The 2025 Major League Baseball season is over after an exciting season. The playoffs started when the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the National League Central Division and earned the first round bye for the National League. The Philadelphia Phillies followed by clinching the National League East followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers clinching in the west. The three wild card teams for the National League were the Chicago Cubs in the fourth seed, the San Diego Padres in the fifth seed and the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth seed. In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays earned the one seed and a bye. The Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers gained the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth seeds, respectively.
In the wild card round, the Dodgers swept the Reds in two games, due to stars like Shohei Ohtani, Freedie Freeman, and Blake Snell. In total, their contracts add up to over one billion dollars, a topic that has become the center of debate between MLB fans around the country.
“I think it’s fair to spend that much money, they want to win and can spend however much to win. If other teams want to win then they should spend more money,” said junior Jake Wilber.
Proving his worth, Shohei Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs in the NLCS Game 4. The Dodgers then went on to play the Phillies, beating them three to one in a five game series. The red-hot Brewers proved no match for the Dodgers, as they were swept in the championship series and sent home in four games.
“I thought the Brewers had a chance, but the Dodgers just have too much starpower,” said sophomore Leo Raber.
On the other side of the playoff bracket, the Blue Jays had an easy route to the World Series as they earned the first seed in the American League. The Yankees took care of the Red Sox in the wild card, and they went on to face the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. was a clutch player for the Blue Jays throughout the entire postseason and especially in this series, in which he mashed two massive home runs in Games 2 and 3. The Blue Jays went on to win the series in four games, advancing to the ALCS.
Up next was the Seattle Mariners with Cal Raleigh, who led the league in the most home runs. Toronto struggled initially, and they ended up down three games to two in the series. In Game 6 back in Toronto, the Blue Jays hit the Mariners hard with big home runs by Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Addison Barger to force a game seven. Game 7 started with both teams putting runs on the board, and the Mariners capitalized in the middle of the game, putting up two more runs. After the seventh inning stretch, a miracle happened. With one out and men on second and third bases, George Springer hit a homerun to give the Blue Jays three runs and take the lead. The Blue Jays went on to advance to the World Series.
The World Series matchup was set with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dynasty taking on the underdog Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays struck first in Toronto to take the lead with explosive offense and dreams to end their thirty year title drought. The Dodgers took Game 2, evening the series before it headed back to Los Angeles. The Dodgers squeaked out the Game 3 victory in a close one. In Game 4, the Blue Jays made quick work of the Dodgers and took the win 6-2 due to a home run from first baseman Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and a big hit from Andrés Giménez. Game 5 in LA was a blowout with the Dodgers falling short once again to Toronto. Going back to the east coast, the Blue Jays were leading the series three to two and only needed one win in the next two games. However, the Dodgers had different plans, as they fought back to win and force Game 7.
Game 7 was pure chaos with the lead going back and forth. A home run to save the season by Dodger second baseman Miguel Rojas tied the game for Los Angeles. The Blue Jays fell short on a big chance in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off and win, sending the game to extra innings. One whole inning of competitive play with no scoring sent it to the 11th inning. With two outs and the season on the line, Will Smith hit a line drive over the left fielder’s head giving the Dodgers the lead. The Blue Jays had three outs to try to win or tie. Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched in the bottom of the 11th and Guerrero, Jr. hit a double, then Kiner-Falefa bunted to move him over. After a walk, the Blue Jays then hit a ground ball to Mookie Betts, the shortstop, who took it himself to second base to get an out and then threw to Freedie Freeman on first base to finish the double play and win the World Series.
“This was one of the best, if not the best, World Series of all time. I’m just upset with the outcome of the Dodgers winning,” said sophomore Parker Perceval.
In the end, the Dodgers were once again the team to beat, showing their prowess by winning the World Series for the second year in a row. On the other hand, the Blue Jays unfortunately fell short, but they are in a great position to go and win the whole thing next season and are certain to be a favorite, along with the Dodgers, Yankees, Mariners, and Phillies.