What a World Series this has turned out to be. If Game 1 set the tone, then Games 2 and 3 tore the roof off.
In the interest of showing my biases: I am for the Dodgers here. I grew up a Cubs fan, so I know all about cheering for the underdog and for that reason I should be for the Blue Jays, but at the same time, my kids are half-Japanese and Japan is a huge part of my life, so I have been partial to the Japanese players in the league for the past several years. And there is no bigger player than Ohtani. If he’s not the greatest MLB player currently in the game, he is right up there, No one is doing what he is doing right now, and it’s a joy to watch.
Anyway, so the Blue Jays came out and won game 1. They did an amazing job and it was a very well-won victory.
But then the Dodgers came back.
Game 2: Yamamoto’s Masterclass
Yoshinobu Yamamoto reminded the world why the Dodgers fought so hard to bring him over from Japan. In Game 2, he delivered a complete game gem — a rarity in today’s era of pitch counts and bullpen committees. Nine innings, 105 pitches, and only four hits allowed. Every inning felt like a clinic in control, each fastball painted with surgical precision, each splitter falling off the table like gravity forgot its job.
The opposing lineup looked helpless. He worked fast, didn’t waste time between pitches, and seemed to grow stronger as the game went on. He completely shutout the last 20 players he faced. It was a master class in pitching. The ninth inning was pure theater: the crowd on its feet, the dugout silent, Yamamoto bearing down with that quiet, unblinking focus we’ve seen in NPB for years.
Yamamoto didn’t just win; he owned the night.
Game 3: Eighteen Innings of Chaos
And then came Game 3 — a marathon that will go down as one of the wildest in modern baseball history.
Eighteen innings. Six and a half hours. Two full games worth of tension. By the time it finally ended, fans looked half-delirious, commentators were running out of words, and players were running out of energy. The bullpens were decimated. Yamamoto, who already picked all of game 2, was even warming up in the bullpen to put in an inning or two. Position players were warming up in case the madness continued.
There were moments when it looked over… and then it wasn’t. Line drives caught on a shoestring. Runners stranded on third. Managers second-guessing their own sanity. You could almost feel the collective exhaustion radiating through the TV screen.
The eventual walk-off — a laser to left-center that barely cleared the wall — didn’t just end a game. It felt like the closing scene of a war film, the survivors limping off the field.
This is baseball at its most primal and absurd: strategy giving way to sheer willpower, where everyone’s just holding on for one more pitch.
And by the way, Ohtani had two homeruns, two doubles, and he had five walks, four of those purposeful because they didn’t want to risk him hitting a homer.
A Series for the Ages
Two very different kinds of greatness — Yamamoto’s disciplined precision and Game 3’s chaos — back-to-back. The kind of contrast that reminds us why baseball, for all its quiet stretches, still knows how to deliver heart-stopping drama.
Man — I love it! Game 4 is starting soon, as I post this. I won’t be able to watch much of it as I’ll be at work, but I will try to check in here and there and I’ll definitely check the highlights later. I’ll be checking for my team, of course, but I expect the Blue Jays will come out strong and I hope they put on a challenge!
This is fantastic baseball!
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David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |
During one of the playoff games they were talking about how the Dodgers basically have this pipeline right to Japan that is going to keep feeding them great players for years to come. I haven't stayed up late enough to watch a game of the series yet. How sad is that?!
That was a seriously long ass game, and what a let down for the Dodgers fans. Ending on a hit that barely made it past the fence... 18 inning is almost unheard of but in playoffs it really is. We'll see how it all wraps up in a few more days!
!PIMP