This year’s World Series brought the Los Angeles Dodgers (the defending champions) and the Toronto Blue Jays (who haven’t made a World Series appearance since 1993) face-to-face for a memorable seven games, ending on Nov. 1 with a Dodgers win. In the days since its end, the series is already being called one of the best of all time.
Multiple World Series records were broken over the course of two weeks: the Blue Jays scored 105 runs, the most in the postseason of any team in history, and their infielder Ernie Clement had the most hits (30) of any player in the postseason. In total, 609 pitches were thrown, also the most in postseason history and up from the previous record of 563. Shohei Ohtani, hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers who is increasingly becoming known as the greatest baseball player of all time, dominated whenever he was on the field and broke multiple individual records, flying past milestones set by Babe Ruth almost a century ago.
“After that, you just kind of take the bat out of his hands,” said John Schneider, manager of the Jays. During Game 4, Ohtani became the first player in a postseason game to reach base nine times (no player had ever reached more than seven), and the first to be intentionally walked four times (a defensive maneuver that concedes a base to the opposing team to neutralize a good hitter, or in Ohtani’s case, the best hitter).
Not only were the games entertaining, but so were the storylines: game three, on Oct. 30, seems to have been the most memorable, with its total of 18 innings over almost seven hours. It is now tied as the longest postseason game in MLB history. Baseball seems to have the reputation of being a long and boring game, especially if you’re not watching it live in the stadium (or didn’t grow up burdened by your father’s team). In actuality, the average baseball game tends to take about two and a half hours, not dissimilar to other sports.
The longest professional baseball game in history took place between two minor league teams in 1981, lasting 33 innings for a total of eight hours. The game began with over a thousand people in the stands. At 4 a.m., when the game was stopped at the 32nd inning, only 20 people were left. The 33rd and final inning would be played over two months later, with five thousand people in the stands. Overall, tennis still holds the record for the longest sports match ever played: eleven hours and five minutes, also over the course of three days.
During game seven, minutes to midnight (already three a.m. on the East coast), Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman’s home run won the seemingly never-ending game for his team at the top of the 18th inning. Fans in attendance posted live about the game on social media, saying that by the time the game ended, Dodger Stadium had run out of concessions, the lines to the bathroom were unbearable, and the stadium organ player would play “Never Ending Story.” Still, above it all, everyone knew they had witnessed history.
22-year-old rookie Trey Yesavage had only made his major league debut in September before being sent out to pitch for the Blue Jays in Games one and five, where he ended up setting all-time rookie records. Over seven innings, he struck out 12 players (including Ohtani), and became the first pitcher in major league baseball history to accomplish the feat twice in a single postseason. “Hollywood couldn’t have made it this good,” he said after the game. In April, he had been pitching in the minor leagues, and now, less than seven months later, he’s known for giving one of the best performances in the World Series.
While the Dodgers ultimately clinched the World Series for their second consecutive win, both teams played spectacularly. The Toronto Blue Jays, who just last year had ended in last place in their division, should still be proud of their performance and the most memorable postseason run they’ve had in 32 years.
“I just love these guys so much,” Jays player Ernie Clement said after the loss. “It was so much fun coming to work every day. We gave it everything we had. When you fall short, but you can say that you left it all out there, there’s something to be proud of there.”
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Finley Tipton and Katie McCabe