Pro football is nearly at midseason, college football is in full swing, the NBA season has just begun, along with the NHL. And you know what people are talking the most about this week? They are talking about baseball. They are talking about the Blue Jays and the Dodgers and Shohei and Freddie and Vlad. Weâ€re all talking about a Fall Classic that already feels just that: classic.
Theyâ€re talking about the 18 innings that the Dodgers and Blue Jays played on Monday night, all the way to midnight in Los Angeles and nearly into the middle of the night on the East Coast, one of the greatest World Series games ever played. And now theyâ€re talking about how the Blue Jays came back from losing it and have won the last two games by a total score of 12-3.
So much has happened this October in baseball, and may still be happening in Toronto on Nov. 1, Saturday night. There have been so many moments, and memories made, and the way things have been going, in this Series alone, you know there are more to come. But the beauty of what we have seen over the last week is that the World Series can still feel like the national pastime in two countries and not just one.
Think about it: One night after the second 18-inning game in Series history, one night after Ohtani once again looked like the best baseball player whoâ€s ever lived — and acted like the biggest sports star in the world — there was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stealing his thunder with a two-run homer — off Ohtani — that felt like it squared the series for the Jays even though the game was still just 2-1 at the time.
Last night? Davis Schneider hit the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall and then Vlad Jr. went back-to-back with him and the Jays were on their way to being one win away.
Two more October swings. A Game 5 that was one more memory for Jays fans. It feels as if there have been at least a dozen moments like this in a World Series that will be passed on. And this Series isnâ€t over yet.
Which fans who stayed up for Game 3 will ever forget the drama of Clayton Kershaw, in what might have been the last appearance of his career, coming out of the bullpen with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th?
This isnâ€t about people who love the Blue Jays wanting Nathan Lukes to get the hit that would most likely have won that game for the Blue Jays. This is just about the people who love baseball, and who were rooting for Kershaw to somehow get out of this jam, and do it at Dodger Stadium with a game like this on the line.
In a Hollywood setting, this was an extraordinary Hollywood moment, in a sport that still frames moments like this better than any other. So there was Kershaw breaking off one more Kershaw curve and Lukes rolling one to Tommy Edman at second base. There was Sandy Koufax, the greatest Dodger left-hander of them all, in the stands to watch it happen.
This was after Ohtaniâ€s two home runs, and before the Blue Jays started walking him on a night when he would ultimately reach base nine times, one more ridiculous number for a ridiculous talent like this. This was before Freddie Freeman hit another walk-off extra-inning home run in the World Series, one year after his walk-off extra-inning homer against the Yankees.
So many heroic moments from relievers in Game 3, so many terrific plays in the field. There was that amazing throw Vlad Jr. made across the infield to nail Teoscar Hernández at third base — it’s part of World Series history now. So is the similar one Edman made in the same game.
And in your life, you will never see a more perfect relay play than we saw from Teoscar and Edman and Will Smith, Smith finally putting the tag on Schneider at the plate. If any part of the play had taken just a split-second longer, if either throw had been bobbled or errant, Schneider would have been safe. But he wasnâ€t. Go back and look at the start of the play, in the right-field corner, and how far Hernández went to retrieve the ball and how quickly he got rid of it, even running to his left — before he threw a dime to Edman.
Weâ€ve had all that to go with Yoshinobu Yamamotoâ€s dazzling complete game, and 22-year-old Trey Yesavage, the kid throwing the game of his young life in Game 5, dominating the Dodgers as he struck out 12. He reminded you of 23-year old Josh Beckett going into Yankee Stadium in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series and dominating the Yankees that way.
Now the whole thing goes back to Toronto, where I once watched Joe Carter walk off a World Series in another Game 6, back in 1993. You know what the best thing is about the best World Series any of us have seen in such a long time? It really isnâ€t over yet. Itâ€s still baseball season. Yeah. National pastime. Times two.
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