TORONTO — It was a 12-batter onslaught, a beatdown that started with a leadoff walk, accelerated with a grand slam that made World Series history and ended with a pile-on two-run homer from the player that perhaps best exemplifies just how suffocating these Toronto Blue Jays are.

And now the Los Angeles Dodgers will be playing uphill in the World Series for the first time in their quest to produce back-to-back championships.

The locals waited 32 years for a Fall Classic contest, and while it’s perhaps short-sighted to say the wait was worth it, for a few frenzied minutes Friday night, a case could be made.

Alejandro Kirk, the Blue Jays’ beloved 5-foot-8 catcher, recorded the first hit of the inning – a single to put two runners on against Dodgers starter Blake Snell.

And by the time he provided the capper – a two-run home run off reliever Anthony Banda – it was already garbage time.

In between, the Blue Jays dipped into their bench three times – a pinch-runner for Bo Bichette, who drew a leadoff walk playing in his first game since Sept. 6 after recovering from a knee injury, pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes coming off the bench and drawing a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-2 and, three batters later, Barger.

He’d started this season in the minor leagues, was recalled April 15 to give a flagging Blue Jays club a boost, and went on to hit 21 homers.

In the postseason, he added a pivotal three-run homer in ALCS Game 6 as the Blue Jays rallied from the brink of elimination.

And then, in his first career World Series plate appearance, history.

With the bases still loaded, he pinch hit for Davis Schneider, who started because Snell was on the mound. With the Dodgers missing lefty reliever Alex Vesia due to a family emergency, the reliable Banda was the choice here.

And Barger greeted him by pouncing on a 2-1 slider, whistling it 413 feet to right center field, six rows deep into the bobbing, thrilled masses.

It was a 9-2 game, soon to be 11-2, with the final tally resulting from Shohei Ohtani’s first career World Series home run. Yet it was a game the Blue Jays had to have, cracking the facade of the Dodgers’ heretofore impenetrable pitching.

Game 2 – matching Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Toronto’s Kevin Gausman – should determine if this was a harbinger.

— Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY

Here’s how Game 1 unfolded in Toronto:

Shohei Ohtani home run pulls back a pair: Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4

TORONTO – It was just window dressing in a Game 1 blowout, but Shohei Ohtani has another bullet point on his amazing baseball resume: First World Series home run. 

Ohtani golfed a Braydon Fisher pitch down the right field line for a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning, trimming the Blue Jays’ lead to 11-4 at Rogers Centre. 

It’s certainly a welcome sight for the Dodgers, since Ohtani struck out twice and was 0-for-3 entering that at-bat, and was just 6-for-35 this postseason. 

He went homerless in the 2024 World Series, as he injured his shoulder on a headfirst slide in Game 2 and was a high-profile statue in the final three games of that series. 

Addison Barger grand slam blows it open for Blue Jays

TORONTO – Addison Barger made World Series history, sent Rogers Centre into bedlam and probably buried the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1. 

Barger greeted lefty reliever Anthony Banda with a 413-foot shot to right center field, the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history and give the Toronto Blue Jays an 11-2 lead as they batted around in the sixth inning. 

Barger has been a postseason hero this October in Toronto but he started Game 1 on the bench with lefty ace Blake Snell starting for the Dodgers. But Snell, who entered with a 0.86 ERA this postseason, did not record an out in the sixth and then the Blue Jays feasted on Dodgers relief. 

Barger’s grand slam was followed by a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single, shifting Banda into ‘wear it’ mode as the Dodgers look to Game 2.

And then Alejandro Kirk skied a fly to left field that edged over the wall, a two-run homer and the fourth time he reached base in Game 1. 

The Blue Jays’ nine-run sixth was the third-highest scoring inning in World Series history. 

Blue Jays go ahead in the sixth: Toronto 5, Dodgers 2

TORONTO – The defending World Series champions are finding out just how deep, versatile and dangerous the Toronto Blue Jays are. 

