It’s time to crown the champion of America’s pastime—even if a Canadian team earned its way into the battle.
The first pitch of the 2025 World Series will be thrown out tonight: Friday, October 24. The Toronto Blue Jays will try to stop the Los Angeles Dodgers from becoming the first team since the 2000 New York Yankees to win consecutive championships.
The Blue Jays will also try to prevent Shohei Ohtani from making any baseball history. Both feats are a tall order.
Before we get into how to watch the World Series, let’s take a look back at how the two teams got here and speculate on Ohtani’s potential firsts.
The road to the World Series
Ironically, the Blue Jays represent the American League in the Series, having earned 94 wins and 68 losses this season.
They faced off against the Seattle Mariners to get here. George Springer’s game-winning home run in the final playoff matchup cemented their spot, as CNN reported. Toronto has not competed in a World Series game since 1993, which was the year the organization won its second consecutive championship.
On the other side of the coin, the National League’s Dodgers have a regular-season record of 93-69, just one win less than the Blue Jays. The boys in blue swept the Milwaukee Brewers, who had the best regular-season record, in the playoffs.
This is the franchise’s fifth appearance in the World Series in the last nine years. Ohtani already made history in Game 4 against the Brewers with what some are calling the greatest playoff performance in Major League Baseball history.
He hit three home runs and pitched six scoreless innings, only allowing two hits. He struck out 10 batters. With this kind of momentum, it’s easy to get excited about the possibilities for the World Series.
What historic feats could Ohtani accomplish?
Ohtani has many opportunities to make history in the Series, as reported by MLB.com. The easiest way to do so would be by breaking any number of offensive performance records, such as most hits or home runs by a pitcher.
The record for most hits by a pitcher in a postseason game is three, and the one for most home runs is one. And the record for most RBIs by a pitcher is four, while the one for total bases is seven. These all seem easily attainable for the talented player.
Instead—or additionally—Ohtani could make hitting history. He has more competition here, though, as all players can accomplish this no matter their position. No one has ever hit four home runs in a postseason game.
In this year’s regular season, this happened three times, which was a first—so the stage is set. Batters just have to do it during the World Series. No pressure.
The least likely outcome could happen from the mound. Ohtani has the chance to become the first pitcher to throw a World Series no-hitter or perfect game since the Yankees’ Don Larsen in Game 5 of the 1956 championship.
At that point, anything at the plate would just be gravy.
This accomplishment would take some cooperation from the coaching staff, as Ohtani has only pitched one full game in his career. (It is important to note this one-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers occurred when Ohtani was still playing for the L.A. Angels in 2023.) Since recovering from Tommy John surgery on his elbow, he tends to pitch an average of six innings.
Only time will tell what Ohtani accomplishes.
How can I watch or stream the 2025 World Series?
The best-of-seven fall classic begins on Friday, October 24, at 8 p.m. ET. The entire series will be broadcast on Fox, which means traditional cable subscribers and those with an over-the-air antenna and reception are all set.
Additionally, if you have a pay-TV provider, you can stream it on FoxSports.com, the Fox Sports app, and Fox One.
For those who have cut the cord, try a live-TV streaming service, such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, or Fubo. Just be sure to check regional differences before committing to a new monthly charge.
Here’s the full World Series Schedule.
- Game 1: Friday, October 24, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox)
- Game 2: Saturday, October 25, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox)
- Game 3: Monday, October 27, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox)
- Game 4: Tuesday, October 28, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox)
- Game 5: Wednesday, October 29, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox), if needed
- Game 6: Friday, October 31, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox), if needed
- Game 7: Saturday, November 1, at 8 p.m. ET (Fox), if needed