the late 1998-99 Yankees team did, win back to back World Series’.

As I typed all of this if you notice something, this post was not filled with “home run from Ohtani, home run from Freeman, home run from Betts” while Ohtani did have a legendary game 4 in the NLCS. The Dodgers didn’t just win with their superstars, it was a full team effort. This run was far from perfect especially for Dodgers standards but they just kept themselves in games and found ways to win. It is what they did all year, for that reason I don’t think they should be looked upon bad just cause of their roster. Their roster is an example of what a well constructed roster can do, even with big flaws.