TORONTO — This was how it had to end. This was the story the Dodgers and Blue Jays had to write. They needed a Game 7. We needed a Game 7. For baseball’s sake. For history’s sake. So this is perfect. We’ll see you Saturday night.
Yes, coming right up, on an electric Saturday evening at Rogers Centre, the Dodgers and Blue Jays will give us the eighth World Series Game 7 of the 21st century. Every one of the other seven was a game to file away in the memory banks, from the Luis Gonzalez Game (in 2001) to the Howie Kendrick Game (in 2019). So why would we think this will be any different?
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“It’s gonna be wild. It’s gonna be crazy,” said Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman, sounding as charged up to see this show as the rest of us. “I guess it’s everything that the sport wants. And no matter what, there’s gonna be a winner tomorrow.”
“Game 7. Amazing,” said Kiké Hernández, one of the Dodgers’ late-night Game 6 defensive heroes. “This is what we dream of. Ever since we were little kids, we always put ourselves in the backyard in Game 7 of the World Series. And I think baseball deserves a Game 7. This has been a great World Series.”
It isn’t often that players in the middle of the World Series storm have the awareness to recognize they’re part of something special. But even in the minutes after Friday’s stunning end to Game 6 — Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1, thanks to a walk-off double play never before witnessed in World Series history — Hernández was able to look beyond the moment, steady his pounding heart and remind everyone of something important.
This has been a great World Series.
He couldn’t be more right. So here at Weird and Wild World Series HQ, we’ll tell you shortly just how great and historic it has been. But first, we have a Game 7 to get stoked about. So let’s do that.
Can Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s Blue Jays prevail? Based on historic trends of teams in similar situations, it’ll be difficult. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
In this corner …
We have that team from Toronto, trying to win a World Series for the first time since Joe Carter’s epic homer landed 32 years ago. If you’re a fan living in Canada, I’d suggest you not read this section of the column.
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