A Canadian baseball squad could, as early as tonight, beat a Los Angeles team whose biggest stars are Japanese by origin, and win the World Series. Is baseball still America’s pastime, then?
The Toronto Blue Jays are the Cinderella of this year’s “show,” as Major League Baseball is known. As of this writing, Toronto needs only one victory to be crowned world champion. It has won three games to LA’s two in the best-of-seven series.
Soccer advocates scoff at the notion that baseball has named its championship round a World Series. After all, they claim, what is so “world” about Yanks playing each other? Yet, this year the Blue Jays, with a $225.2 million payroll—the fifth-highest among all MLB teams—surprised everyone by getting to the series. So far, the Toronto team is besting the Dodgers, last year’s champion, which boasts the highest payroll by far at $350 million.
Remember: yet to turn into America’s 51st state, Canada still swears allegiance to a British king. Meanwhile, the Dodgers use their deep pockets to import the best talents of another country, Japan. LA’s most dazzling phenom, pitcher-slugger Shohei Ohtani, signed a ten-year, $700 million contract in 2023. Star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was added to the roster with a 12-year contract worth $325 million. The closer, Roki Sasaki, is also Japanese.
For generations, MLB teams have largely recruited players from the Western Hemisphere, most notably the Dominican Republic. In the last few decades, scouts have been traveling further afield to find Japanese, Korean, and Australian rookies with a knack for the game. Still, one of this year’s most intriguing post-season stars, catcher Alejandro Kirk, was discovered by a Blue Jays scout in a dusty ball field at Tijuana, Mexico.
The 2025 post-season is already shaping up as one of baseball history’s most thrilling, partly because of the addition of non-American stars. MLB pitchers, for one, are increasingly trained to last until the fifth inning, while Toronto pitchers at times hurl an inning or two at most. Japanese starters, however, are trained to last. Mr. Yamamoto marked a fall classic record by pitching two complete games, including a one-run gem in game two of the World Series.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ohtani dazzles fans with his pitching and unmatched home run production. Opposing teams would rather put him on base than pitch to him. In the World Series’ thrilling game three, which lasted a record-matching 18 innings, Mr. Ohtani reached base nine times. Tied for the longest in post-season history, the saga ended with a walkoff home run from LA’s first baseman, the California-born Freddie Freeman.
Mr. Freeman is a dual citizen, though. Both his parents are Ontario-born, and each time he plays at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, he gets a tingle when “O, Canada” is played alongside “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Tonight, Mr. Yamamoto will face the Jays’ ace, Colorado-born Kevin Gausman, there. The series was pegged as a contest between LA’s superior pitching and Toronto’s prolific hitting. The Canadian hurlers, though, have dominated so far.
Despite baseball’s origins in old English bat games, like cricket, it is a thoroughly American sport. From the mid-19th century, its long, grueling stretch—which is now at 162 regular season games—is a testament to America’s grit. It inspired American classics from “Casey at the Bat” to “The Natural” and “Field of Dreams.”
The largest number of MLB players are born here, even as some, like Mr. Gausman, play north of the border. Baseball is here to stay.
https://www.nysun.com/article/the-world-series-of-america