{"id":334037,"date":"2025-10-26T14:45:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/334037\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T14:45:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:45:20","slug":"world-series-game-2-weird-wild-dodgers-quest-to-repeat-is-more-historic-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/334037\/","title":{"rendered":"World Series Game 2 Weird & Wild: Dodgers\u2019 quest to repeat is more historic than you think"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 Their starting pitcher (Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a>) had an Orel Hershiser moment. Their starting catcher (Will Smith<\/a>) had a Roy Campanella moment. And their team \u2014 baseball\u2019s reigning champs, the Dodgers \u2014 had another evening like so many we\u2019ve seen over the last two Octobers.<\/p>\n

The scoreboard told one story Saturday night: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1<\/a>, in Game 2 of the 2025 World Series. But here at the World Series offices of the Weird and Wild column, we\u2019d like to tell another story. A bigger-picture kind of story. Because that big picture is so clearly within sight now.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do that math. It\u2019s now one win down \u2014 and three wins to go. But in the case of this group of Dodgers, one plus three does not\u00a0just equal four. Not right now. Because this isn\u2019t Mrs. McGillicuddy\u2019s first-grade arithmetic class. This is the World Series.<\/p>\n

So for this Dodgers team, at this particular moment in baseball time, one plus three would equal history.<\/p>\n

It is the rare kind of history only teams that win back-to-back World Series can make. And after their Series-evening Game 2 win, these Dodgers are close enough to taste it.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re just not quite close enough to fully comprehend it.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to win once is hard,\u201d their first baseman, Freddie Freeman, said. \u201cSo now to be this close to being able to do it two times in a row, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve really grasped the weight of it. That\u2019s just because we\u2019re so in it and just trying to win, and not really thinking about history and all that kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think when you do take a step back,\u201d Freeman said, \u201cand realize the opportunity that\u2019s here and presented to us, it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, it\u2019s very, very cool, all right. He just has no idea how cool. And based on my conversations this month with many of his teammates, none of them have a real feel yet for what they have a chance to accomplish if they can just win three more games in this World Series.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s where we come in. We can try to help them grasp it. We can try to help all of you grasp it. It is bigger than people are making it out to be. Which is saying something because\u00a0Dodgers trying to repeat\u00a0was already one of the defining storylines of this World Series.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s so much more powerful than many understand. So let\u2019s tell you why.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about the 1998-1999-2000 Yankees\"\"<\/p>\n

\n \u201cJust to win once is hard,\u201d Freddie Freeman said. \u201cSo now to be this close to being able to do it two times in a row, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve really grasped the weight of it. (Emilee Chinn \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Twenty-five years is a long time \u2014 in baseball and in life. We\u2019re not here to minimize everyone\u2019s favorite factoid \u2014 that this Dodgers team could become the first to win back-to-back World Series since Derek Jeter\u2019s 1998-1999-2000 Yankees.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s amazing in and of itself. But if that\u2019s all you know about the Dodgers\u2019 quest to repeat, you don\u2019t know the half of it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s that half. And it\u2019s staggering.<\/p>\n

What league do the Dodgers play in? Right, the National League. And when I asked these Dodgers if they knew much about how rare it is for an NL team to win back-to-back World Series, they gave me a look we\u2019ve all flashed in school at some point. You know that look.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the one that says:\u00a0Oops. I must have forgotten to read that chapter.\u00a0So here\u2019s the synopsis:<\/p>\n

\u2022 No team has repeated in the NL in half a century \u2014 since Johnny Bench\u2019s Big Red Machine won two in a row in 1975-76.<\/p>\n

\u2022 But even more incredibly, they\u2019re the only NL team that\u2019s done that in the last 103 years \u2014 since Irish Meusel\u2019s 1921-22 New York Giants turned that trick in the Polo Grounds.<\/p>\n