They outlasted Blake Snell, sending him to the bench after loading the bases with nobody out in the sixth inning. They took their first lead of Game 1 on No. 7 hitter Ernie Clement’s RBI single off reliever Emmet Sheehan and extended it to two runs on their second nine-pitch at-bat of the inning, a walk to pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes. 

And took full control with an RBI single from No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez, whose hit off Sheehan extended their lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth. 

It’s now advantage, Blue Jays, in a significant fashion. Reliever Seranthony Dominguez retired all four batters he faced on 13 pitches and now, top set-up man Louis Varland and closer Jeff Hoffman are available to help nail down the last nine outs.

Daulton Varsho home run ties Game 1 in the fourth

TORONTO – Blake Snell is human. And the Toronto Blue Jays are right back in Game 1 of the World Series. 

It was the first home run Snell had given up to a left-handed hitter this season. 

The Blue Jays jolted Snell with a 1-2 punch before he could settle into the bottom of the fourth, as Daulton Varsho followed Alejandro Kirk’s wall-banging single with a first-pitch drive over the wall in dead center field to tie the game 2-2. 

Snell escaped further damage by getting a pair of flyouts and striking out No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez. But the damage was done and now it’s a new ballgame entering the fifth. 

Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays’ rookie starter, was removed after 80 pitches and four innings, replaced by lefty Mason Fluharty. But at least he cannot lose the game. 

Dodgers’ Will Smith makes it 2-0

TORONTO – After 2 ⅓ innings of World Series Game 1, the Dodgers hold a 2-0 lead. So why does it feel like 20-0? 

Well, Blue Jays rookie starter Trey Yesavage wobbled through a pair of innings, walking three batters in the second and third innings and giving up a run in each. At 71 pitches, he is not long for this game. 

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are ruing failing to score off Dodgers starter Blake Snell after loading the bases in the first inning. Snell escaped that jam and then got help from Ernie Clement, who singled in the second yet was thrown out trying to advance from first to third on George Springer’s infield single. 

Snell entered this game with a 0.86 ERA in three postseason starts. And the Blue Jays’ best shot to get him may have already passed. 

Enrique Hernandez, Dodgers strike first

TORONTO – Shohei Ohtani’s uneven postseason at the plate has continued in Game 1 of the World Series – but the Dodgers managed to push across the first run of the Fall Classic.  Ohtani grounded out to leave the bases loaded in the top of the second – one inning after his leadoff strikeout – as the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on the Blue Jays heading to the bottom of the second. 

Once again, Dodgers playoff legend Kiké Hernández was the ringleader, poking a one-out RBI single off rookie Trey Yesavage to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Yesavage gave up three hits and a walk in the inning, and ran a full count to No. 9 hitter Andy Pages with the bases loaded. 

But Pages flailed at a slider for the second out, and Ohtani grounded to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who outsprinted Ohtani to the bag to end the inning. . 

Trey Yesavage starts, Blake Snell escapes bases-loaded jam

TORONTO — Trey Yesavage and Blake Snell crafted narratives of dominance in their respective leagues’ postseason. In the first inning of World Series Game 1, only the 22-year-old kid maintained that theme. . 

Yesavage, the 22-year-old rookie making just his seventh major league start, set down Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in order in his World Series debut.

Snell, meanwhile, got a rude awakening about these Blue Jays: They put the ball in play. 

Snell needed 29 pitches to escape a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first inning, retiring Daulton Varsho on a fly to center to end the inning. 

Yet it felt like a victory for the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk drew full-count walks and Bo Bichette, in his first at-bat in seven weeks, swung away on a 3-0 pitch and nubbed a single to right field, to the delight of a roaring Rogers Centre crowd that feted their homegrown star with chants of ‘Let’s Go Bo!’ 

And there’s still eight more innings of madness ahead tonight. 

