#MLBVideos: How this Game 7 Changed Baseball Forever

How this Game 7 Changed Baseball Forever

Game sevens are some of the best things that sports can offer. The culmination of a back andforth series after a long arduous season. But this game seven between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays was way more than that. After 162 games and a postseason, the season came down to just one singular game. With two lineups littered with stars from all corners of the globe, multiple momentum swings, and even extra innings, this game did not disappoint. But more importantly, this game was a moment in baseball’s long history and gave the entire world a glimpse into the future of the sport. To understand the magnitude of this game, let’s dive into the context around it. The Los Angeles Dodgers came into the season off a 2024 title, beating the league’s most decorated franchise, New York Yankees in five games. The Dodgers were attempting to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1999 2000 Yankees. Both the Dodgers lineup and pitching staff were stacked with superstars. So many MVPs and future Hall of Famers like Mookie Betts, Freddy Freeman, and Show Otani. And of course, longtime Dodger legend Clayton Kershaw, who is in the bullpen for what everyone knew would be his last game. And of course, the Dodgers cannot be talked about without mentioning their trio of Japanese stars, rookie Roki Sasaki, Yoshobu, Yamamoto, and two-way player and one of the best players in the game and maybe all time, Shay Otani. Now, on the other side, the Jays were seeking their first title since going backto back in 1992 and 1993. The team is led by Dominican superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who is the son of the great Vladimir Guerrero senior, a Hall of Famer in his own right. Mexican catcher and all-star Alejandro Kirk was behind the dish. Bob Bashette was at second and leading off was veteran and former champ George Springer, who was playing through an oblique injury sustained in game three. Backed by the entire country of Canada and on their home turf in the Rogers Center, the Jays were searching for glory for the first time in decades against the dynastic Dodgers. The series to this point was a wild one with role player Addison Barger hitting the first ever pinch hit grand slam in the World Series in game one. Then the two teams battled out a whopping 18 inning, 6-h hour, 39minute game three that was capped off by a Freddy Freeman walk-off homer. something he managed to do the year prior in the form of a grand slam against the Yankees in the World Series. The Jays then took the next two in LA behind Shane Bieber and their offense in game four and a masterful performance by rookie Trey Yavage in game five. So coming back to Canada, the Jays had a chance to win their first title in 30 years in game six, but the Dodgers ultimately prevailed, forcing a winner take all game seven. On the mound for the Jays was 41-year-old future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, who was becoming the oldest player to start a winner take all game in World Series history. Opposing him was Shi Otani, a Japanese two-way player who has grown into the largest star in the sport, capturing audiences across the globe, including most notably in his home country of Japan. In 2023, Otani led Japan to a monumental victory over the USA in the World Baseball Classic final, a game that was watched by 42.4% 4% of households in the country of Japan. Even though the game was at 8:00 a.m. local time, Otani closed that game and earned a save in a famous atbat against Mike Trout. And in this game seven, he was getting a start on the mound and leading off in the Dodger lineup. Something pretty unprecedented in any World Series game, much less a game seven. The game got off to a tame start through the first two innings with Otani getting out of a jam in the second. But in the third, longtime Jay Bo Bashette got his World Series moment by blasting a three-run home run to give the Jays a lead. The Dodgers quickly answered with a run of their own in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the benches cleared after Andre Jimenez was hit by a pitch from Dodgers reliever Justin Robleski, making the rest of the game rather tense. The Jays then brought in their phenom starter Trey Yavage, who started the year in single A, but had since become a postseason hero for them, tallying 12 strikeouts in a game five victory. However, in the eighth inning, with the score 4 to2, Maxy hit a towering home run to right field off the rookie, bringing the Dodgers to within one. But nothing, and I mean nothing, would prepare us for the drama in the ninth inning. Enter James closer Jeff Hoffman, who had only given up one earned run in nine postseason appearances before game seven this year and none in his last seven. Hoffman got Kik Hernandez swinging for the first out and with the Jays just two outs away from their first title in over 30 years. Stepping up to the plate was veteran Miguel Rojos. Now Rojos is a very important player for the Dodgers, but to this point in 2025, he’s only slugged seven home