Key events
First pitch is coming up really REALLY soon – please stand by!
E-mails
David Athya has written in:
“I think all the neutrals want a 7 game thriller. The Dodgers starting pitching was scarily good against the Brewers but with Bichette returning the Jays have more depth in their line up. Also some of the Dodgers hitters have yet to catch fire. I guess I’m talking myself into a Toronto win tonight to get the series off to a flier.”
They have to get this first game for reasons explained earlier!
Regular Roger Kirkby says:
“Hi Dave, what a set of playoffs we have had to get here, one of the best set of games to end up with two teams left. It’s had it all, pitching, batting and errors. It’s amazing how games change from bobbing along nicely then an error and one team smells blood. It can happen to any player and they must all dread it. Who’s gonna win it all? It’s hard to say. And that’s why I love baseball.”
I do say Jays in seven!
John Keefe gets right to the point:
“Go Jays Go!”
Clean and concise. I like it!
Richard Woods has a word or two:
“As a Jays fan who has followed the downs and ups of this team over the past few years until the drama and joy of this season, may I suggest the most significant improvement has been the outstanding hitting? Fewest strikes out in the majors, consistent significant contact with two strikes, production up and down the order. That hasn’t happened by accident, so in all the talk of players who have made a difference to the team this season may I recognise the addition of David Popkins to the coaching staff?”
I agree, and consider Mr Popkins recognized.
National Anthems
Why on this night do we hear two national anthems rather than one? Well son, because Toronto is in Canada and Los Angeles is in the United States.
Pharrell Williams and a choir called Voices of Fire are singing the anthems tonight, because Nickleback presumably weren’t available.
This rendition of the The Star-Spangled Banner sounds more like a Christmas song than the national anthem. Awful! I give it a 3/10.
O Canada isn’t much better, maybe a 3.5/10.
This is no good!
O Canada!
Canada and the US share a long border and a long history, most of which has been friendly. Sure, there was that border dispute back in 1844, which was actually between the US and the UK, but mostly, it’s been peaceful. Now we have a tariff dispute that has really rubbed Canadians the wrong way, and so this series certainly has a bit more spice than it might have under more normal circumstances. Ontario has been making news by running a commercial spot featuring President Ronald Reagan speaking about free trade, trying to highlight what they believe are bizarre, punishing tariffs against their oldest ally. They’ve even run it during the ALCS, which is excellent ad placement. I’m sure the American audience will be watching it tonight, bringing another dimension to an already enticing match-up
Starting Lineups!
Los Angeles Dodgers
1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Mookie Betts, SS
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Will Smith, C
5. Teoscar Hernandez, RF
6. Max Muncy, 3B
7. Kike Hernandez, LF
8. Tommy Edman, 2B
9. Andy Pages, CF
And Blake Snell on the hill for LA.
Here’s the lineup for John Schneider’s Toronto Blue Jays
1. George Springer, DH
2. Davis Schneider, LF
3. Vladimir Gurrero, 1B
4. Bo Bichette, 2B – running gingerly out of the dugout
5. Alejandro Kirk, C
6. Daulton Varsho, CF
7. Ernie Clement, 3B
8. Myles Straw, RF
9. Andres Gimenez, SS
And Trey Yasavage on the hill for Tdot.
Changes
Slugger Bo Bichette, out since September with a knee injury is back in the lineup, a substantial boost for a team that had little issue scoring this postseason. According to Steve Phillips, former Mets GM and current pundit, Bichette looked absolutely awful running, limping around the bases. So of course, he’s not only playing, but starting at second base, a position he hasn’t played in earnest since suiting up for the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2018. But hey, you can’t argue with logic!
Meanwhile, one of the few trustworthy arms Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has in his bullpen, Alex Vesia, will not be in uniform due to a “deeply personal family matter”.
The Dodgers released this statement:
“It’s with a heavy heart that we share that Alex Vesia is away from the team as he and his wife Kayla navigate a deeply personal family matter. The entire Dodgers organization is sending our thoughts to the Vesia family, and we will provide an update at a later date.”
I hope whatever that is can be resolved, but clearly he will be missed.
The starters
Trey Yesavage is on the hill for the Jays, with all of three regular season games in the can in his young career. Toronto’s former no1 pick stunned the Yankees, who believed incorrectly they would stomp all over the rookie in Game 2 of the AL Division Series. The kid struck out out 11 in 5.1 innings in a game that was pure unadulterated joy for haters of the Bronx Bombers. Yesavage was hit hard in Game 2 v Seattle, but came back strong, going 5.2 innings while striking out seven in a Game 6 win at the Rogers Center.
LA’s starter Blake Snell needs no introduction, having won Cy Young Awards in both leagues. Once criticized for being a five inning pitcher incapable of hurling deep into games, Snell has pitched into the eight inning once and the seventh inning twice in five postseason starts, which is most definitely scary.
How has he performed at the Rogers Centre? He’s made eight starts, struck out 43 batters in 37.2 innings, and pitched to a 2.63 ERA. Most of those starts were with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Jays AL East rivals, and Snell’s record was 3-3 ion those starts. He’s also fresh, having made just 11 starts in the 2025 regular season while sidelined with injuries.
