Many people were watching, when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday in the final game of the 2025 World Series. It took the Dodgers 11 innings to do it, but they finally did it.
Reportedly, Game 1 of the Series drew an impressive 33 million viewers across three major markets: the U.S., Canada, and Japan. I imagine Game 7 attracted even a larger viewership.
I was not among the viewers. I don’t have cable, and a subscription to YouTubeTV would have cost me $82.99.
When I think of how much beer I could buy with $82.99, the question answers itself.
It’s certainly true that beer tastes better when watching sports. But is baseball actually a sport? I think of it more like “meditation”. Nine people standing around on the grass, waiting for something to happen at home plate. Every now and then, a batter actually manages to hit the ball. Or is hit by the ball. Otherwise, everyone just stands around.
Does the word “boring” come to mind?
But that’s an unfair analogy, to compare baseball to mediation. Mediation is not boring. Watching my mind skip off into this or that thought-realm, as I struggle to control it? Always fascinating.
Something is always going on, when I meditate. Unlike baseball.
However, this was the World Series, and for some reason, that makes it less boring. The two best baseball teams in the world, facing off in a fierce athletic battle.
Of course, the Blue Jays are from Canada. From Toronto, to be exact. And the final game was played in Toronto. One of the cities not currently threatened by a federalized National Guard. Los Angeles hasn’t been so lucky in that regard.
I looked up the Dodgers lineup for Game 7.
- Shohei Ohtani (L) P
- Will Smith (R) C
- Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
- Mookie Betts (R) SS
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
- Tommy Edman (S) CF
- Enrique Hernández (R) LF
- Miguel Rojas (R) 2B
It appears to me that the Dodgers had at least four immigrants in their starting lineup. Luckily, the game was being played in Toronto, because if it had been played in Los Angeles, we might have seen ICE dragging people off the field.
According to the MLB, the 2025 World Series was aired in 203 countries and territories via 44 media partners and in 16 different languages.
The official report claims that part of the international appeal comes down to the rosters. Between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, 13 players were born outside the U.S., hailing from eight different countries and territories. So even though we have the immigration problem, we have the viewership benefits.
Is this World Series loss an omen that Canada ought to be paying attention to? With their team holding a lead going into the ninth inning, and then losing it all in the 11th inning?
A portent of other pending defeats… when, against all odds, the American team beats the Canadian team in the final game of the series?
Should Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney be checking his horoscope? Readers may have noticed that there’s been a bit of tension between the U.S. and Canada, lately. Tariffs and so forth.
The U.S. tried to kick Canada’s butt in the distant past, which I wrote about a few months ago.. Specifically, about the Battle of Quebec. Quebec was “claimed” by the British, and the forts there were manned by British soldiers. But the American patriots living in the Thirteen Colonies — who were already planning to declare their independence — were urging Quebec to become the 14th Colony.
Quebec was not really interested. Too much effort, is probably what they were thinking. Or maybe they thought the Americans were a bunch of hot-headed troublemakers. (The same thing Canadians are thinking these days?)
When the American patriots couldn’t talk Quebec Province into joining the Revolution, they did what any hot-headed troublemakers would do. They attacked. George Washington sent his buddy Benedict Arnold into the muddy forests of Maine, to attack Quebec from the east, and he sent Brigadier General Richard Montgomery to invade from the south. Montgomery’s army easily captured Montreal, and then marched proudly on to Quebec City in the winter of 1775, expecting another easy victory.
Instead, the attack on Quebec City was an utter failure. General Montgomery was killed instantly as the American attack began, and the offensive quickly fell apart. Benedict Arnold was wounded and most of his company was captured or killed.
Of course, this happened a long time ago, before any of the players for the LA Dodgers had been born.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.