\u2022 And before that, you\u2019d have to go back to Orval Overall\u2019s 1907-08 Cubs \u2014 who won their two back-to-back titles so long ago, they hadn\u2019t even moved into Wrigley Field yet.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve just read the complete list of National League repeaters. It didn\u2019t take long. And remember, you have to ride your time machine back half a century to even start reading the list. But that\u2019s the company these Dodgers have a chance to keep. Hanging out with the fabled Big Red Machine is massive. Period.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if that was the Big Red Machine,\u201d I asked Freeman, \u201cwhat kind of machine are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said, laughing like the aspiring machinist he is. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of machines. We\u2019ll see. That\u2019s up to you guys to figure that out. Let\u2019s just win. If we do that and you get back to me in a week, we\u2019ll come up with some really cool names, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other members of the repeat club\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Joe Carter is carried by Blue Jays teammates after his walk-off to win the 1993 World Series gave Toronto back-to-back titles. (Rick Stewart \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s keep offering more perspective. For most of modern baseball history, repeating has been pretty much a Yankees thing. They repeated in the 1920s \u2026 and \u201930s \u2026 and \u201950s \u2026 and \u201960s \u2026 and \u201970s. And you already know about the \u201990s.<\/p>\n

So do we really need to get into that part of this story? It\u2019s well known. So let\u2019s peel away all those Yankees teams. Now here are the only other repeaters you\u2019re left with in the World Series era (1903-present):<\/p>\n

\u2022 Joseph C. Carter\u2019s 1992-93 Blue Jays
\u2022 Reginald Jackson\u2019s 1972-73-74 Oakland A\u2019s
\u2022 Bevo LeBourveau\u2019s 1929-30 Philadelphia A\u2019s
\u2022 George H. Ruth\u2019s 1915-16 Red Sox
\u2022 Bris Lord\u2019s 1910-11 Philadelphia A\u2019s<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a wrap for that list.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible for these Dodgers not to know all about those 1992-93 Blue Jays<\/a>. It couldn\u2019t possibly be more fitting that this next great Blue Jays team is the last group standing in the Dodgers\u2019 way, could it?<\/p>\n

But when you peruse that list of other teams, it hits you. Other than those \u201970s A\u2019s teams, repeating was mostly a thing that happened when there were only eight teams in each league. It was a time before light bulbs, a time before TV cameras, a time when the only alert you could get on your phone was that bell that rang when grandpa called.<\/p>\n

So now along come these Dodgers to crash\u00a0this\u00a0club? I know I volunteered to try to help these players grasp it, but they honestly need more than me. They need Michael J. Fox\u2019s DeLorean. But like Freeman, his teammates aren\u2019t ready to hop into that DeLorean yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we can think about is right now,\u201d said infielder Miguel Rojas. \u201cWe have to stay focused on one day at a time and one pitch at a time. I think that\u2019s the most important part right now, is to stay calm. If we do what we\u2019re supposed to do in the next week, I might talk to you after that, and not be so humble about it. But it would be selfish for me to talk about a dynasty when we still have to win four games.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had many more conversations with these guys. I know many more fun facts on repeating. But let\u2019s save them. If these Dodgers keep winning, we\u2019ll lay out more of them for your masters degree in What It Means to Repeat. In the meantime, there are a few Weird and Wild things you need to know about Game 2 of this World Series.<\/p>\n

Good Will hunting\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Will Smith watches his go-ahead, seventh-inning home run. (Gregory Shamus \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Dodgers catcher Will Smith made his debut on Planet Earth 20 years after Carlton Fisk\u2019s legendary Game 6 homer in 1975 soared its way into World Series lore. So why are we bringing it up now? Because it\u2019s time to connect those dots!<\/p>\n

When Smith curled his own go-ahead homer around the left-field foul pole in the seventh inning Saturday night, for what turned out to be the winning run in Game 2, here\u2019s what else he did:<\/p>\n

He became the first catcher to launch a go-ahead World Series home run, in the seventh or later, for a team that was trailing in that World Series,\u00a0since \u2026<\/p>\n

Right you are,\u00a0since that Pudge Fisk special (in the 12th inning) in 1975.<\/p>\n

