Author: rincon

One person who further established their Dodgers legacy during this postseason: Dave Roberts.

The Dodgers manager won his third World Series championship on Saturday night, and he drew plenty of praise from his players and the former players on the MLB on FOX broadcast desk.

“You know what makes a great manager?” Derek Jeter said. “Someone who trusts their players. Even when the outside world doesn’t, they trust their players. He knows. He takes the temperature of the clubhouse, he knows how players feel, he has more information than everyone else, and what Doc does is, he puts his players in a position to be successful.”

Roberts had to push more buttons than ever this postseason because of the struggles that the Dodgers bullpen has had.

The Dodgers had six pitchers appear in Game 7, and four of those were their starting pitchers from this series. Roberts had to lean heavily on those four, as well as new closer Roki Sasaki.

“Ultimately,” Jeter said, “it’s up to the players to do the job, but he puts them in a position to be successful and he pushed all of the right buttons.”

Jeter wasn’t the only former player on the desk who had high praise for Roberts. Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz both agreed with him, and there was also high praise that came from Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw.

“You’ve got to give it to Doc Roberts,” A-Rod said. “Now, he’s a three-time World Champion, and it now cements him as a Hall of Fame manager.”

“Put him in Cooperstown,” Rodriguez added.

Roberts just finished his 10th season as Dodgers manager, and he is about to get his third World Series ring. He has a career win percentage of .621 in the regular season and has won 100 games five times.

Roberts signed a four-year extension with the Dodgers before this past season that made him the highest-paid manager on an annual basis in MLB. According to Ortiz, the team needs to make that deal longer.

“If I’m the Dodgers ownership, I would give Dave Roberts a very long-term deal,” Papi said. “He knows that ball club better than anybody that I’ve ever seen. He moves his players in a type of way that it seems like he knows the future … that’s why they’re the world champions today.

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Shohei Ohtani has done just about everything in baseball now. That includes two World Series titles and likely on his way to his fourth MVP of his impressive career.

But the two-way superstar is still amazed by his Dodgers teammate and Japanese compatriot Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

After Saturday’s Game 7 win over the Blue Jays, Ohanti had high praise for Yamamoto and his incredible performances that earned him the 2025 World Series MVP. Yamamoto won both of his starts during the Fall Classic: a stellar six-inning showing in Game 6 that came after a complete-game masterpiece in Game 2.

Yamamoto followed it up with an amazing 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball in Game 7 of the World Series, which the Dodgers won 4-3 in 11 innings.

“I have no idea how he pulled it off … I really believe this. I think he is the No. 1 pitcher in the whole world,” Ohtani told the MLB on FOX crew through his interpreter.

But Ohtani’s performances throughout the series shouldn’t be discounted. Along with starting Game 7, he had two hits in the win. After getting on base nine times with two home runs in the 18-inning Game 3 win, he turned right around the very next day and started Game 4 on the mound.

“The 18-inning game was tough because I wasn’t able to sleep, and I was on base a lot. That was a tougher one,” Ohtani said. 

In all, an amazing postseason run that had MLB on FOX analyst Alex Rodriguez asking for Ohtani’s autograph.

“Everything was so fun … Both sides, their team, our team. I think we had an amazing game. It was something I can only image,” Ohtani said. 

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With help from a few game-changing plays by Miguel Rojas and Will Smith, the Los Angeles Dodgers made history Saturday night. The Dodgers went back-to-back after an epic 5-4 victory in 11 innings over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 to win the World Series.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (rightfully) took home MVP honors, but Rojas and Smith may go down as the game’s biggest heroes. For Smith, a huge go-ahead home run in the 11th inning gave the Dodgers the lead to set up Yamamoto to close the eventual win.

After the game, Smith reflected on the series and the iconic 11th-inning moment he will never forget.

“It’s a special group of guys, man,” Smith told Ken Rosenthal on FOX. “We just never gave up, kept fighting, pitching our asses off, great hitting, great at-bats, finally punched through there. Man, that was a fight for seven games.”

Added Smith on his memorable home run: “I was fired up. We know we needed to get a run there, to be able to come in clutch, that was huge. You dream of those moments, extra innings, put your team ahead. I’ll remember that for forever.”