World Series lineups tonight

Dodgers lineup for Game 1

Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Mookie Betts (R) SS
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Will Smith (R) C
Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
Max Muncy (L) 3B
Enrique Hernández (R) LF
Tommy Edman (S) 2B
Andy Pages (R) CF

Blue Jays lineup for Game 1

George Springer (R) DH
Davis Schneider (R) LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
Bo Bichette (R) 2B
Alejandro Kirk (R) C
Daulton Varsho (L) CF
Ernie Clement (R) 3B
Myles Straw (R) RF
Andrés Giménez (L) SS

Is Bo Bichette playing in the World Series?

Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette is on Toronto’s World Series roster and is batting cleanup, playing second base in the Game 1 lineup. Bichette, who is a free agent after the season, has not played since Sept. 6 due to a knee injury.

‘This has been, obviously, on my mind the entire run, just trying to get as healthy as I could be and as ready as I could be for this,’ Bichette said before Game 1. ‘I thought at one point it might be the ALCS, but once that wasn’t an opportunity, I turned my attention to hopefully having an opportunity to be here for this.

‘I don’t know if relief is the word, but I’m definitely super blessed and grateful to have this opportunity.’ 

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, son of Canadians, thrilled for Blue Jays

“They’ve invested in their team, into that stadium, the visiting clubhouse, they’ve put a lot into the Toronto Blue Jays,’ Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman told reporters before the World Series.

‘So to just see the city come together, and get to experience so much jubilation that they had going to the World Series for the first time in 30-plus years, you know it’s an exciting time.

“And being from Canada, it’s pretty cool.’

Kiké Hernández stats in MLB playoffs are stunning

TORONTO — It is October, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the World Series, and Kiké Hernández is striking baseballs with authority once again, a phenomenon that defies all logic and statistical trends amassed over a significant sample size.

“These are the games I live for,” Hernández said the day before Game 1. “In life, you get put on the planet to do certain things.

“And for me, I feel like I was put on this planet to love my family, make people laugh and play October baseball.”

— Gabe Lacques

Blue Jays manager John Schneider is Toronto lifer

TORONTO — George Springer’s go-ahead, eighth-inning three-run homer vaulted the Blue Jays into their first World Series since 1993, a span in which Schneider was in their employ as a poor-hitting minor league catcher, a coach and manager buried deep in their organization until his methodical rise resulted in him taking the managerial reins in the middle of the 2022 season.

This was a guy who managed franchise cornerstones Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero many moons ago – not in Toronto, but in rookie league Dunedin, in 2017, when they were teenagers and both players and manager were four levels away from the big city.

This was the organizational grinder sticking around to finally sit in the hottest seat in the organization – and surviving in it long enough to see Game 1, 2025 World Series. — Gabe Lacques

Dodgers vs Blue Jays prediction for 2025 World Series

Bob Nightengale: Dodgers in 6
Gabe Lacques: Dodgers in 6
Jesse Yomtov: Dodgers in 5

What team has the most World Series titles?

Yankees – 27
Cardinals – 11
Athletics – 9
Red Sox – 9
Dodgers – 8
Giants – 8

World Series national anthem singer tonight

 Voices of Fire is performing the U.S. and Canadian national anthems before the opening game of the World Series.

World Series first pitch for Game 1: Cito Gaston

The ceremonial first pitch for Game 1 is being thrown by Cito Gaston, the Blue Jays’ manager for their 1992 and 1993 World Series titles.

World Series announcers

Joe Davis, play-by-play
John Smoltz, color commentary
Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci, dugout reporters

Dodgers World Series roster 2025

Pitchers (12): LHP Anthony Banda, LHP Jack Dreyer, RHP Tyler Glasnow, RHP Edgardo Henriquez, LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Will Klein, RHP Roki Sasaki, RHP Emmet Sheehan, LHP Blake Snell, RHP Blake Treinen, LHP Justin Wrobleski, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Position, two-way players (14): SS Mookie Betts, OF Alex Call, OF Justin Dean, INF/OF Tommy Edman, 1B Freddie Freeman, INF/OF Kiké Hernández, OF Teoscar Hernández, INF/OF Hyeseong Kim, 3B Max Muncy, DH/P Shohei Ohtani, OF Andy Pages, INF Miguel Rojas, C Ben Rortvedt, C Will Smith.