It’s a numbers game
Here’s another stat set I heard on the radio today on my way home from the day gig. The last four teams to sweep their league championship series and then faced a team that went seven games in their league championship series, all lost!
The Dodgers have been on ice for around a week after winning four straight v Milwaukee, while the Jays went the distance against Seattle.
Baseball is bizarre in the sense that rest really isn’t all that helpful, at least to lineups. Hitters, who are creatures of habit, need to hit every day to keep their timing in tact. Sitting around for a few days is OK, but nything more than that is clearly a net negative. I was at the 2006 World Series when the Tigers swept Cleveland and had to wait for the Cardinals who beat the Mets in seven. The Tigers lost in five game and were a total train wreck at the plate, batting .199 and scored just 11 runs.
LA say they’ve been keeping warm by playing split squad games and feel good, but given the history, do you think the Dodger bats will be ready for Game 1?
You are looking live…
…at our rolling coverage of Game 1 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays!
On a plane? Camping in the mountains with no access to a radio? In the Gobi desert with no television? Good news, I’m going to personally guide you through this opening act to the Fall Classic.
Can we be honest with each other? It’s been a long time since I’ve been this giddy about a World Series. I am absolutely 100% brought in on this set providing each and every one of us top-shelf, elite October baseball, no question. It’s gonna happen, you just watch, or read.
We’ve got the Dodgers, with all their pomp, circumstance and star power, v a Toronto baseball team with some thumpers of their own. They actually care about putting the ball in play and avoiding strikeouts! And can even pitch a little bit as well. Yes indeed, this series has it all, and when you sprinkle in the tension between the U.S. and Canada, it has even a little more than that!
Of course, the Dodgers and their traveling team of all-stars, a ballclub that has the five best players in all of baseball – two of which are Shohei Ohtani – do have the edge here. So yeah, Toronto must get off to a good start, establish their offense early, get to that LA bullpen and at the very least, walk out of the Rogers Centre with at least one win in the two first games. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s really the first game that must be won. Why? Because the stats say so. World Series winners have taken Game 1 63% of the time. In the Wild Card era, 24 of 30 teams to win first won it all. Such numbers are extremely difficult to poke holes in.
Do the Jays have a chance? Oh, definitely, and Toronto fans tempted to bow their heads and pray pre-game should know they don’t need a divine strike to win this thing, because they have both the right style of play to counter the Dodgers, and they also have a few formidable horses of their own. Sure, LA is starting Blake Snell tonight, Yoshinobu Yamamoto tomorrow, Tyler Glasnow in Game 3 and finally, Ohtani in Game 4. It’s a formidable rotation, but win a game in Tdot, steal a game in LA, and you’re right back north of the border for a Game 6. That’s what we want – a long dramatic series to take us into winter, please!
So gear up for what I believe will be a long, drama-filled World Series. That means getting your beers, peanuts and cracker jacks ready, which should be done now while there’s still time! You can also join the blog and send me all your thoughts and feelings. E-mail me right here and I’ll put your name in pixels – your mom will be so proud!
More to come. Stick with us!
David will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at our experts’ predictions for the 121st Fall Classic.
Dodgers 4-2 Blue Jays. This will be a closer series than people expect. Expect the Blue Jays to score at least one lopsided victory after knocking out one of the vaunted Dodgers starting pitchers early in the game. The problem for the Blue Jays will be an inconsistent bullpen, not their starting pitching, that will struggle against a patient group of veteran Dodgers hitters. GB
Dodgers 4-1 Blue Jays. It feels predestined that the Dodgers will win. If they have a weakness, it’s their bullpen (a shaky 4.27 ERA in the regular season) – but the return to fitness of Sasaki and his devastating splitter should help them stabilize things if anything starts to go wrong. Meanwhile Toronto need absolutely everything to go right. Maybe they can ride Guerrero and Gausman to one upset, but four wins is an enormous ask. AE
Dodgers 4-3 Blue Jays. Their rotation depth is unmatched, their stars rested and Ohtani’s presence elevates the entire lineup’s confidence. This should be a cakewalk for the Dodgers, but baseball is funny sometimes. Toronto’s offense will make the most of their home-field advantage, but the Dodgers’ combination of starting pitching, discipline and star power will simply prove too much to prevent baseball’s first repeat champion in a quarter-century. BAG
Blue Jays 4-3 Dodgers. Yamamoto, Snell, Ohtani, Glasnow? What are you supposed to do with these guys? They’ve been so good, their beleaguered bullpen only pitched seven innings in their sweep of the Brewers. That’s positively old school by LA. It’s hard to imagine Toronto pulling it off, but now, really try. Imagine Bichette returning to the lineup and picking up where he left while Guerrero and Springer stay white hot. How about Gausman pitching twice at the Rogers Centre where the Jays are so hard to beat? Contact hitters waste pitches and put the ball in play: anything can happen and it does. Suddenly we’re in Game 7 when Addison Barger touches them all in the 10th inning, helping the Jays to their first title since 1993. Not bad, eh? DL
