Blue Jays’ 2025 World Series ‘what ifs': Explaining all the bad breaks that befell Toronto in loss to Dodgers

Daniel Mader

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Blue Jays’ 2025 World Series ‘what ifs': Explaining all the bad breaks that befell Toronto in loss to Dodgers image

It may not have been possible for the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays to get closer to winning the World Series without actually doing so.

The year 2025 will be remembered for the Los Angeles Dodgers clinching the MLB championship, rallying from substantial deficits in the Fall Classic, especially in Game 7, to become baseball's inaugural back-to- The first back-to-back champion in decades. Sports are full of "what ifs," though, and Blue Jays fans may be pondering a ton of them as they reflect on 2025.

The World Series might have turned out differently, considering the Dodgers' 18-inning Game 3 win, which gave Toronto numerous opportunities to secure a victory, and several quick defensive moments in Games 6 and 7, both of which resulted in Blue Jays defeats. Another route quite readily. Instead, the Blue Jays fell victim to an all-time classic series.

Here's a look at the "what if" plays that will forever surround the 2025 Blue Jays in the World Series, most of which fell in Games 6 and 7, when they had a chance to close the series out.

MORE: How how Yoshinobu Yamamoto dominated his way to winning World Series MVP

Barger's disputed Game 6 double

The "what if" game can go on endlessly, but a fair starting point for the Blue Jays' quest for a title was Game 6. Toronto came into the home game with an opportunity to close the Dodgers out after two straight road wins, owning a 3-2 advantage in the series.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six innings for The Dodgers in Game 6 before the Blue Jays managed to score against their relief pitchers. It had been an unusually quiet night for Toronto's red-hot offense, a "what if" in itself, but an opportunity to win the whole thing presented itself in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With the score 3-1 and Roki Sasaki pitching, Addison Barger stepped up to bat as the potential tying run, and Alejandro Kirk was on first base after being hit by a pitch. Barger hit a ball hard into center field that rolled all the way to the wall, where it got stuck between the bottom of the wall and the playing surface.

Dodgers center fielder Justin Dean raised his hands skyward the instant he observed the ball lodged in the outfield wall. Barger's hit was deemed a dead ball, resulting in a ground-rule double that wouldn't allow any runs to be scored.

The first "what if" is the fact that the ball even got wedged in the first place — such an improbability in baseball, that results in a rule that would allow the Dodgers to prevent the run from scoring in that situation. MLB Network's Mark DeRosa broke down how hard it is to hit a ball into that part of the wall to get stuck:

Dean said afterwards that putting his arms up for the dead ball was "something you’re taught from an early age. This phrase is familiar from my youth spent playing baseball.

The umpires' confirmation of the dead ball call, which agitated the Blue Jays' fanbase, constitutes the other half of the "what if". That should be the correct call, as MLB has rules about balls getting lodged in the wall being a ground-rule double.

Still, the fact that the Blue Jays could have pulled within a run to win the World Series on that double may haunt the team moving forward. And it only hurt Toronto more with how Game 6 ended.

Giants turn double play, win Game 6

Even after Barger's ground-rule double in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6, the Blue Jays had a real shot to hoist the trophy that night.

Ernie Clement popped out for the first out of the inning, but when Andrés Giménez lined a ball into left field, it looked for a moment that he had a chance to get some runs home. However, the game concluded due to poor baserunning.

Kiké Hernández came sprinting in from left field to catch Giménez's liner, then wisely turned his attention to second base, where Barger was in no-man's-land. Upon Hernández firing the throw to Miguel Rojas, Barger was doubled up. Game 6 was over, and Game 7 was imminent.

Not only was an outfield-assist double play such a rare way for the Blue Jays to lose, but had Barger been running the bases correctly, Toronto could have gotten at least one more at bat to try to keep Game 6 going.

Instead, the combination of the wedged-ball double and the game-ending double-play meant the Blue Jays would play for the series in Game 7.

MORE: Every Game 7 in World Series history

Hoffman's blown Game 7 save

Moving on to the decisive Game 7, the Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead on a three-run home run from Bo Bichette, then continued making massive defensive plays to protect that lead in the following innings. For around an hour, it appeared Toronto was cruising to a bounce-back win in Game 7 to claim the title.