Blue Jays World Series roster

Pitchers (12): RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Shane Bieber, RHP Seranthony Dominguez, RHP Braydon Fisher, LHP Mason Fluharty, RHP Kevin Gausman, RHP Jeff Hoffman, LHP Eric Lauer, LHP Brendon Little, RHP Max Scherzer, RHP Louis Varland, RHP Trey Yesavage.

Position players (14): C Tyler Heineman, C Alejandro Kirk, INF/OF Addison Barger, INF Bo Bichette, INF Ernie Clement, INF Ty France, INF Andrés Giménez, INF Vladimir Guerrero Jr., INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, OF Nathan Lukes, OF Davis Schneider, OF George Springer, OF Myles Straw, OF Daulton Varsho.

Blue Jays World Series appearances

Toronto won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 (vs. Braves) and 1993 (vs. Phillies), the only times in franchise history the club has reached the Fall Classic since coming into existence in 1977.

How many times have the Dodgers won the World Series?

The Dodgers have won eight World Series titles in franchise history – one in Brooklyn and seven in Los Angeles

1955 vs. Yankees
1959 vs. White Sox
1963 vs. Yankees
1965 vs. Twins
1981 vs. Yankees
1988 vs. Athletics
2020 vs. Rays
2024 vs. Yankees

Ontario to pull tariff ad that angered Trump ‒ but will stay up for World Series

WASHINGTON ‒ The Ontario, Canada, provincial government will continue airing an ad critical of tariffs on American TV through the weekend ‒ and then pause the commercial ‒ after President Donald Trump halted United States trade negotiations with Canada over his objections to the ad.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in an Oct. 24 statement, said he’s directed his team to keep airing the commercial ‒ which features remarks from the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan ‒ so it will be seen during Games 1 and 2 of the World Series, set for Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25.

Ford said the province of Ontario will pause the ad effective Monday, Oct. 27 ‘so that trade talks can resume.’ He cited a conversation he had with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to come to the decision. — Joey Garrison, USA TODAY

Dodgers vs Blue Jays World Series odds

World Series schedule 2025

Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24 in Toronto – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25 in Toronto – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27 in Los Angeles – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28 in Los Angeles – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
*Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Los Angeles – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
*Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31 in Toronto – 8 p.m. ET, FOX
*Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1 in Toronto – 8 p.m. ET, FOX

World Series winners by year

2024: Dodgers
2023: Rangers
2022: Astros
2021: Braves
2020: Dodgers
2019: Nationals
2018: Red Sox
2017: Astros
2016: Cubs
2015: Royals
2014: Giants
2013: Red Sox
2012: Giants
2011: Cardinals
2010: Giants

Who won the World Series last year?

The Dodgers defeated the Yankees in five games to win the 2024 World Series.

Did Vladimir Guerrero win a World Series?

Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero never won a World Series title, making his only Fall Classic appearance for the Texas Rangers in 2010, the penultimate of his 16-year MLB career.

When did the Dodgers move to LA?

The Dodgers left Brooklyn after the 1957 season, playing their first game in Los Angeles in 1958.

The Giants departed New York for San Francisco at the same time, bringing the historic rivalry to the West Coast.

2025 World Series umpires

MLB announced the umpires and full schedule for the crew chosen to call this year’s World Series. Mark Wegner has been designated as crew chief for the first time. It’s his third World Series overall overall during a 25-year career.

Here’s how the umpires will line up for Game 1:

Home plate: Will Little
First base: Mark Wegner (crew chief)
Second base: John Tumpane
Third base: Alan Porter
Left field: Adam Hamari
Right field: Jordan Baker
Reserve: Adrian Johnson

Dodgers vs Blue Jays World Series tickets

When Chauncey Billups left a federal courthouse in Portland on Thursday afternoon after being arrested hours earlier, the notion of an active NBA head coach being involved in what authorities said were underground and rigged poker games backed by the biggest names in organized crime, stunned the world.

