If a World Series manages to go six or seven games, what inevitably follows is a debate about where the series ranks on people’s all-time list. The 2025 World Series will undoubtedly be on many’s for years to come and will be talked about throughout the upcoming offseason. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the favorites to win the World Series before the season started and they were the favorites to win before the series started against Toronto. In the end they certainly earned it.

I hadn’t seen a pitcher do what Yoshinobu Yamamoto did in a World Series since 2001 when Randy Johnson started two games and came in for relief in Game 7 of that World Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yamamoto’s complete game win in Game 2 and his steady presence in Game 6 allowed the Dodgers to tie the series at 3 apiece. Then when the game went into extras in Game 7, Yamamoto came in relief and was clutch once again keeping the Blue Jays from scoring a walk-off run. Randy Johnson was co-MVP with Curt Schilling in 2001, but there was no doubt who the MVP of the 2025 World Series would be after what Yamamoto accomplished.

An 18-inning Game 3 had an unlikely hero out of the Dodgers bullpen. Will Klein had only pitched in 14 games during the regular season and hadn’t pitched a single inning of the Postseason before the World Series was the winning pitcher in that affair. He allowed only one hit and struck out 5 while pitching the final four innings for the Dodgers in Game 3.

Shohei Ohtani was entering the series as the talk of baseball once again. He live up to the billing at the plate, especially in Game 3 hitting 2 home runs, 2 doubles and walking 5 times with four of them being intentional. He batted .333 for the series and drove in 5 runs. He was not nearly as effective on the mound though, but it didn’t matter in the end.

Aside from Ohtani the rest of the lineup was underwhelming which was a detriment for them for most of the series. Will Smith batted .267 and drove in 6 runs to lead the team in that category. His go-ahead solo home run in Game 7 was the deciding factor in the end for the Dodgers to win back-to-back championships for the first time in franchise history.

This is a period in time that the Dodgers haven’t seen in quite some time. If the playoffs were expanded in the 1960s, 70s and 80s there would have been many more Postseason appearances for this franchise. Alas they have clinched 13 consecutive Postseason berths, 12 division titles and 5 World Series appearances in this current timeframe. There is nothing currently to keep them off of this current trajectory.

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers on winning their 9th World Series title in franchise history.