Notable ex-Red Sox set for World Series berth

The polarity between the paths for the Dodgers and Blue Jays World Series run is night and day. 

The Dodgers positioned themselves in the driver's seat for the entire playoffs, sweeping the Reds in the Wild Card round before taking down the powerhouse Phillies in the ALDS. They then won the first two games on the road in Milwaukee before Shohei Ohtani had arguably the greatest game in postseason history hitting three home runs and striking out 10 batters. 

The Blue Jays, however, found themselves in a hole and had to dig their way out. Losing their first two games at home in the ALCS, they won their next 2 games in Seattle convincingly which helped set up a Game 7. It was here that Connecticut’s own George Springer put the team on his back, hitting a three-run homer off of former Red Sox reliever Eduard Bazardo to give them a 4-3 lead, which would ultimately hold. 

Before Game 1 on Friday, the Dodgers sit at -215 to win the series, as the Blue Jays come in at +180 according to Draftkings. The Dodgers look to go back-to-back with the same star players such as Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Outside of Betts, the Dodgers also carry former Red Sox Enrique Hernandez with the Blue Jays having back-up catcher Tyler Heinemen, who played 2 games for the Sox in 2024. 

This is also a first for many players and even coaches on the Blue Jays. Outside of Springer, the current Blue Jays team has many going to their first World Series for the first time, including bench coach Don Mattingly, who never appeared in one with the Yankees as a player, or in any of his stops as a coach. 

Each team also includes two veterans searching for one last ring in Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. Kershaw aims to win his third ring in six seasons, and Scherzer for the first time since 2019 with the Washington Nationals. 

Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at 8:00pm in Toronto.