Now, his future and legacy are in question until the day his case is resolved.

Until then, Billups is on leave from his job coaching the Portland Trail Blazers and is set to be arraigned in New York on Nov. 24 on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, each carrying a possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 49-year-old Billups, a five-time All-Star who spent 17 seasons in the NBA and won a Finals MVP award with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, was inducted into the Naismith Memoral Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

In another part of the indictment tied to gambling, Billups is believed to be ‘Co-Conspirator 8,’ who authorities say gave confidential game information before it was publicly available, and is described as an ex-NBA player who played from 1997 to 2014, an NBA coach since 2021, and an Oregon resident. Billups meets all three of those characteristics.

The highest honor for an athlete is enshrinement in their sport’s Hall of Fame, and for Billups, his induction is secure for now, as the bylaws contain no provision for removing an enshrinee for any reason.

The Naismith Hall of Fame does make sure that they remove candidates who have ‘damaged the integrity of the game of basketball,’ but that is before a player is voted in for induction.

Billups’ attorney Chris Heywood says that his client ‘has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.’

Here is how other North American Sports Hall of Fames handle those who run afoul of the law after they are inducted:

NFL

While the Basketball Hall of Fame implies that no member can be removed, the Pro Football Hall of Fame bylaws explicitly state that no person may be removed, no matter what they have done after enshrinement. The issue was raised recently when a statue of former Washington owner George Preston Marshall was removed from RFK Stadium. Marshall was a known racist and segregationist who refused to integrate his team until being forced to in 1962.

The most famous example of a Hall of Fame player whose induction was scrutinized after the fact was O.J. Simpson. Simpson was acquitted of the double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in 1994, but was later convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to 33 years in prison. He served nine years before being paroled in 2017.

MLB

Over the years, baseball has made sure to keep out Hall of Fame players it believes have ruined the integrity of the game. While no player has ever been removed, they have kept cheaters, gamblers, and others who have committed various forms of malfeasance at arm’s length for decades.

But in 2025, Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Pete Rose, ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, and 15 others from the permanently ineligible list, making them immediately eligible for the Hall. Manfred said there is no reason to keep them on the list once they have died.

Death may be the only way retired players such as Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and many others who have been accused of using performance-enhancing substances will ever be given the honor to grace the walls in Cooperstown, New York.

NHL

The National Hockey League also has never removed a member, but the Hall’s board has set a precedent and can vote to remove an inductee.

In 1998, Alan Eagleson, who had once been the executive director of the Players’ Association, resigned after 18 Hockey Hall of Fame members, including Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Ted Lindsay, and Bobby Hull, said they would leave the Hall if Eagleson were allowed to remain.

Eagleson, elected to the Hall in 1989, pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud after being accused of defrauding the league’s players by skimming players’ pension funds and disability payments and was fined $700,000. Eagleson pleaded guilty to an additional three counts in Canada and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He resigned from the Hall less than a week before the Board’s directors were to vote on his possible expulsion.

Tennis

One sport’s Hall of Fame has taken the steps of removing a person after induction.

In 2012, the International Tennis Hall of Fame expelled former Grand Slam doubles champion Bob Hewitt, who was accused of sexually assaulting minors he was coaching. Hewitt was convicted in 2015 and was released from prison after serving four years of a six-year sentence.

TORONTO — They kept saying they wouldn’t be intimidated.

They refused to fear the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.

They may be playing north of the border, and few folks in Southern California have ever heard of any of them – with the exception of the few with famous fathers – but, oh, can the Toronto Blue Jays play.

They absolutely walloped the powerful Dodgers, 11-4, in Game 1 of the World Series, sending 44,353 fans at the Rogers Centre partying into the streets.

Oh sure, the World Series is just getting started, but the Jays let the baseball world know that unlike the prior three teams in the Dodgers’ path, they won’t be pushovers.

“There’s a reason we are here and there’s a reason they’re there,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think the one thing we cannot do is look over there and say that is Goliath.

