World Champions

The Dodgers proved to be the better team by winning games six and seven of the World Series, tying game seven in the ninth with a homerun from number-nine hitter Miguel Rojas and winning it on an eleventh-inning homer by catcher Will Smith. Dodgers 5 Blue Jays 4. The Dodgers survived the vanity project that is Shohei Ohtani the pitcher, who, given the ball to start game seven, left his team in a 3-0 hole after 2.1 innings. But five LA relievers combined for 8.2 innings of one-run ball to set up the Rojas-Smith heroics. A real tip of the cap to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched 2.2 scoreless innings for his third win of the Series. Not only that, Yamamoto pitched one night after throwing six innings in game six. The Dodgers were also lucky. Ermie Clement hit a ball with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth that caused a collision between left fielder Kiké Hernandez and center fielder Andy Pages, who somehow held onto the ball. A foot to the left, and Pages may not have made the play. And if Daulton Varsho had hit a ball like that to the outfield one batter before, the Jays win on a sacrifice fly or hit. Instead, Varsho grounded to second baseman Rojas, who was playing in with the bases loaded and one out. The ball staggered Rojas, who needed a moment to steady himself before throwing to the plate to force Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the plate. To me, it looked like Kiner-Falefa beat the throw, piano on his back and all. That’s the thing. Kiner-Falefa was put into run for Bo Bichette after Bichette had singled with one out. The umps weren’t going to make a call that made up for d Kiner-Falefa failing to get a good lead off of third, and they shouldn’t have. But there was more than luck going on. I’ve never been a particular fan of Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts. I mean, give me that lineup, and let’s see how I do as skipper. But Roberts definitely brought his A-game last night, e.g., his defensive substitution of Pages, and he definitely took a big risk pitching Yamamoto back-to-back nights. And it worked. In contrast, Toronto’s John Schneider sure looked like an Ontario deer caught in the headlights. It's the World Series, where weird stuff happens (see Rojas and Yamamoto, above). Twice, in the ninth and the eleventh, the Jays had the bases loaded and came away empty. My sixty years of playing Strat-O-Matic Baseball told me the need to roll the dice (pardon the pun or enjoy it) here. And, what would I have done? Suicide squeeze, pure and simple. A bunt in that situation puts all sorts of pressure on the defense. Pitchers typically aren’t great fielders, so, there would’ve been a good chance Yamamoto either would not have fielded the ball cleanly or he would’ve made a bad throw to home. If I kind-of thought Schneider should’ve bunted with Varsho (who went 0-for-5 on the night), I was practically screaming at the TV screen with Alejandro Kirk up in the eleventh. A 5’8” catcher weighing 245 pounds, Kirk could be the poster boy of likely double-play candidates. And what did Kirk do? After fouling off two pitches, he hit into a tailor-made, 6-3 double play. I don’t know for a fact that Kirk has ever bunted in his life; doesn’t matter. It’s the World Series, and you go big or you go home. The only player left on the Toronto bench was backup catcher Tyler Heineman, a switch-hitter, by the way. That would’ve given Heineman an advantage against the righthanded Yamamoto (and put him a step closer out of the box). Nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, the Dodgers in seven. Adieu, Baseball 2025.