While Smith’s homer ultimately won the game, Rojas’ heroics on both ends made him a World Series legend. His huge ninth-inning home run to tie the game, 4-4, preserved LA’s hopes. Then, Rojas’ impressive infield snag and throw, ironically, to Smith at home plate to secure a pivotal second out in the bottom of the ninth saved the Dodgers’ season and helped push Game 7 into extra innings.

An emotional Rojas could barely put his thoughts on his ninth-inning homer into words.

“I was never trying to hit a home run, I think this is the first home run against a right-handed pitcher the whole year,” Rojas said to FOX’s Tom Verducci. “It came at the biggest part of my life and my career, in front of these fans and in front of city of L.A. and my teammates. 

“I can’t really describe right now the emotions that I feel, not just tying the game but given the opportunity to bring in Yamamoto for another spectacular performance.”

As for the defensive play, Rojas admitted the conditions inside Rogers Centre made it a difficult play, but he knew what he had to do when the ball bounced his way.

“As soon as I plant my feet, I have to make a perfect throw to the plate,” Rojas said. “It’s been an unbelievable two days for me defensively, obviously hitting the homer. But, for me, I’m way more proud of my defense and what I can do for my team out there…it’s a great feeling.”

The celebration for Smith, Rojas, the Dodgers and their hometown will likely wane late into the night as they celebrate the club becoming the first back-to-back champions in 25 years.

Relive Rojas and Smith’s incredible clutch plays below:

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Game 7 of the 2025 World Series was legendary, and we have the stats to prove it.

We may never see another game like Friday night, which saw the Dodgers in their second straight World Series after an amazing win over the Blue Jays.

FOX Sports Research dug in and found the stats that sum up what an incredible game this was.

1. Ernie Clement had 10 multi-hit games this postseason, which is the most in a single postseason.

Most hits in a single postseason:

• 2025 Ernie Clement: 30
• 2020 Randy Arozarena: 29
• 2025 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 28

2. The Dodgers trailed by three runs, which ties for the third-largest comeback wins in best-of-7, winner-take-all games:

[–>
• 2003 ALCS Yankees: 4
• 1925 WS Pirates: 4
• 2025 WS Dodgers: 3
• 1986 WS Mets: 3
• 1975 WS Reds: 3
• 1960 WS Pirates: 3

3. Max Muncy’s 16 home runs extend his record for the most in Dodgers postseason history.

Max Muncy CRUSHES Solo Home Run to Trim Dodgers’ Deficit Against Blue Jays



Max Muncy crushed a solo home run that trimmed the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deficit against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 8th Inning.

4. With Max Scherzer (41 years, 97 days old) and Trey Yesavage (22.096 years old) both pitching in Game 7, their 19-year, 1-day age gap is the sixth-largest among pitchers to appear for the same team in a World Series game. Here’s who they trail:

• 1930 A’s: Jack Quinn and Bill Shores, 20.330
• 1982 Cardinals: Jim Kaat and Dave LaPoint, 20.264
• 1933 Giants: Dolf Luque and Hal Schumacher, 20.111
• 2001 D-backs: Mike Morgan and Byung-Hyun Kim, 19.103
• 1995 Cleveland: Dennis Martinez and Julian Tavarez, 19.008

5. Addison Barger had six multi-hit games this World Series, which is tied for the most in a postseason series. Here’s who he’s tied with:

• Yordan Alvarez: 2023 ALCS
• Marco Scutaro: 2012 NLCS
• Bill Skowron: 1960 World Series
• Sam Rice: 1925 World Series

6. Shohei Ohtani is the third player in postseason history with multiple hits in a winner-take-all game that he pitched in, joining Steve Rogers (1981 NLDS Game 5) and Dizzy Dean (1934 World Series Game 7).

7. Ohtani is the second player in World Series history with multiple hits in a winner-take-all game he pitched in, joining 1934 Dizzy Dean.

Ohtani is also the first pitcher with a hit in a World Series Game 7 since Jesse Orosco in 1986.

Finally, Ohtani is the first starting pitcher with a hit in a winner-take-all World Series game since 1975, in which both Don Gullett and Bill Lee each got a hit.

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