“That is a beatable baseball team that has its flaws, and that has its really, really good strengths.”

The Dodgers, who had gone 8-1 in the first three rounds of the postseason with their starting rotation snuffing out every offense, suddenly showed vulnerability, with their bullpen showing their cracks.

It was the third-most runs scored in a single inning in World Seires history, trailing only the 1968 Detroit Tigers and the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics, who scored 10 runs apiece.

They not only showed the weakness of the Dodgers bullpen, but were the first team to get to Blake Snell this postseason. Snell entered the night with a 3-0 record and 0.88 ERA, allowing just six hits and two runs this postseason.

He ended the night giving up eight hits and five earned runs without getting out of the sixth inning.

The bullpen then poured gasoline on the flame after Snell departed, with Addison Barger making history by hitting the first pinch-hit grand slam in a World Seires, followed three batters later by an Alejandro Kirk homer, and the party was on.

The most electrifying inning in Blue Jays’ World Series history:

Walk, single, hit by pitch, single, walk, single, groundout, grand slam, single, fly out, home run, and fly out.

And that, boys and girls, is how you beat the powerful Dodgers.

The only folks not surprised by the offensive ambush is, well, the Jays themselves.

“I feel like we’ve been facing good pitching all year,’’ Schneider said. “Whether it’s the NL West coming in here, NL East, AL East, AL Central, I think that we do a really good job of preparing accordingly. So these big-name guys, big-time stuff, similar to the Yankees, yeah, for sure.

“Similar to a lot of teams that we faced.’’

The Blue Jays knocked them around to the tune of 94 victories and the AL East title, and hit .294 with 21 homers and a .523 slugging percentage in the playoffs entering Friday, so what’s another goliath to fall?

“I’ll put this group of 26 up against anybody,” Schneider said. “And they’re looking forward to taking on what is on paper the best team in baseball, that’s playing really well right now.

“I don’t think they would have it any other way.”

Game 2 is Saturday night.

Buckle up.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

TORONTO — Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, restated his concerns over gambling in sports in the wake of the NBA gambling scandal, emphasized that the union will never agree to a salary cap, and believes that the small and large market teams are separated only by their willingness to want to win.

And, oh, yes, couldn’t help but laugh during his 15-minute media session Friday before Game 1 of the World Series at the notion the Los Angeles Dodgers are ruining baseball.

“The question for me would be who is working to create the narrative,’ Clark said, “that is challenging the excellence that we’re seeing.’

The Dodgers have reached the postseason 13 consecutive years with 12 NL West titles, five pennants and two World Series titles. Even if the Dodgers become the first team since the New York Yankees 25 years ago to win back-to-back titles, Clark dismisses the notion that their dynasty hurts competitive balance.

The Yankees never ruined baseball with their dynasty and Atlanta was applauded for their greatness during their glorious run of 14 consecutive division titles from 1991-2005. So why should the Dodgers’ run be treated any different?

“In the late 90s, there were repeat champions and I was actually a player at that time,’ Clark said. “The sky was falling as the Yankees repeated. Here we are, nearly 30 years later and the industry has grown exponentially. The idea that there is excellence among the clubs, you tip your hat to those clubs. There’s opportunities for all 30 teams to be excellent.’

When asked if it were possible that the small-market teams are actually making more money than the large-market teams with revenue sharing, Clark took a lengthy pause before answering.

“All 30 teams have the wherewithal to put a very good team on the field,’ Clark said. “We are provided information that is confidential information. We are not allowed to share that information.’

While MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has yet to publicly declare that he wants a salary cap when the CBA expires Dec. 1, 2026, Clark and the union are bracing themselves that MLB will ultimately seek a cap.

“As a ballplayer before every game, I had read the scouting report,’ Clark said, “and then I appreciated what my history was against that particular pitcher that moment, and I prepared accordingly. The commissioner has been in the game for a long time. I’ve been in the game for a long time. … We’ll sit down, as we always do, with an eye on trying to find common ground.’

