The Baseball Buffet for 11/2/2025

Issue #444

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 221st and final day of the season featured an exceptional game seven of the World Series:

LAD 5, TOR 4 - As noted above, the Dodgers won it in the end, but the game sure had a lot of twist and turns along the way. It started with Shohei Ohtani hitting a single in the top of the first, advancing to third, but not being able to score. The same happened in the bottom of the frame, as George Springer led off with a single but then couldn’t cross the plate either.

No runs in the second inning, but then in the bottom of the third the Jays got to Ohtani, starting with another leadoff single by Springer. After getting one out and intentionally walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette hit a 3-run HR to give Toronto a nice initial lead. LA came back in the top of the fourth, loaded the bases, and then with one out Teoscar Hernández hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Will Smith. Score: LAD 1, TOR 3

The Jays threatened again in the bottom of the fourth, as Andrés Giménez was hit by pitch and then Springer—still not 100% due to injury—had his third single of the game. After striking out Nathan Lukes, Justin Wrobleski was replaced by Tyler Glasnow who had pitched briefly in game six on Friday as well. He finished this inning, and would pitch two more also.

Blue Jays’ starter Max Scherzer came back out to start the fifth, but with one out gave up a single to Miguel Rojas. So Toronto pulled Scherzer (4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) in favor of the now familiar Louis Varland, who made his record 15th appearance this postseason. (Varland had been acquired along with Ty France from the Twins at the trade deadline in late July.) Ohtani hit a single, but then Varland retired both Will Smith and Freddie Freeman to get out of the inning unscathed.

In the top of the sixth Chris Bassitt came in, walked Mookie Betts and let up a single to Max Muncy. With one out and Betts having advanced to third, Tommy Edman hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Blue Jays’ lead. Score: LAD 2, TOR 3.

In the bottom of the sixth, hot-hitting Ernie Clement led off with a single, and then Andrés Giménez doubled to drive him in. Glasnow recovered and was able to get Springer, Lukes, and Guerrero Jr. out to finish the inning. Score: LAD 2, TOR 4.

Both teams pulled out all the stops when it came to pitching substitutions, relying more on starting pitchers out of the bullpen than traditional relievers. In the top of the seventh Toronto brought in Trey Yesavage, and after walking Ohtani he got Smith to fly out and then Freddie Freeman to hit into a double play. Emmet Sheehan, usually a starter but used as a reliever during this postseason, was once again called upon for relief work for the bottom of the seventh. He delivered a scoreless frame, only allowing a single to Alejandro Kirk.

In the top of the eighth, Max Muncy came through with a one-out, solo HR—the 16th postseason homer of his career. In the bottom of the inning, Clement hit a leadoff double,
and so the Dodgers turned to Blake Snell, who got Giménez to line out, and then struck out Springer and Davis Schneider. Score: LAD 3, TOR 4.

In top of the ninth, Miguel Rojas—who hadn’t had a HR since September 19th—hit a one-out, solo HR off Jays’ closer Jeff Hoffman. In the bottom of the ninth, the Jays threatened again as Bichette hit a one-out single and then Addison Barger was walked. Even though he had pitched six innings as the starter in the Dodgers’ game six win the day before, Dave Roberts trusted the experience and composure of Yoshinobu Yamamoto to get things done. Interestingly, he hit the first batter he faced, Alejandro Kirk, to load the bases.

Roberts then made what would be an outstanding defensive move—bringing in natural CF Andy Pages to play center in place of utility man Tommy Edmans. Daulton Varsho grounded to second, and Miguel Vargas struggled a bit but then threw to home in time (barely) to get Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the second out. Then, with the bases still loaded, Clement hit a long fly to left-center. Pages and LF Kiké Hernández were both going for it, but Pages leaped in the air to make the grab, with Hernandez narrowly avoiding injury from a collision with Pages, or from the wall. Roberts’ move had paid off, and we were going into extra innings. Score: LAD 4, TOR 4.

With Seranthony Domínguez now pitching for the Blue Jays, the Dodgers threatened in the top of the tenth, with a single and two walks loading the bases. But then Pages and Kiké Hernández both grounded out and no runs crossed. Yamamoto went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the frame, so it went to the 11th inning.

Continuing the trend of bringing in starting pitchers, Toronto called upon Shane Bieber. He managed to get ground outs from both Rojas and Ohanti, but then Will Smith hit a solo HR to left, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.

Roberts made more defensive substitutions going into the bottom of the 11th, bringing in Justin Dean to play CF, moving Pages over to RF, and bringing in Hyesong Kim for Rojas at 2B. Roberts was still counting on Yamamoto on the mound, and he gave up a leadoff double to Guerrero Jr.—his first hit of the night. Kiner-Falefa executed a sacrifice bunt to move Guerrero Jr. to third, setting up a chance for a sacrifice fly to drive him in. But Yamamoto pitched around Addison Barger, to setup a double-play opportunity with the slow-running Alejandro Kirk up next. And that is exactly what happened: Kirk hit a broken-bat grounder to Mookie Betts at SS, who touched second base and threw over to Freeman at first for the final out. Final score: LAD 5, TOR 4.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted below, Willie McGee was born on this date in 1958. In his MVP season in 1985 he led the NL with 216 hits, the 8th most for any player during the decade of the 1980s. Which player had the most hits in a single season from 1980-1989, and which player is the one during that decade to have two seasons with more hits than McGee’s 216? (Hint: the answers are two different players.)

Trivia answers are at the bottom of each newsletter.

