This post was rudely delayed by a shriveled gallbladder. I am happy to report I am trending back to normal. Hooray for medical science.
Ten years ago, during the postseason of 2015, I wrote a series of emails to friends with my take on the Royals in the playoffs. I added some baseball trivia and history, including a look back at the team’s first World Series victory in 1985. Those “Pre-Hot Stove” posts are archived here. A month later, basking in the glow of the World Series victory over the Mets, the inaugural Hot Stove was published. Today, the Hot Stove count stands at #293.
I’m going to revisit that 2015 season, game-by-game, alongside the 2025 World Series.
The Dodgers were heavy favorites this year. Their superstars and gigantic payroll did not create a perfect team, but the hitting and starting pitching were formidable. The potential weak spot was the bullpen which had let them down late in the season. As caricatured by a Dodgers fan site…
Joe Ponanski generally believes it is silly to predict based on “keys to the game,” but he found one clear plot line from these keys (or as he coined them, “Posnanskeys”):
(1) If the Dodgers can avoid using their gruesome bullpen, they will win.
(2) If the Blue Jays can get into the Dodgers’ gruesome bullpen, they will win.
Let’s see how that went.
Game 1 (2015) – Royals Over Mets, 5-4: Alcides Escobar led off for the Royals and hit the first pitch for an inside-the-park home run. A good omen? Not as of the end of 8 innings. The Mets led 4-3 and expected the lead to be protected by their closer Jeurys Familia who had not blown a save since July 30. But Alex Gordon came to bat with one out in the 9th and hit the ball over the center field wall. Save blown.
The teams were scoreless the next four innings. In the bottom of the 14th, Alcedes Escobar scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Eric Hosmer. This gave Escobar the distinction of scoring on the first and last pitches of the game.
The 14-innings tied the record for the most innings in a World Series game. The others were in 1916 (Red Sox/Dodgers; Babe Ruth of the Sox pitching a complete game 2-1 victory) and 2005 (White Sox/Astros). Hold this thought – the subject will come up again.
Game 1 (2025) – Blue Jays over Dodgers, 11-4: The first two games for 2025 were played in Toronto, the capital of Ontario. Days before the games, the government of Ontario released an anti-tariff ad using the words of Ronald Reagan. To retaliate, President Trump withdrew from trade talks with Canada. Ontario premier Doug Ford agreed to pause the ads, but only after they ran during Games 1 and 2 in Toronto. And that’s what happened. I don’t know if any new talks are scheduled.
In other tariff news…
As it turned out, the Dodgers could have used the 7-run tariff. They lost Game 1 by a score of 11-4, highlighted by the Dodgers starter and gruesome bullpen giving up 9 runs as the Blue Jays kept the line moving in the 6th inning. The big blow was a grand slam by pinch hitter Addison Barger (video here; photo below). It was the first grand slam by a pinch hitter in World Series history.
Game 2 (2015) – Royals Over Mets, 7-1: As Royals fans will recall, “Keep the line moving” was a rallying cry for the 2015 Royals who placed an emphasis on patient, unselfish hitting, and relying on a series of productive at-bats to score runs. It also became the title to a book about the 2015 Royals.
And they did precisely that in Game 2 by scoring four runs in the 5th and three in the 8th to win 7-1. The big story of the game was Johnny Cueto pitching a complete game and allowing only two hits (both by Lucas Duda; remember that name).
There would not be another complete game in the World Series until…
Game 2 (2025) – Dodgers Over Blue Jays, 5-1: The Dodgers avoided using their gruesome bullpen the old-fashioned way. Their starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game for a 5-1 victory.
Game 3 (2015) – Mets Over Royals, 9-3: The Series moved to New York, and the Mets got a quality start from “Thor” (Noah Syndergaard). Also, the Mets’ bats came alive for a 9-3 victory over the Royals. I had been hoping for a sweep, but then there would have been no Game 5. And we all want to savor Game 5. Stay tuned.
Game 3 (2025) – Dodgers Over Blue Jays, 6-5: Remember the Royals 14-inning game above – tying the record for most innings in a World Series game? That number has been topped twice since 2015.
October 26, 2018. Game 3. Dodger Stadium. Brad Paisley sang the National Anthem. 18 innings (7 hours, 20 minutes). Won by the Dodgers on a walk-off solo homer by Max Muncy. Mookie Betts played for the Red Sox.
October 27, 2025. Game 3. Dodger Stadium. Brad Paisley sang the National Anthem. 18 innings (6 hours, 39 minutes). Won by the Dodgers with a walk-off solo homer by Freddie Freeman. Mookie Betts played for the Dodgers.