In fact, according to Baseball Reference\/Stathead, there have only been three home runs by a catcher that met that description in the history of the World Series: seventh inning or later, gave his team the lead, kept the team afloat in a series it was trailing. Here are those three.<\/p>\nPLAYER\u00a0\u00a0INNING\u00a0WS GAMETRAILING IN SERIES<\/tr>\n\n\n

Will Smith\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

7th<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2025, Game 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1-game-0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Carlton Fisk\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

12th<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1975, Game 6\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

3-games-2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Roy Campanella<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

8th<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1953, Game 3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2-games-0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

There\u00a0have\u00a0been five other go-ahead home runs thumped by catchers in the late innings of a World Series game through the years \u2013 most recently an extra-inning game-winner by the Phillies\u2019 J.T. Realmuto in Game 1 of the 2022 Series. But all of those other homers were hit for teams in different circumstances. They were already either leading those World Series or at least even.<\/p>\n

So Will, meet Pudge \u2026 and Campy. What a fun list.<\/p>\n

A complete unknown\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Complete dominance: Max Muncy hands the ball to Yoshinobu Yamamoto after the final out of Game 2. (Vaughn Ridley \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, pitchers dressed so fine and spun off October complete games as routinely as we pop our morning bagels into the toaster. Didn\u2019t they? But this just in: It isn\u2019t 1911 anymore.<\/p>\n

So behold the October complete game magic of Yamamoto. He may not be starting a trend. But he\u2019s doing something that matters massively to his team: He\u2019s keeping the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen from having to set foot on the nearest pitcher\u2019s mound.<\/p>\n

You think that isn\u2019t a factor in Yamamoto\u2019s cool little streak of back-to-back postseason complete games<\/a>? Ha. You should have listened in as his teammate Clayton Kershaw was talking Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Could other pitchers do this sort of thing \u2014 and actually pitch all nine innings? Of course they could, Kershaw said. But relief pitchers are so dominating these days, teams don\u2019t see the need to ask them to do that.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t exactly spell out why the Dodgers are different from those teams at the moment. He just said: \u201cThe way Yosh is going and the way we\u2019re built right now, we might let him throw 150 pitches if he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK, they also might not. But here\u2019s my personal favorite fun fact on Yamamoto\u2019s back-to-back complete games.<\/p>\n

Ready for the list of every pitcher in the last 100 years to win consecutive postseason complete games, both on the road, in the same postseason? Here goes:<\/p>\n

Yamamoto, 2025 \u2014 <\/b>Game 2, NLCS, and Game 2, World Series
Scott McGregor, 1979 \u2014 <\/b>Game 4, ALCS, and Game 3, World Series
Hal Newhouser, 1945 \u2014 <\/b>Games 5-7, World Series
Grover Cleveland Alexander, 1926 \u2014 <\/b>Games 2-6, World Series<\/p>\n

So after Saturday\u2019s Game 2, that led to this fun exchange with Freeman, who\u2019d just spent an enjoyable evening watching Yamamoto\u2019s artistry from first base.<\/p>\n

THE ATHLETIC:\u00a0<\/b>\u201cSo do you think this must be what it was like to play with Grover Cleveland Alexander?\u201d<\/p>\n

FREEMAN (laughing):\u00a0<\/b>\u201cYou know, when we go to Seattle, they always put stats like that in the clubhouse, and (I learned) there\u2019s a guy that threw like 700 innings in like 1902.\u201d<\/p>\n

TA: <\/b>\u201cYou mean Old Hoss (Radbourn)?\u201d (Minor correction for Freddie: Old Hoss threw \u201conly\u201d 678 2\/3 innings \u2014 in 1884, not in 1902<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

FREEMAN: \u201c<\/b>Right. Maybe we\u2019ve got our own new Old Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK, probably not. But we can dream, can\u2019t we \u2014 because you just can\u2019t have enough new Old Hosses in \u2026<\/p>\n

Baseball!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Their starting pitcher (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) had an Orel Hershiser moment. Their starting catcher (Will Smith) had…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":334038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2502,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-334037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115441010709567274","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}