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On November 2…

• 1938: Jimmie Foxx wins his third AL MVP Award. “Boston Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is voted Most Valuable Player of the American League for the third time, with Yankees catcher Bill Dickey second in the voting.”

• 1960: Roger Maris wins the AL MVP Award. “New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris defeats teammate Mickey Mantle for the American League MVP Award, 225-222, the second-closest vote ever, behind Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams' race in 1947.”

• 1972: Steve Carlton wins the NL Cy Young Award unanimously. “Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton is unanimously selected the National League Cy Young Award winner. Carlton won 27 games for the Phillies, who as a team won only 57 games overall.”

• 1995: Joe Torre is named manager of the Yankees. “The New York Yankees name Joe Torre their manager, replacing the recently departed Buck Showalter. Torre, a former St. Louis Cardinals' star and National League batting champion, will guide the Yankees to four World Championships in his first five years with the team.”

• 2016: The Cubs finally win the World Series again. “The Cubs win their first World Series title in 108 years by defeating Cleveland, 8-7, in Game 7, making up a three-games-to-one deficit in the process as it's a great day for teams with ursine names. It's an epic ballgame worthy of the high stakes, as Dexter Fowler hits a lead-off homer off Corey Kluber, but the Indians manage to tie the score in the 3rd. In the 4th, the Cubs score twice, including one run on a daring rush to the plate by Kris Bryant on a fly ball to CF Rajai Davis that travels perhaps 150 feet. Javier Baez and David Ross also homer for Chicago as the Cubs build up their lead, but Cleveland scores two runs on a wild pitch by Jon Lester in the 6th, then trailing 6-4 with two outs in the 8th, Davis homers off Aroldis Chapman to tie the game again. Play is stopped briefly by rain after the 9th inning, but in the 10th, Ben Zobrist, who is named World Series MVP, puts the Cubs ahead with a double and Miguel Montero adds an insurance run with a single, a run which proves important as the Indians manage to score once in the bottom of the 10th before Mike Montgomery retires Michael Martinez on a grounder to third to clinch the title. Cleveland now takes over as owners of the longest championship drought in the majors, their last title having come in 1948.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Travis Jackson (1903)

• Hall of Famer

• 15-year major league career, spanning from 1922-1936, as a SS and later a 3B, for the New York Giants

• Hit over .300 six times, including a career-high .339 in 1930

• Received down-ballot MVP votes in eight seasons

• Had career highs in 1929 with 21 HR, 94 RBI, 92 runs, and 12 triples

• Considered one of the best defensive SS of his era, his great range led to the nickname Stonewall

• Overall had 135 HR, 929 RBI, a .291/.337/.433 slash line, and a 102 OPS+

Johnny Vander Meer (1914)

• 13-year major league career, spanning from 1937-1951, missing two years due to military service

• Mostly played for the Cincinnati Reds, with 15+ wins five times

• Four-time All-Star

• Led the NL in strikeouts each year from 1941-1943, but was also a bit wild, leading the league in walks twice

• Famously is the only pitcher to ever throw two consecutive no-hitters, which he did in his second season in 1938. The first game was against the Boston Bees, and the second was against the Brooklyn Dodgers, in the first night game ever held at Ebbets Field.

• Overall had a 119-121 record, a 3.44 ERA, and a 107 ERA+

Willie McGee (1958)

• 18-year major league career, spanning from 1982-1999, mostly with the Cardinals

• A high average hitter with good speed on the bases, he had 20+ SB six times, and 40+ SB three times

• Four-time All-Star, and won three Gold Glove Awards in CF

• In 1985 he won the NL MVP Award after leading the league with a .353 average, 18 triples, and 216 hits, to go with career highs of 114 runs and 56 SB

• Overall had 352 SB, 1,010 runs, a .295/.333/.396 slash line, and a 100 OPS+

Ron Reed (1942)

• 19-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1966-1984, with the first half for the Braves, and most of the second half with the Phillies

• Began as a starter, was an All-Star in his first full season in 1968, and then in 1969 had an 18-10 record and 3.47 ERA

• Switched to being a reliever when he joined the Phillies, and had five seasons with 12-17 saves, including in 1978 when he had 17 saves with a tidy 2.24 ERA in 108.2 IP

• Overall had a 146-140 record, a 3.46 ERA, and a 108 ERA+

Currently active players who were born on November 2 include DET Parker Meadows and NYY Jonathan Loáisiga.

⚾ I hope you enjoyed the newsletter today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Wade Boggs had the most hits in one season during the 1980s, and Kirby Puckett had two seasons with more than McGee’s total of 216 hits. The top eight single season hit totals from 1980-1989 are as follows:

• 240 - Wade Boggs (1985)

• 238 - Don Mattingly (1986)

• 234 - Kirby Puckett (1988)

• 230 - Willie Wilson (1980)

• 223 - Kirby Puckett (1986)

• 219 - Cecil Cooper (1980)

• 218 - Tony Gwynn (1987)

• 216 - Willie McGee (1985)

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Dodgers rally for repeat, taking captivating Series on dramatic late HRs, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 11/2/2025

• Tireless Yamamoto named World Series MVP -- on zero days' rest!, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 11/2/2025

• Ranking the craziest plays from an epic World Series Game 7, by MLB writers, 11/2/2025

• Kershaw closes book on awesome career with 3rd championship, by AJ Cassavell at MLB, 11/2/2025

• Players with best postseason performances, by Matt Kelly and Manny Randhawa at MLB, 11/2/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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