This 2025 game was not always pretty. Fielding miscues. Poor baserunning. Questionable managerial decisions. Substandard umpiring behind the plate. But with 18 innings, a lot of interesting things happened. Three highlights:
1. Shohei Ohtani hit two homers and two doubles his first four times to the plate. That was enough of Shohei for the Blue Jays who walked him the next five times (four intentional). His nine times on base shattered the previous World Series record of six. During the game, President Bob Kendrick of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum tweeted a Satchel Paige quote, “If a man can beat you, walk him.”
2. The relief pitching of both teams was superb (i.e., not gruesome). At the end of the fifth inning, both starters were gone, and the score was tied 4-4. Over the next 12 innings, each team scored one run, making it 5-5 going into the 18th inning. The two teams used a combined 19 pitchers who threw 609 pitches.
3. Leading off in the bottom of the 18th, in his ninth trip to the plate, Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off homer (video here).
Game 4 (2015) – Royals Over Mets, 5-3: The Mets looked like they might tie the Series, holding a 3-2 lead after seven innings. With one out in the 8th, two Royals walked. The Mets brought in Jeurys Familia who had blown the save in Game 1. The Royals caught a break when second baseman Daniel Murphy bobbled a Hosmer grounder. Moustakas and Perez kept the line moving with singles, staking the Royals to a 5-3 lead. Familia had blown his second save, and the Royals won to go ahead three games to one. Murphy’s error earned a headline in the New York Post: “MURPHY’S FLAW.”
Game 4 (2025) – Blue Jays Over Dodgers, 7-2: After going to the plate nine times in Game 3, Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the Dodgers in Game 4. For the first six innings, his only major mistake was giving up a 2-run homer to Vladimir Guererro Jr. Starter Shane Bieber likewise pitched well for Toronto but left during the 6th for a reliever. At the end of six, the Blue Jays led 2-1.
Manager Dave Roberts left Ohtani in to start the 7th. He hoped to squeeze another inning out of Ohtani even though he had not pitched a full seven innings since playing for the Angels in 2023. Tough decision for Roberts, and it did not go well. Ohtani, obviously tiring, gave up a single and a double to the first two hitters.
The gruesome bullpen came in, and Toronto kept the line moving to score four runs. The final score was 7-2, and the Series was tied, two games to two.
Game 5 (2015) Royals Over Mets, 7-1: The story being written by sportswriters as the 9th inning approached was that Matt Harvey (“The Dark Knight”) had pitched a gem – a shutout through the 8th. The Mets led 2-0, and manager Terry Collins planned to bring in a closer for the 9th. But in a heated argument in the dugout, in full display on TV, Harvey (and chanting fans) convinced Collins to stick with Harvey. To disastrous results (NY Daily News, “THE DARKEST KNIGHT”). Cain walked, stole 2nd and scored on Hosmer’s double. Hosmer moved to third on a groundout (which made it two outs) and then boldly kept running to score on a wild throw by surprised first baseman Lucas Duda (NY Daily News, “CRUEL HAND LUC”). Video here. Below, the reaction by Mets’ fans says it best.
Hosmer’s run tied the score at 2-2 and sent the game to extra innings. The Royals scored 5 in the 12th to win the game (7-2) and the Series (four games to one).
Relief pitching in the 2015 Series. The normally strong Mets bullpen turned gruesome. Their elite closer Jeurys Familia blew three saves. The Royals experienced the opposite. If the games had ended after 7 innings, the Mets would have won all three games in NY, plus they had a 4-3 lead in the 8th in the first game in KC. From the 7th inning on in the five games of the Series, the Mets were outscored 15-1.
Game 5 (2025) – Blue Jays Over Dodgers, 6-1: The Blue Jays started Trey Yesavage, a rookie who had played most of the regular season in the minors. He was called up to the majors for his debut on September 15. His Topps “Call Up” card:
His major league experience before the postseason totaled 14 innings. He pitched 27.2 innings in the postseason, starting five games and going 3-1. A star was born.
In this Game 5, Yesavage pitched seven innings, allowing one run, leading to a 6-1 Blue Jays win.
The big number: He struck out 12 in a lineup filled with some of the best and highest paid players in baseball. This broke the rookie record of 11, last accomplished by Don Newcombe of the Dodgers in 1949.
The Blue Jays led the Series three games to two and headed home needing only one victory to win the Series.
World Series Travel Day, Thursday, October 30, 2025: I started the travel day with nausea, dropping blood pressure and passing out. A 911 ride took me to the KU ER where the numbers for my pancreas and liver were bonkers, and electronic imaging confirmed duct blockage, gallstones and pancreatitis. Emergency surgery cleaned out the gallstones, and my “angry” (the surgeon’s term) pancreas rebounded and passed along the good news to my liver. But it meant I would be watching Games 6 and 7 from my hospital room while awaiting surgery to remove my gallbladder.
