DODGERS DO IT AGAIN: Dodgers Win Game 7 Thriller in Extra Innings to Capture Second Straight World Championship, Cementing Their Dynasty

Photo by Los Angeles Times

TORONTO, CA: If you had read that headline before the start of the 2025 regular season, most Dodger and baseball fans wouldn't have been surprised. After defeating the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series and winning their first championship in a full season since 1988, the Dodgers didn't just sit back and be satisfied with it. They were looking to "ruin baseball" and put themselves in a stratosphere that only a couple of franchises in baseball have been able to accomplish. The front office went out and signed Blake Snell, the best starting pitcher on the free-agent market, and signed (at the time) one of the best bullpen pitchers in baseball, Tanner Scott. They also brought back some fan favorites, like Kike and Teoscar Hernandez, and, in addition to retaining the same core of players, including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith. A revamped starting rotation to go along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw. Adding a few new pieces to the bullpen "dawgs". The Dodgers, on paper, had the perfect team with the desire and hunger to win it all again.

So why play the games? No point in going forward with the season. The Dodgers are just going to steamroll through everyone. Wrong. This 2025 season was anything but easy for this Dodger club. After getting off to the historic 8-0 At the start of the regular season, which included securing the first two wins in Japan, the Dodgers were battle-tested numerous times throughout the regular season. Some of it was due to their own self-inflicted wounds, while at other times, the Dodgers would downplay their own competition. Like any other sports team, throughout the season, players can get hurt, which can cause them to miss time. Well, the injury bug was hitting the Dodgers just a bit more.

By the middle of May, all of the starting pitchers were on the IL. At one point, your Dodgers rotation was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, and a couple of rookies or AAA call-ups getting their cracks at the major league level. This had a ripple effect on the bullpen, as the starters were unable to go deep into games, causing the bullpen to be heavily used at the early stages of the season. It was only a matter of time before some of the bullpen guys would get hurt as well, and sure enough, that's what happened. Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, and Alex Vesia all went down at different points of the season. Three key pieces of the bullpen that helped win a title just a season ago. Even the everyday lineup had its injury issues. Max Muncy has two injuries that caused him to miss huge parts of the season. Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez were dealing with ankle injuries. After a while, it felt like all the injuries were starting to snowball for this team.

Eventually, they did recover, but another issue soon arose. Problems in the bullpen, and the Dodgers not playing up to their competition. I mentioned at the beginning of this that Tanner Scott was one of the big signings of the off-season for this club, and as the season progressed, it became clear that he was a problem. He blew more than 10 saves this season and felt like every time the Dodgers were calling his name, something bad was about to happen. However, it wasn't all just him. Guys like Anthony Banda, Alex Vesia, and Blake Trenien each had their fair share of struggles throughout the season.

Along with the bad bullpen, the thing that was most frustrating for me personally with this team was watching them not play up to their competition. They had some ugly stretches throughout the regular season when they weren't playing good baseball and losing series to teams like the Angels, Rockies, and Pirates, while not playing well against teams like the Padres, Brewers, and Astros. There was even a horrible stretch at the beginning of September when the Dodgers had a six-game road trip against the Pirates and Orioles. They lost five out of six, including one game where Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one strike away from throwing a no-hitter, but he ultimately lost it on a solo home run, got pulled, and the bullpen blew the game once again. This was all happening while the Dodgers were in a tight NL West division race once again with the San Diego Padres. I was so upset and heated about that loss that I recorded an emergency episode of "Think Blue," titled "Melo declares the Dodger season over." (Man, do I feel like such an idiot now.)

