LOS ANGELES, CA — Yes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the overall MVP of the 2025 Fall Classic. The Japanese right-hander was spectacular, but he didn’t do it alone.
Here are my picks for: “If he didn’t do this, the Dodgers would not have won the World Series.”
Without these key individual performances and moments, the Dodgers would not be on top of the baseball world for a second consecutive year in a row – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Will Klein: Rookie Will Klein pitched the last four-innings of the 18-inning classic, and it was a masterpiece in Game 3. He was the last remaining reliever for the Dodgers and threw more pitches (72) and innings (four) than he ever had in his professional career. Klein’s performance, which earned him the win, was crucial to setting up Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning.
Freddie Freeman: A walk-off HR in the 18th inning of Game 3 of the World Series, giving the Dodgers a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. The marathon game lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes, tying the record for the longest World Series game in history by innings. Coincidentally, Max Muncy also hit a walk-off home run in Game 3 in the 18th inning of the 2018 World Series, ending the longest game in World Series history and giving the Dodgers a 3-2 win over the Red Sox. That game lasted seven hours and 20 minutes.
Shohei Ohtani: In the 18-inning Game 3, Ohtani had a historic offensive performance, reaching base nine times, tying an MLB record. He hit two home runs, which were crucial for the Dodgers to even get to extra innings.
Kiké Hernández (San Juan, Puerto Rico): In Game 6, Hernández executed an incredible double play when Andrés Giménez, Barquisimeto, Venezuela, hit a line drive to him in left field. He quickly threw to second baseman Miguel Rojas, who made a spectacular scoop and catch, to double up Addison Barger at second, which ended the game and forced a Game 7.
Will Smith: Not only did he hit the game-winning home run in the eleventh inning of Game 7, but he caught every inning of the 2025 World Series, a total of 73 innings, including all 18 innings of Game 3. He set a new World Series record for most innings caught by a single player; Lou Criger had previously held the record of 71 innings in 1903, over eight games. It was the first modern World Series, played as a best-of-nine-game series at the time.
Andy Pages (Havana, Cuba): When we think of “The Catch” in World Series history, we all think of Willie Mays in the 1954 Series. As unbelievable a catch as that was, it was in Game 1. Pages in Game 7, made a championship-saving catch in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded to send the game to extra innings.
If he doesn’t make that play, the Blue Jays win the World Series.
Miguel Rojas (Los Teques, Venezuela): If not for the outstanding defensive plays and clutch swings with their backs-against-the-wall, a do-or-die home run to tie the game in the ninth inning of Game 7 by Rojas, this 2025 World Series would not have had two of the most classic games, six and seven, ever.
Yes, from out of nowhere, he hit that home run, but his incredible play in the field is something we have come to expect from him over the years. He has etched his name into Dodger history forever.
Max Muncy: Rojas’ ninth-inning home run doesn’t tie the game without Muncy’s eighth-inning home run blast in game seven.
So, there you have it—a complete and incredible team effort.
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