When asked if there possibly be a salary floor to force teams to spend on their player payroll instead of putting the money into their bank accounts, Clark said he wasn’t going to negotiate their strategy through the media.

“The issues that we see in the system we know can be addressed without a cap,’ Clark said.

It’s unknown whether a potential lockout will affect teams’ spending in free agency this winter, but clubs are quietly bracing themselves for potential losses in a lockout in 2027. The union also is withholding licensing checks to players in preparation of a potential work stoppage.

Meanwhile, gambling in sports raised its ugly head Thursday when more than 30 people were indicted in a federal gambling sting involving three current and former NBA players and coaches.

“We’ve had the concern since Day 1,’ Clark said. “The safety and well-being of our players has always been paramount as soon as gambling became legal. That hasn’t changed since that time. We work closely with the league to ensure the safety and well-being of our players, so that remains front and center here, that along with the educating of our players, making sure that they understand what they can and can’t do, is consistent and constant.

“But rest assured, every time there’s a situation that arises related to gambling, the concern doesn’t lessen, it gets driven.’

MLB has already had an umpire fired and several players suspended for being involved in gambling, with Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are currently under investigation and facing lifetime suspensions if found guilty that they involved with gambling on games they participated in.

The union would love to see legislatures make prop bets illegal to avoid the allegations that Clase and Ortiz intentionally threw pitches out of the strike zone on several occasions.

“We’re in support of removing any types of bets, prop or otherwise, that could create issues for our guyus on the field.  We heard a lot about prop bets of late, and it was one of the things we were concerned about from Day 1 as well.’

The union, as well as MLB, also is concerned over the players’ safety with MLB embracing gambling sites as corporate sponsors and running gambling advertisements during their games. There were dozens of players this year that spoke openly about receiving death threats towards them and family members.

“At the point in time when gambling became legalized in the states that it did, we had players within 24 hours reach out and suggest they were suddenly being followed by gambling sites and other entities,’ Clark said. “It’s just a different world. And so every time again, something happens, our concerns become greater. Everyone on some level recognized that the world was going to be different, but the health and safety, put the revenue aside, that may be a part of the equation.

“Our health and safety is first and foremost, and that’s why we hired the security director that we did, and why we work as diligently as we do to make sure that our players and their families are as protected as they can be amid the new environment.’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

NEW YORK – The New York Knickerbockers are tired. But not physically.

They are tired of underachieving, whether expectations were even realistic, year after year. Tired of hearing fans complain about that underachieving, and tired of the media asking about – you guessed it – underachieving.

At the beginning of every season, the question isn’t whether this is the season the Knicks put it together and win a championship, but in what spectacular way the failure is going to be excused.

The counter for some Knicks fans is, “at least we’re not the New York Jets.”

Well, that’s not saying much.

The NFL’s worst team certainly wouldn’t appreciate that snide remark, but New Yorkers expect and demand the best, whether it’s from their sports teams or anything else associated with the five boroughs.

The championship drought is five decades long for both teams, and the Knicks want to make sure the Larry O’Brien Trophy, currently in the possession of the Oklahoma City Thunder, makes its way to midtown Manhattan sooner rather than later.

It’s still very early in the 2025-26 season, but it is evident this version of the Knicks is drastically different from the team Tom Thibodeau trotted out the last five years. For all the good that Thibodeau did, including getting the team to its first Eastern Conference finals in 25 years, he was still given the pink slip.

Two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown was brought in to change that narrative and get New York over that ever-expanding hump.

Brown has implemented an up-tempo style designed to get up more 3-point shots, much to the benefit of All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, who at times last season was relegated to one-on-five basketball. (He still averaged a career-high in assists.)

That strategy was tested in the first two games against two conference foes, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, whom the Knicks eliminated last spring in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Not known as a 3-point shooting team, the Knicks fired up 40 from behind the arc in their season opener, a 119-111 victory over Cleveland, and 45 more in a 105-95 win over the Celtics two nights later. Boston is playing without All-Star Jayson Tatum, out with an Achilles injury suffered in the Knicks series.

