“We don’t need him!”

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Table of Contents

• 🔥 FIRST PITCH — Well, That Escalated Quickly

• 🟢 THE GOOD — Toronto Hit Squad

• 🧨 THE BAD — Springer and The Ghosts of 2017

• 🔴 THE UGLY — New Manager, Same Circus in Anaheim

• 🚙 ONE FOR THE ROAD — Closer to Her

🔥 FIRST PITCH — Well, That Escalated Quickly

Happy Saturday. After a short layoff, the World Series finally kicked off last night. And while Rob Manfred may have dreamed of Dodgers–Yankees under the bright lights, he got Dodgers–Blue Jays instead — Hollywood vs. Hockey Country. Most of America figured L.A. would stroll in and bulldoze their way to a title.

Toronto apparently didn’t get that memo.

Inside a rowdy, flag-waving Rogers Centre, the Jays ambushed Blake Snell and that “untouchable” Dodger staff, detonating for nine runs in a sixth-inning home-run barrage that left L.A. rubber-necking at the scoreboard. When it was over, Toronto had delivered an 11–4 beatdown to open the series.

For weeks, baseball fans have whined that the Dodgers “bought” their roster and are ruining the sport. Dave Roberts even leaned into the villain role, smirking:

“Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball.”

Fine. Villains it is.

L.A. has fully embraced life as MLB’s new Evil Empire — a crown the Yankees once wore under George Steinbrenner. But under Hal, that swagger’s faded. The Yankees aren’t the bully anymore.

The Dodgers are.

Well… they were, until Toronto dropped the hammer.

And here’s a stat that won’t sit well in L.A.: the last four teams to win the League Championship Series in seven games went on to win the World Series. The Jays did it. The Dodgers swept and rested. Now we see which script holds up.

It’s only Game 1 — but for a fan base that’s waited more than 30 years for this stage, Toronto delivered the opening punch, spiked the bat, and walked off like it was nothing.

💥🎤 Blue Jays 1, Evil Empire 0.

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🟢 THE GOOD — Toronto Hit Squad

All week, the talk was about the Dodgers and their “historic” pitching rotation — maybe the best ever, some said. But Blake Snell didn’t have it Friday night, and the Dodgers didn’t just get beat — they got bullied.

And while L.A. rolled in with the star-studded lineup, it was Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, and Addison “Bam Bam” Barger who stole the show. All three left the yard, with Bam Bam delivering the haymaker — a pinch-hit grand slam that turned the Rogers Centre into a blue-and-white earthquake.

And the dagger? When Shohei Ohtani — who nearly signed with Toronto two years ago — stepped in for a meaningless at-bat in the ninth, the crowd let him hear it, chanting:

“We don’t need him!”

It was that kind of night for Dodger blue — humbled, heckled, and outgunned by the Jays’ undercard.

🧨 THE BAD — Springer and The Ghosts of 2017

George Springer is back on the World Series stage — and for Dodgers fans, that rips open an old scar. Eight years later, the sting of 2017 hasn’t faded. The Astros’ trash-can scheme didn’t just decode pitches — it hijacked a championship, and no amount of “move on” has ever landed in Los Angeles.

Springer wasn’t just part of it — he was the 2017 World Series MVP, homering in Games 5 and 7. Dodgers players still point to that 13–12 marathon in Houston — the night everything tilted, the night it all felt … wrong.

Two years later, the world found out why: center-field cameras. Decoded signs. Trash-can bangs. A cheating operation MLB eventually confirmed.

The owner was fined.
The GM and manager were suspended — then fired.
The players? They kept the rings.

And that’s what L.A. has never forgiven.

Yes, the Dodgers have banners from 2020 and 2024. But 2017 is the one that still bleeds. Now Springer’s back in October with another shot at glory, and when this series shifts to L.A., he’s going to hear it.

🔴 THE UGLY — New Manager, Same Circus in Anaheim

For a franchise that’s burned through six managers in eight years — and hasn’t posted a winning season since Obama was in office — you’d think they’d finally try something bold. Stable. Visionary. You know… an actual plan.

Instead?

The Los Angeles Angels handed the job to Kurt Suzuki on a one-year deal — a rookie manager with zero experience running a big-league clubhouse. One. Year.

Nothing screams “You’re our future!” like a contract that expires faster than a Disneyland churro. This is the same organization that watched Shohei Ohtani walk out the door — and now they’re backing their new skipper with all the confidence of a free 30-day trial.

Hard to sell a “new era” when your own deal expires before the ink dries.

Check back in 11 months — odds are we’ll be writing the same story, just with a different name on the office door.

Hope is eternal.
In Anaheim, managers are not.

🚙 ONE FOR THE ROAD — Closer to Her

Freddie Freeman has played on baseball’s biggest stages — playoffs, World Series, unforgettable October nights. But this one feels different.

The Dodgers are in Toronto, and Canada tugs at something deeper for Freeman. Both of his parents were born and raised in Ontario. His mother, Rosemary, passed away when he was just 10 years old — and Canada is where her memory still feels loudest. Hockey nights. The anthem. The little things that never fade.

“I think that’s why coming back here is so special for me. It just makes me feel like I’m closer to my mom.”

Freeman may have grown up in California, but Toronto is the place that reconnects him to what he lost. This World Series isn’t just about rings and résumés — it’s about love, grief, and the echoes of home.

“I only got 10 years with her, and only about four years of memories. Those are the little ones I cherish, and it always seemed to be around Canadian things.”

Baseball gives us heroes.
But sometimes, it gives us a way back.

As Freeman chases another World Series, he’s also chasing something more enduring: connection.