TORONTO — Nothing beats Game 7 of the World Series. It’s sheer, unfiltered entropy this jewel of a game has become gonzo, a mess of gnawed nails and matted hair and stomachs set on a constant loop-de-loop. If baseball is the ultimate thinking man’s game, Game 7 is the final of its 800-level course, the definitive test of strategy and self-determination and the ability to spelunk into the darkest parts of yourself and emerge with the best version of yourself. This is the game distilled to perfection.
Will Game 7 of the 121st World Series, which takes place Saturday at 8 p.m. ET at Rogers Center and include toronto blue jays And los angeles dodgersTurning an excellent series into an all-timer isn’t the point. It is just the possibilities that fascinate so deeply. For all baseball conditions – the mound is 60 feet, 6 inches away, and the plate is 17 inches wide, and the ball is 5¼ ounces – Game 7 throws the remaining normalcy to the wolves.
There is no such thing as a pitching role; There are only out-going cogs whose collective output should add up to 27. There is no position in the lineup more important than another; Heroes can come from the No. 9 hole or the bench just as easily as a leadoff or cleanup. Baseball is unique in this regard, the possibility of losing the game at any point forces both managers to work in a way they never would otherwise, with urgency bordering on foolishness. Game 7 is a march toward glory or destruction, the most intense binary imaginable.
Sure, other sports have great Game 7s, but none flips the game on its head like baseball. In the NBA, the decision-making process doesn’t change: hand the ball to the best players and let them cook. In the NHL, the plan doesn’t differ markedly from the past six games. The best lines may hold out an extra 15 seconds for their shift, but it’s essentially the same game with a slight variation.
“Even in the Super Bowl, a lot of things happen, but you’re essentially running the same playbook in one game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Baseball is different.”
Roberts knows. He managed Game 7 of the 2017 World Series against Houston AstrosEleven pitches, Dodgers trailing 2-0. By the middle of the second inning, the Astros had ambushed Los Angeles for three more runs. The game was not over, but the level of difficulty had increased rapidly for the Dodgers. They lost that night. The pain still lingers beyond Houston’s betrayal that season. It was there – history, at their literal fingertips – and then it wasn’t.
This time the opportunity has come. Dodgers plan to start shohei ohtaniThe greatest talent to ever play the game, on three days’ rest for the first time in his career. How his arm reacts is the biggest unknown of Game 7. Regardless, Roberts learned that night in 2017 that she had to face the game where she was, with unwavering determination to make the uncomfortable choices. Maybe it was the change in pitching, and maybe it was the pinch runner, and maybe it was connecting with the guys who led the Dodgers closer to their second consecutive World Series title and third in six years. He doesn’t know. He can’t do that until the game comes out.
“There are some people I trust,” Roberts said. “You’ve got to be active in Game 7, but you can’t be too aggressive in certain spots. That’s the beauty of Game 7. It’s going to be a lot of fun, man.”
Roberts’s counterparts are also giddy at the prospect. A dozen days earlier, John Schneider had led the Blue Jays to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against Seattle. The danger of do-or-die baseball was clearly evident that night. Instead of treating the game with appropriate urgency, Mariners manager Dan Wilson stuck to his standard script, and left out his best available pitcher, the closer. andres munozturning to the bullpen and Eduard Bazardo To maintain a 3-1 lead with two runners on in the seventh inning. george springer In the plate. After one swing, the Blue Jays led 4–3, and after six outs they were soaking each other in excitement. The Mariners were resigned to a feeling of ‘what if’ forever.
Now the Blue Jays find themselves in a must-win situation, just eight days behind energy-sucking World Series baseball. Toronto blew out the Dodgers with a nine-run inning in the Game 1 win. Los Angeles retaliates yoshinobu yamamoto Master Class in Game 2. The craziness of the Dodgers’ 18-inning Game 3 win will last forever. Ohtani could not repeat his great Game 3 performance in Game 4, as Toronto evened the series. Cheater trey yesways The Blue Jays advanced with a no-walk, 12-strikeout Game 5. Yamamoto went into God mode again in Game 6, aided by an accidental accommodation of a addison barger A double into the outfield fence that prevented a run from scoring and then a catastrophic baserunning error by Barger ended the game on a double play.
Now comes Game 7, where anything can — and will — determine who spends the offseason getting fit for rings and who is left in a winter of regrets.
“This is where legends are made, and this is where second-guessing can happen,” Schneider said. “I’m going to try to do the former, not the latter. Just let the players put themselves in good position and let that happen. It’s weird that nine months ago we started this and it came down to one game, but we had no other way, and I really think we have a lot of guys that are in a position that they’ll be able to step up to.
“You don’t want to leave any stone unturned. You don’t want to run out any available bullets. But I really think being against Seattle, you want to try to stay normal and not get too happy either way. Somebody’s got to make big pitches, and somebody’s got to take big swings. That’s just how it goes. The numbers objectively, the guys subjectively, you make the best decision and ultimately the players make the decision.”
It’s interesting to see which players can decide. How long does Ohtani get a leash? And when he leaves, who takes his place? it is blake snellWhose entry might prompt Snyder to pinch hit for left-handers in his lineup? Or tyler glasnowWho recorded the first save of his professional career in Game 6 and is set to pitch again in Game 7? Or roki sasakiStarter-turned-closer ready to pitch any inning, from first through ninth?
will compete with toronto max shazerThe 41-year-old future Hall of Famer is loaded with stuff as well as knowledge. He no longer has the arsenal to compete with any of the Dodgers’ arms, but he brings experience to this form, having started Game 7 in 2019. Scherzer pitched five innings and allowed 11 baserunners but only two runs. He went down 2-0 only for himself Washington Nationals Teammates hit a pair of home runs in the seventh inning to give them a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.
This version of Scherzer will be controlled by baserunners, and Schneider won’t be afraid to turn to his other starters, whether it’s Yesavage, shane bieber or even kevin gosmanWho threw 93 pitches in Game 6.
“Trey is available. Shane is available,” Schneider said. “I mean, if we go 20 innings, Kev will be available. We’ll worry about next year in the offseason.”
Schneider drank a Left Field Greenwood IPA from a paper cup and planned to bring back some more when Friday turned to Saturday and he headed home to his wife, Jessie, and their sons, Gunner and Grayson. He played some Xbox with the boys before going to bed, got up, and went back to Rogers Center at 12:30 a.m. as usual.
As nerve-wracking as Game 7 may be, Schneider wants to approach it as if it were any other day — a noble, if unrealistic, goal. Because this is not normal. Baseball’s championship has been decided by Game 7 forty times, and for a handful of people, it often results in everlasting moments. Luis Gonzalez homered off Mariano Rivera, and Edgar Renteria broke Cleveland’s heart, and Bill Mazeroski hit the only championship-clinching home run in a winner-take-all game. The Cubs broke a 108-year drought and the 1924 Nationals needed 12 innings to defeat the Giants. Zack Morris’ 10-inning gem and Madison Bumgarner coming off five shutout innings on two days’ rest.
“It’s chaos,” Roberts said.
Beautiful, glorious, unbeatable chaos.
Game 7 is here. Cherish it. The game doesn’t get any better.