Brown is also using almost every available body on his bench, going 11- and 10-deep in the first two games, respectively, even without center Mitchell Robinson, who played only 17 games last season and is sidelined as he recovers from ankle surgery. Forward Josh Hart, who didn’t play against Cleveland after a preseason back injury, made his debut against Boston, scoring two points but getting 14 rebounds in just 19 minutes.

“I truly believe this team is a deep team,” Brown said. “We have guys that can play. I like to play a lot of guys. I don’t know if I can play 11 guys every night, but we’d like to play as many as we can. We want everybody ready in case their number is called at any time.”

That rotation means more in-game rest for players like Brunson, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year, and Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 26 points and 13 rebounds against Boston. No Knick played over 38 minutes in the first two games.

“We don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of,’ Brown said. ‘That’s what makes it exciting. Everybody has expectations. I don’t know if their expectations are any higher than everybody in that locker room. We’re good with that. We embrace that.”

For the Knicks to seriously contend for a championship, defense —a hallmark of Thibodeau’s teams —and balanced scoring will be key. It’s the NBA; any player can go off on any night, but Brown wants those players, especially off the bench, to contribute when their name is called.

Brunson echoed that sentiment, reiterating that the season is young and a lot can change.

“We’re going to harp on this idea of the minutes stuff like that, but regardless, we have a lot of players on this team that can make plays and play well,’ said Brunson, who had a game-high 31 points against Boston.

New York’s bench had 35 points in the first game, and only 16 against the Cavaliers.

It’s also in the NBA’s DNA for teams to blow leads. New York was up 17 in the Cleveland game before the Cavs came back and took the lead in the third quarter, and the Knicks nearly squandered a 24-point second-half lead against a depleted Celtics team.   

The Knicks were one of the league’s best shooting teams last year, hitting 49% of their shots. Through two victories, that percentage has dipped down to 41%, but New York dominated both teams on the glass, gaining 21 offensive rebounds for 21 second-chance points against Boston.  

Perhaps Brown said it best after Friday night’s victory. He knows that re-inventing the wheel isn’t the best strategy for beating teams in the league.

“Our guys stayed with it, they didn’t go away from the way we play the game of basketball,” he said.

TORONTO – Addison Barger made World Series history, sent Rogers Centre into bedlam and probably buried the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1. 

Barger greeted lefty reliever Anthony Banda with a 413-foot shot to right center field, the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history and give the Toronto Blue Jays an 11-2 lead as they batted around in the sixth inning. 

Barger has been a postseason hero this October in Toronto but he started Game 1 on the bench with lefty ace Blake Snell starting for the Dodgers. But Snell, who entered with a 0.86 ERA this postseason, did not record an out in the sixth and then the Blue Jays feasted on Dodgers relief. 

Barger’s grand slam was followed by a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single, shifting Banda into ‘wear it’ mode as the Dodgers look to Game 2.

And then Alejandro Kirk skied a fly to left field that edged over the wall, a two-run homer and the fourth time he reached base in Game 1. 

The Blue Jays’ nine-run sixth was the third-highest scoring inning in World Series history. 

No, before the first pitch was even thrown, fans at Rogers Centre had their jaws on the floor, watching the Voices of Fire choir perform beautiful renditions of both the American and Canadian national anthems.

The group was assisted by members of a local Toronto orchestra, as well.

Who is Voices of Fire?

Voices of Fire is a gospel choir formed by popular music producer Pharrell Williams along with his uncle, Bishop Ezekiel Williams.

The choir’s formation was documented during a Netflix docuseries named, you guessed it, ‘Voices of Fire.’

Since its creation, the group has maintained itself as an active group and has even collaborated with Williams on a few of his songs, most notably ‘JOY (Unspeakable).’

The group recently released a 13-track album titled ‘Ophanim.’ Several famous artists are featured on the album, including CeeLo Green, Quavo, and Zacardi Cortez.

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