World Series Preview: Who Will Raise the Commissioner’s Trophy?
Courtesy of The Los Angeles Times.
By Anthony Curioso
For baseball fans, the end of October and the beginning of November mean one thing: the World Series has arrived, and soon there shall be a new champion in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The World Series is a best-of-seven-game series featuring the winners of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS), both of which are also best-of-seven-game series that feature the winners of the two leagues’ best-of-five-game Division Series (ALDS and NLDS).
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions, will once again represent the National League (NL) in the 2025 World Series. The Dodgers achieved this by sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Championship Series following their victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, whom they defeated by a margin of three games to one in the Division Series (NLDS). They also swept the Cincinnati Reds in the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ star pitcher and designated hitter, was named the MVP of the NLCS after an outstanding performance in the series-clinching Game Four. In that game, he hit three home runs and struck out ten batters while allowing only two hits over six innings.
The Toronto Blue Jays will represent the American League (AL) in the 2025 World Series after defeating the Seattle Mariners in a thrilling seven-game AL Championship Series. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Blue Jays’ star first baseman, was named the ALCS MVP as a result of his impressive .385 batting average throughout the series. The Blue Jays’ victory in the ALCS came after defeating the New York Yankees three games to one in the ALDS. Additionally, they earned a bye to skip the Wild Card Series at the start of the 2025 MLB playoffs by finishing with the best record in the AL during the regular season.
The last time the Blue Jays appeared in the World Series was in 1993, when they defeated the Phillies in six games. This 1993 victory marked the Blue Jays’ second consecutive championship, highlighted by a dramatic walk-off three-run home run hit by Joe Carter to win Game Six and the title.
The 2025 Blue Jays became the first Canadian MLB team to reach the World Series since the franchise’s two consecutive championships in 1992 and 1993.
The Dodgers are striving to become the first team to win consecutive World Series titles since the Yankees accomplished this feat by winning three in a row from 1998 to 2000. The most recent team to reach the World Series again in the year following a championship win was the Phillies, who triumphed over the Tampa Bay Rays in five games in 2008 but lost to the Yankees in six games in the 2009 World Series.
2025 will be the first time that the Dodgers and Blue Jays have ever met in the World Series. However, both teams have members of their current rosters and coaching staffs who previously spent time with the opposing team. Current Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez spent his first six MLB seasons in Toronto from 2017 to 2022, while current Blue Jays starting pitcher Max Scherzer spent half a season as a Dodger after having been acquired from the Washington Nationals at the Trade Deadline in 2021. On the coaching side, current Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly managed the Dodgers from 2011 to 2015, while current Dodgers first-base coach Chris Woodward was drafted by the Blue Jays in 1994 and played for Toronto for seven of his twelve MLB seasons.
As has been the case since 2017, home-field advantage in the World Series goes to the participating team that achieved the better record in the regular season. As such, Game One of the 2025 World Series will be held on October 24 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time at Rogers Centre in Toronto, because the Blue Jays achieved one more win during the regular season than the opposing Dodgers. Rogers Centre will also host Game Two of the 2025 World Series, as well as Games Six and Seven if the series extends to that point.