Back came the Dodgers. Sacrifice flies and a solo home run from Max Muncy made it a 4-3 lead for the Blue Jays entering the ninth inning.

Still, Toronto couldn't have asked for much more: a one-run lead with their top closer, Jeff Hoffman, on the mound to face Hernández, Rojas, and Shohei Ohtani. All the Blue Jays needed was three outs, and they were World Champs.

Rojas had other plans. After Hoffman punched out Hernández, an unlikely contributor stepped up for L.A. — Hoffman's slider on the seventh pitch of Rojas' at-bat was dangerous, and Rojas turned on it to tie Game 7 at four runs.

Rojas had not hit a home run since Sept. 19, per the Fox broadcast. It was the second game-tying, or go-ahead, home run in the 9th inning or later in a winner-take-all game in World Series history, per ESPN. And it didn't come from any of the Dodgers' star bats.

Of course, Game 7, and the World Series, was not yet over. The Blue Jays' chances would continue, as Hoffman finished off the top of the ninth after blowing the save anyway. Toronto fans were disappointed, but their team could walk it off for all the marbles now.

MORE: Breaking down World Series Game 7's wild ninth inning

Smith's cleat, Pages' Game 7 catch.

In the bottom of the ninth in Game 7, following Rojas' heroics for the Dodgers, all the Blue Jays had to do was get a run home. Bichette got a rally started with a single, Barger walked and was pinch-run for, then Alejandro Kirk was hit by a pitch.

The bases were loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the World Series for these Blue Jays. Probability would say they had fantastic chances of winning it all — a hit, error, sacrifice fly, anything could have won the 4-4 game.

Daulton Varsho grounded a ball to second base, and Rojas had to make a quick play to get the lead runner at home to defend the World Series crown. He made the throw in time to get Isiah Kiner-Falefa. But upon a closer camera angle, it appeared catcher Will Smith's foot came off the plate for a moment, even if it returned to the plate just in time.

Here's another few angles of where Smith's foot goes into the air above home plate for a second, just as Kiner-Falefa is sliding in as the potential title-winning run:

Despite that split-second of opportunity for Kiner-Falefa to score with Smith's foot in the air, the out call was confirmed. Smith's foot got back down on the plate just a hair earlier than the runner's slide. Had the Dodgers catcher taken one more moment to relocate his foot, the Blue Jays would be World Series champions.

To run further dirt in the Blue Jays' wound, Andy Pages made a ridiculous catch in center field, nearly colliding with his teammate, that sent the game to extras just one play later. Ernie Clement nearly had his fourth hit of the night and the World Series-winning hit.

Instead, it was another "what if." Pages had to leap over Hernández to secure the catch at the wall. What if Pages and Hernández had collided harder? What if Clement's hit had traveled another few feet? Who knows.

MORE: Revisiting the Blue Jays' last World Series title

Game 7: 11th inning comeback fails

After the Blue Jays failed to complete the ninth-inning rally attempt, Game 7 went to extra innings. Defensively, they locked in well for the top of the 10th when L.A. Threatened to take the lead, but Toronto went down quietly in the bottom half of the inning.

Flash forward to the 11th, and Will Smith's home run gave the Dodgers the lead.

Perhaps the most painful "what ifs" yet were to come for Toronto, though. The World Series was not yet over. In the bottom of the 11th, trailing 5-4, the Blue Jays got a leadoff double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a perfect sacrifice bunt to move him to third, and a walk to Barger.

Toronto's tying run was on third base, and its winning run on first base, for Alejandro Kirk. He could have lost the World Series with one swing, or won it.

Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, it was the former. Despite one last glimmer of hope in Rogers Centre, with Guerrero Jr. 90 feet away from continuing Game 7, the Dodgers ended the madness with a clean Mookie Betts double play to spark Toronto's forever "what ifs," winning their second-straight title in the process.

Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader is a Content Producer for The Sporting News. He joined SN in 2024 as an editorial intern following graduation from Penn State University. He has previously written for Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. Daniel grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.