To be the champ, you have to beat the champ, and seemingly no one can stop the Dodgers. Despite a valiant effort from the Blue Jays, the Dodgers just don’t lose. In an extra innings classic outlasted Toronto, winning their 3rd championship in six years. The Dodgers left it late with a game-tying home run from Miguel Rojas, saving the Dodgers’ season, before a Will Smith home run in the 11th would give them the lead. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto would shut it down to finish off the Dodger repeat. 

The Dodgers steamrolled their way to the World Series. They sent a Reds team home in two games in the Wild Card round, and then sent the Phillies packing in four games. Then, in the NLCS, they would make very short work of the Brewers in a 4-game sweep. The Blue Jays’ road was much more difficult. After making short work of the Yankees, they would have to battle their way back from being down 0-2, and later on 3-2, to take the Mariners to a game 7. This was decided by a George Springer 3-run home run that sent the Blue Jays to their first World Series in 32 years. The Dodgers would have 7 days of rest, which would turn into rust by World Series game 1. Thanks to a 9-run 6th inning, capped off by an Addison Barger grand slam, the Blue Jays would storm to an 11-4 win in game 1. 

The following night, a complete game from Yamamoto would send the series back to LA, tied up. In game 3, an 18-inning thriller, which saw Shohei Ohtani reach base 9 times, 37 runners left on base, and 19 pitchers used, would end with an 18th inning Freddie Freeman walk-off home run. With the Blue Jays seemingly having no momentum, they would come back and take the next 2 games in LA, with dominant outings by Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage, and the unlikely spark plug in Davis Schneider complimented by the regular fire power of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Going back to Canada with their backs against the wall, Yamamoto would toss 6 innings, giving up just 1 run, and setting up a “do or die” Game 7.

With Shohei Ohtani on the bump, it was hard to fathom the night not ending in a Dodger win. But Ohtani’s impact would be underwhelming for the Dodgers, being chased from the game in the third inning after a 3-run bomb from Bo Bichette, sending the Rogers Centre into a frenzy. The ageless wonder, Max Scherzer, would outdo his Japanese counterpart, pitching into the 5th and leaving with a 3-1 lead. The tensions of a long playoff series would boil over when Andres Gimenez would be hit in the hand after trying to lean into the previous pitch, resulting in the benches clearing on both sides. Later on, despite the lead being cut to one, Gimenez would provide a key RBI Double, which was swiftly canceled out by a towering home run from Max Muncy. John Schneider would hand the ball to closer Jeff Hoffman in the 9th inning to send Canada into party mode. 

However, it would not be Hoffman’s night. Hoffman would blow his first save in over 2 months, as Dave Roberts would let Miguel Rojas hit, and tie the game at 4. In the bottom half of the inning, Roberts would turn to Yamamoto, and as things became tense, he would also turn to Andy Pages as a defensive replacement in center. Pages was chosen over Justin Dean, the usual defensive replacement for the Dodgers. Of course, an Ernie Clement drive to deep left center would see Pages’ truck teammate Kike Hernandez to make the catch and send Game 7 to extra innings. The intense game of chess would continue to the top of the 11th, where Will Smith would break the deadlock with a drive to deep left, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 lead, and their first of the game. Now, Roberts would put Dean in Center, but would ride it out with Yamamoto, with Kershaw and Sasaki up in the Bullpen. Despite a last-gasp Blue Jays rally, the game would end on a 6-3 double play turned by Mookie Betts, to clinch the first World Series repeat since the 2000 Yankees completed their 3-peat.

3-time champion and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw said, “There’s no hierarchy here. Everybody does their job in trying to win the game. There’s not one thing that’s more or less important than the other thing,”(ESPN). The Dodgers have their critics; some say they’re “bad” for baseball, but one thing you can’t deny is that they win. “There’s always critics,”(ESPN), said manager Dave Roberts, but the criticisms of his management are very much going away. Roberts is now a 3-time champion, and after being labeled a choker for years, he seems to always push the right buttons. Roberts puts faith in his guys, and every single person on that roster matters. Just like Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman matter, guys like Justin Dean, Andy Pages, and Miguel Rojas do too. No playoff roster spot is wasted, and that is why the Dodgers are so good at what they do.

The Dodgers’ win will only intensify rumors of a lockout in 2027. With the ever-looming salary cap awaiting, who will budge is an issue for the winter of 2026. The right-here-and-now is that the Dodgers win. They spend better than everyone else, they hit better than everyone else, they pitch better than everyone else, and they manage better than anyone else. It’s hard to imagine anybody stopping them from reaching the mountain top again in 2026.