Even with all the expectations coming into the season, injuries to key players, the bullpen blowing leads left and right, inconsistency from the offense, and just some bad stretches of play, this Dodgers team still found a way to hold off the San Diego Padres to win the NL West division again, win 93 games, clinch a postseason berth, and most importantly, get an opportunity to defend their world championship. Something that no team in baseball had been able to do since the New York Yankees at the end of the 20th century. If this season taught me anything, it was not to take the regular season so seriously all the time. The Dodgers were built for October, and the 162-game regular season was all just one big dress rehearsal. Once the calendar flipped to October, the Dodgers took off from there. Going 9-1 in the first three rounds of the postseason and taking out the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Series, and the top two seeds in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. Securing their fifth National League pennant in nine seasons. In the World Series, the Dodgers faced a team that would pose the most significant challenges during their October run—the Toronto Blue Jays. A team that really came out of nowhere in 2025. To an outsider, this World Series matchup felt like David vs Goliath, but everyone in baseball knew that was far from the truth. However, most people picked the Dodgers to win this series. The Dodgers got punched in the mouth in Game One, losing 11-4, and responded in Game 2 with late-inning homers and a complete game thrown from Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The series shifted to LA, and in Game 3, we were treated to one of the longest World Series games in history. Ending with a Freddie Freeman walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 18th inning right before midnight at Dodger Stadium. Also, in that crazy back-and-forth game, new heroes emerged like Edgardo Henriqez and Will Klein. Even the legend Clayton Kershaw, who announced his retirement right before the end of the regular season in September, got a huge out with the bases loaded in the tenth inning to keep the game tied.

The Blue Jays took games 4 and 5 at Dodger Stadium, taking a 3-2 series lead, and would go home with a chance to close out the World Series at home and win their first title since 1993. Now this was the final test for me personally as a fan. Do I learn from the mistakes I made about this Dodger team over the summer and still hold onto my belief? Or do I let my emotions get the best of me again and not believe? Thankfully, even after the Game 5 loss and leaving Dodger Stadium, I still felt like the Dodgers had a chance to come back and win this series. LA would end up forcing Game 7 with another outstanding pitching performance from Yamamoto, and on a dramatic double play to end the game, courtesy of Kike Hernandez and a beautiful pick by Miguel Rojas. And, of course, in Game 7, we were treated to one of the best games in MLB history as the Dodgers came back from being down 3-0 to win the game in the 11th inning, 5-4. It was a total team effort. Tyler Glasnow, Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, and Blake Snell all pitched fantastically to give the offense a chance to get back into the ballgame. And the offense got big home runs from Max Muncy to pull the Dodgers back to within one in the 8th inning. Miguel Rojas, someone you least expected, popped a home run in the 9th inning off the Blue Jays closer to tie the game, and Will Smith, who had a good postseason again, hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the 11th to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night in Game 7. And lastly, Yoshiobu Yamamoto, coming in out of the bullpen, on no days' rest and throwing 96 pitches just the night before, throws 2 and 2/3 innings, including closing out the World Series after getting Alejandro Kirk to ground into a double play. Did I mention he saved the Dodgers' season in the 10th inning as well? The Blue Jays had the bases loaded with one out, and Yamamoto was able to get a ground ball out on a play at the plate and a long flyout to left center field, in which Andy Pages made a terrific catch. All while taking out Kike Hernandez. Without question, Yamamoto was named World Series MVP, and the Dodgers won the World Series for the second straight season, and most importantly, cementing their dynasty.

This was their ninth World Series championship in franchise history and their third championship in six seasons, and this one has to be one of the sweetest ones. After everything they went through this season, and with their backs against the wall and honestly getting mostly outplayed by Toronto for most of this World Series, it speaks volumes to the culture that Dave Roberts and his coaching staff have built over time, and having players that believe in each other and will do whatever it takes to win. I felt this way before the Dodgers won back-to-back World Series titles, but these last two runs ending in championships have really put the stamp of approval on it. This is the golden age of Dodger baseball, without question. Since 2013, they have been to the postseason every season, they've won the NL West every year except in 2021, eight trips to the NLCS, five National League pennants, five trips to the World Series, and three World Championships, including becoming the first baseball team of the 21st century to win back-to-back. Notably, Dodger Stadium has led the league in attendance for almost ten seasons, with an average of approximately 3.5 million fans or more attending games each season.

Additionally, Shohei Ohtani is the best player in the world; he's bigger than the sport itself, and the Dodgers are reaping substantial financial benefits from him alone. We're so spoiled. This is an all-time great run by this Dodger franchise, and there are no signs of it slowing down. These last two years have been dream seasons that have created memories and moments that will last a lifetime, and not just for me, but for the players and the entire city of Los Angeles. I'm fortunate to be alive during this golden era of Dodger baseball, watching this franchise become the crown jewel of the sport. If this is all a dream, I hope I never wake up.