Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani speaks during a celebration of the baseball team's World Series win at Dodger Stadium on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Notes and observations after a thrilling World Series:

– Like them or not, the Los Angeles Dodgers are building a dynasty in Major League Baseball. The Dodgers made it two world championships in a row in a riveting manner Saturday night, coming from behind to win a heart-stopping 5-4, 11-inning victory in Game 7 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre and capture the 2025 World Championship.

And the Dodgers showed true championship form in working themselves off the ledge at least three times in the late going — tying the game with a solo homer in the top of the ninth inning and stifling the Blue Jays’ bases-loaded, one-out scoring opportunity with a couple highlight-reel defensive plays by second baseman Miguel Rojas and center fielder Andy Pages in the bottom of the ninth.

– While catcher Will Smith was the man of the hour for the Dodgers with his game-winning solo homer in the top of the 11th inning, the Dodgers had two unsung heroes in Rojas and talented pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Rojas pulled a hanging slider by Jays’ bullpen hammer Jeff Hoffman into the left field bleachers to tie the score 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning, then converted an off-balance throw with the bases loaded into a forceout at home plate in the bottom of the inning to keep the Jays from scoring the winning run. Pages followed with a circus catch in the outfield to send the game to the 10th inning.

Yamamoto was named the Most Valuable Player after throwing six innings and allowing only one run in winning a Game 6 starting assignment Friday night, then following that up with 2ª scoreless innings of relief to get credit for his third win of the Series in Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 7.

– Smith not only hit the game-winning home run in Game 7, but also established a new World Series record by catching 73 total innings — including all 18 innings in the Dodgers’ Game 3 victory and all 11 in Game 7. The previous record was 71 innings, set by Lou Criger of the Boston Americans in the 1903 World Series.

– The Dodgers won their third World Series in the past six years — they also captured the World Championship in the 2020 season that was abbreviated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — and became the first team to win back-to-back championships since the American League’s New York Yankees won three straight titles from the 1998 through 2000 seasons.

– The last National League team to pull off back-to-back World Championships before the Dodgers did it this year was Cincinnati’s powerful Big Red Machine, which won titles in 1975 and 1976. That was a half-century ago, but the Reds’ batting order then with four future MLB Hall of Famers in Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Tony Perez was one of the most potent and relentless of all time. I’m dating myself by saying that I remember it well.

– Speaking of future Hall of Famers, it was difficult not to feel good for the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and a little disappointed for the Blue Jays’ Don Mattingly. Kershaw announced his retirement from baseball earlier this season, wrapping up a magnificent 18-year career — all with the Dodgers — in which the left-handed pitching star won 223 games and three NL Cy Young Awards, while being named to the NL All-Star team 11 times. Kershaw appeared to be the most visibly emotional player on the field after the Dodgers wrapped up the championship, and justifiably so.

Mattingly, meanwhile, has spent four decades in Major League baseball as a player, manager and coach, and has never been part of a World Championship team. Mattingly played 14 seasons with the New York Yankees, earning the American League’s MVP award in 1985, and also served as the long-time manager of the Dodgers, winning the NL Manager of the Year award in 2020. Mattingly has been a coach with the Blue Jays since 2022, and had a golden opportunity to finally get a World Championship this season at the age of 64, but the Blue Jays lost the last two games of the Series at home after taking a 3-2 games lead by winning two in a row at Dodger Stadium.

– The Dodgers’ comeback somewhat overshadowed the heroic efforts of Toronto’s 22-year-old right-handed rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage, who allowed only one run in seven innings in Game 5, in leading the Jays to a 6-1 victory that sent Toronto home for Games 6 and 7 with the 3-2 series lead. A native of Pottstown who had never played organized baseball until he reached high school, Yesavage started this season with the Blue Jays’ low Single-A team, and was fast-tracked through four levels before reaching the major leagues late in the regular season. He recorded three wins in 26 innings pitched during Toronto’s postseason run, which included playoff series victories over the Yankees and Seattle Mariners en route to the World Series.

– After leading the Jays from a worst-to-first turnaround this season, John Schneider should be a lock for the American League Manager of the Year award when it is announced later this month. Toronto won 94 games and the A.L. East Division this season in a tie-breaker with the Yankees, just one season after finishing in last place in the division with a 74-88 record.

John Hartsock can be reached at jhartsock@altoonamirror.com.