Tonight sees Game One of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.
The defending World Series champions versus Canada’s team making their first World Series appearance since 1993.
Ahead of what many are seeing as a David vs Goliath battle between the juggernaut Dodgers and the underdog Blue Jays, we asked a fan from both teams – Dodgers fan Ian Blease and Blue Jays fan Daniel Woodrow – to give us their thoughts on their team’s chances in the upcoming Fall Classic.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are in the World Series, and anyone who isn’t a Dodgers fan is already bored or at least pretending not to be impressed.
Everyone by now has heard multiple opinions that they are “trying to buy the championship” or even that they have “ruined baseball”. And honestly, even through my blue-tinted glasses, I get it.
I get it because I said the same thing about the last great dynasty in MLB – the Yankees of the late 90s and 00s. But you know what, to this day, I could have a good go at naming their starting nine – they were the defining team of the generation, and that is why you should care that the Dodgers are in the World Series for the fifth time since 2017. We are witnessing greatness, but not only that, greatness that is being renewed.
From the (admittedly well-paid) but largely homegrown team of 2017, only Kikè Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw remain.
The Dodgers juggernaut is no-doubt driven by their ownership group’s deep pockets and willingness to invest in the playing squad, but it’s also the front office’s ability to capitalise on other teams’ mistakes.
For example, the Red Sox let Mookie Betts go, and the Braves chose to sign Matt Olson over extending Freddie Freeman. These were franchise players allowed to walk – you could even argue that Freeman was pushed out of the door. Elsewhere, Max Muncy was picked up from the A’s scrapheap, and proven postseason powerhouse Kiké Hernandez was brought back after another Boston blunder. They also saw something in Tommy Edman that St Louis didn’t.
They also signed Shohei Ohtani for $700m, and that is the deal that cemented the Dodgers’ reputation as the new evil empire. This deal paved for the way for first Yoshinobu Yamamoto and then Roki Sasaki to join from Japan – further angering critics that the Dodgers had cornered the Asian market – but nothing says “Come here if you want to win” quite like a $700m statement of intent. And almost two full seasons into Ohtani’s tenure, he’s looking like a bargain. The on-field product is just about the best-ever, and the increase in revenue from the East has been huge. The Dodgers knew what they were doing.
So, why should you care that the Dodgers are in the World Series? Well, you would probably really enjoy it if they lost… And, if that’s not enough, they have several players on the roster who are locks for the Hall of Fame. Enjoy them, because they won’t be in their prime forever.
You might not appreciate them now, but you’ll remember them fondly in the years to come.
Ian Blease is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, and head coach of the University of Lancashire (formerly ‘UCLAN’) baseball team.
Toronto Blue Jays
The bookies and pundits may think that the World Series is a foregone conclusion, but the Blue Jays are a team that has been proving people wrong all year, and they’re not about to stop now.
From finishing bottom of the American League (AL) last season to winning it this year, this is a team that knows how to fight and battle. Although it won’t be easy against a superstar team with an incredible starting rotation, there are lots of reasons for optimism.
George Springer is already one of the greatest postseason players of all time. His game-winning three-run home run against the Mariners was the 23rd of his postseason career – the third-highest in baseball – and he was the World Series MVP in 2017. He is also coming off the back of a great 2025 season that saw him improve his average from 0.220 to 0.309. He sets the tone, leads from the front, and I expect him to have another great series.
Bo Bichette is back too – after a nasty knee injury ended his regular season in early September, the Blue Jays’ best hitter is ready to play. It remains to be seen how his knee holds up and how quickly he can regain the form that gave him a 0.311 average and second place in the American League for hits, but a firing Bo Bichette improves the offence and also makes it harder for the Dodgers to walk Vladdy if he is coming in straight after him.
Speaking of which…
…Vladdy is on fire! The face of the franchise, fresh from signing his 15-year, $500 million contract this year, has been absolutely crushing it in the postseason. So far, he has an average of .442 including 11 runs, 19 hits, 6 homers and 12 RBI, and he was deservedly named the ALCS MVP after the Game 7 win against the Mariners. It means so much to him too. The video of him with tears in his eyes as he took it all in on Monday hit so hard because we know how much it was hitting him so hard, and if he carries his form on into the World Series and overcomes the high quality of starting pitching that is coming his way, then he gives the Jays a really good chance.
Even if Vladdy has an off game though, the team has shown throughout the season that everyone is capable of contributing. The Jays put the ball in play a lot, they don’t strike out and they are always a threat.
From a pitching point of view, Trey Yesavage’s rise this season has been nothing short of meteoric. In 2025, he has played in Single-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A, the AL, the ALDS, the ALCS and now the World Series. He blew the Yankees away in Game 2 of the ALDS with eleven strike outs and his high release point, nasty splitter and composure on the mound will give the Dodgers’ line-up a different sort of challenge than they are used to.
So, how will it all go? My prediction is that the Jays will win in six, so they can celebrate in front of their own fans. As for an MVP: in my 2025 Season Preview piece at the start of the season, I said that Ernie Clement would be one to watch, and with a 0.429 average so far this postseason, I think I’ll back him to go all the way – he hasn’t let me down yet!
Daniel Woodrow is a Toronto Blue Jays fan from Colchester, England and can be found on X at @Daniel_Woodrow and Instagram at @danielwoodrowht.
Conclusion
The David vs Goliath storylines that have been bandied about have not just been to artificially hype up this World Series. They’re also true – the Dodgers are the clear favourites given they’re the defending World Series champions, and have a squad that is the envy of fans of other teams everywhere.
That is not to take anything away from the Blue Jays though, who also have a very talented squad of their own. It would be folly to write them off entirely, and we should all fully expect them to make a spectacle of this World Series and, at the very least, push the Dodgers far more than many are expecting.
Events outside of baseball mean that there are other storylines that will inevitably come to the fore as the Series progresses.
Perhaps loudest of all will be the stories attached to the Blue Jays being Canada’s team – the rhetoric of US President Donald Trump has been varied since his inauguration back in January (and even had our colleague Gavin questioning if he wanted to visit Chicago earlier this year…). Among Trump’s many pronouncements upon coming into office again was that he wanted to make Canada the 51st state of the United States, and he’s still making it now. The parallels between a juggernaut Dodgers and underdog Blue Jays, and a juggernaut America and an underdog Canada are not difficult to get to then, and expect such ‘America vs Canada’ storylines to get louder in the coming days once the World Series is underway.
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