runs. After a few pitches, the count was workful. Then Hoffman threw a slider down and into Rojos, who dispatched it into the left field pen for a game-tying, seasons saving home run. But we’re not done with the ninth inning yet. With the game tied at four, the Jays managed to load the bases with just one out in the bottom of the frame, just needing to bring home Isaiah Ker Falefa from third base to win the World Series. Next up with one out, Dalton Vo stepped up. He ended up hitting a ground ball directly at Rojos at second base who backhanded it and got IKF at the plate by seemingly what was inches. And I’m telling you, inches. Next up was Ernie Clement, a player who had been released by two franchises within the last four years, who earlier in the game broke the record for the most hits in a single postseason and now had a chance to win the World Series for all of Canada. Clement sent a fly ball deep to left center field. The whole crowd held its collective breath as Andy Pahes and Kik Hernandez raced back. The two outfielders collided with Pahes emerging with the ball in dramatic fashion. The Jays were that close that close twice to a World Series title. So extra innings it was to determine a champion. In the 11th starter Shane Bieber entered the game for the Jays, the sixth starting pitcher to appear in this game between the two teams. After two quick outs, Dodger catcher Will Smith stepped up and hit a go-ahad homer, silencing the Rogers center. But the Jays still had their superstar Vlatty Jr. coming up in the bottom half of the inning to try and tie the game. Standing in the way was the inevitable Yoshobu Yamamoto, the Japanese superstar right, pitcher of two complete games during the postseason and had pitched six whole innings and 96 pitches in a victory the night before. zero days rest he’s about to pitch on in this winner take all game seven despite Yamamoto Vlad like he did all postseason delivered he gave his team a lifeline by doubling to left to lead off the frame IKF sacrificed him over and the Jays were just 90 ft away from extending the game with one out next was Addison Barger who drew a walk putting the double play into effect and of course the next hitter Alejandro Kirk hit a routine ground ball to shortstop Mookie Betts And the rest is history. Here’s the O2 pitch. Kirk bounces one up the middle. That’s to the back over the face to beat the champ. You got to knock him out. The Dodgers stand tall and win backto back titles. This game, this World Series was insane. Two franchises on quest for historic titles playing out in epic fashion. But this game seven might be larger than we realize for the sport as a whole. The series featured the game’s best player, Show Otani. The series MVP was won by Yamamoto and Vlad Jr. hailing from the Dominican Republic, took on the star role of a team from Canada. The series also featured the affforementioned Freddy Freeman, someone who proudly represents Canada where his parents are from. and Mukie Betts, one of the best players of the last decade and biggest American stars, also captured his fourth championship with the game seven win. All of this meant that this game seven was the most viewed baseball game in 34 years, dating back to game seven of the 1991 World Series with 51 million people tuning in between the United States, Japan, and Canada. 51 million. That’s insane. In Japan, home to Otani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki, game seven averaged 12 million viewers despite a 9:00 am local start time. This comes off the back of the Tokyo series between the Cubs and Dodgers to kick off the season in March. Two games that averaged over 24 million viewers in Japan. In Canada, the game became the most watched English language broadcast on record outside of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The world’s attention was on this game seven and for that matter the entire series really. In attendance throughout the series, we had stars like Drake, LeBron, Sydney Sweeney, Justin Bieber, Brad Pitt, and much more. And online, some of the biggest stars in athletes were tuned in. Between this and the final of the World Baseball Classic in 2023, baseball is truly becoming a global phenomenon. Domestically, this game seven between the Dodgers and Blue Jays pulled in a whopping 25.98 million viewers, and that’s with a team that’s not even from the United States. Now, baseball has never been a stranger to global superstars, but the pure volume and talent level of foreignb born stars in the league today is unprecedented and has truly made baseball a global game, bringing fans and viewership along with it. Much like the final of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, World Series game 7 can be seen as a flash point for the future of the sport, marking the immense impact global stars and rule changes have and will continue to have on the future of the game.

World Series Game 7 was one of the best games we’ve seen, to cap off one of the best World Series and Postseasons we’ve seen. We take a look at the impact it could have on MLB and baseball as a whole.

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