Game 6 (2025) – Dodgers Over Blue Jays, 3-1: Halloween. No trick or treaters in the hospital room as Rita and I watched Game 6.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed his complete game victory in Game 2 with another gem, pitching six innings and allowing only one run. The slumping Mookie Betts hit a two-run single that was the difference in the 3-1 Dodgers victory.
Game 7 (2014) – Giants Over Royals, 3-2: Bonus game! I’m dropping back a year from 2015 to the Royals loss in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series. I think you will understand why.
Game 1. Winning pitcher, the Giants Madison Baumgarner.
Game 5. Winning pitcher, Baumgarner.
Game 7. Baumgarner pitched the final 5 innings, allowing no runs, to get the save. The game ended on a popup with Alex Gordon stranded on third with the tying run.
Baumgarner was the 2014 World Series MVP.
And in 2025…
Game 7 (2025) – Dodgers Over Blue Jays, 5-4: Déjà vu!
Game 2. Winning pitcher, the Dodgers Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Game 6. Winning pitcher, Yamamoto.
Game 7. Yamamoto pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing no runs, to get the win. The game ended on a double play with Vladimer Guerrero Jr. stranded on third with the tying run.
Yamamoto is the 2025 World Series MVP.
To tack on one more piece of Royals déjà vu…
Game 1, 2015. Top of the 9th. One out. Mets led 4-3. Alex Gordon, batting 8th in the lineup, hit a solo homer to tie the game 4-4. The Royals won in extra innings, 5-4.
Game 7, 2025. Top of the 9th. One out. Blue Jays led 4-3. Miguel Rojas, batting 9th in the lineup, hit a solo homer to tie the game 4-4. The Dodgers won in extra innings, 5-4.
Below, the iconic 2015 photo of Alex Gordon rounding the bases after his homer. When he gets a statue someday, I’m guessing this is the pose they will use.
Fast forward to 2025. Miguel Rojas gave us this mirror image after his homer.
When Rojas hit his homer to tie the game, the Blue Jays were just five outs away from winning the World Series. They had another chance in the bottom of the 9th when they put two men on base with one out. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts then made two fateful moves. He brought in Yoshinobu Yamamoto to pitch and Andy Pages to play centerfield.
Yamamoto hit a batter to load the bases. He got the second out with a force at home. Next up was Ernie Clement who hit a blast to left center. If the ball was not caught, the Blue Jays would win the World Series. Andy Pages, the defensive replacement who had just entered the game, chased the ball and collided with left fielder Kiki Hernandez. But Pages held on to make the catch (video here). This is how close Yamamoto came to throwing the pitch that lost the Series instead of becoming the MVP.
The teams moved on to extra innings. Will Smith hit a solo homer in the top of the 11th to put the Dodgers ahead 5-4. In the bottom of the 11th, Yamamoto shut down a Blue Jays rally to secure the game and the World Series for the Dodgers (video of final play and celebration here).
Relief Pitching in the 2025 Series: The Dodgers gruesome bullpen had one decent night in the Series. In Game 3, the relievers were effective in the 18-inning Dodgers victory. Otherwise, the Posnanskeys were in place. In the other three games won by the Dodgers, they mostly avoided using their gruesome bullpen. The easiest was Yamamoto’s complete game. The other two wins were primarily staffed in relief by starters taking on extra work. In the three games won by Toronto, the Dodgers bullpen was gruesome.
At KU on Saturday/Sunday, November 1 and 2: Meanwhile, back at KU, the more mundane surgery to remove my gallbladder was set for Saturday. I was warned that the surgical team had dual duties because of weekend skeletal staffing, meaning they could be called off at any time to take care of ER trauma patients. My surgery was no emergency and kept getting pushed back until finally at the end of the day, they moved it to Sunday. Having fasted since midnight, I ate dinner and watched Game 7 with Rita.
Better luck on Sunday. Got to the OR in late morning, and two hours later left the OR without my “shriveled” gallbladder. Tylenol kept away major pain, and I was tolerably comfortable. Rita and I watched the Chiefs lose to the Bills. That was painful and not relieved by Tylenol.
Recovery and Travel Advice: I left the hospital on Monday (11/3) and sent out a non-World Series Hot Stove post. The pain receded and I dropped the pain meds by the weekend. Two days ago, work on this World Series Hot Stove resumed. Yesterday, Rita and I walked Loose Park and got in 1.3 miles per the iPhone. Plan to get back to the regular three miles soon.
I appreciate all the “get well soon” emails. The mileage award (8,641 miles) goes to John Petersen who checked in from Bangkok where he and Terry were beginning a cruise that includes Singapore and Bali. Rita and I were in those destinations in 1987 when we traveled around the world with Wayne and Kay Tenenbaum.
Second place goes to Bill Knoth who emailed from the Nile near the Aswan Dam (6,922 miles). Rita and I were in Egypt in 1983 but only got as far south as Luxor (Valley of the Kings, including Tut). In Cairo, we toured the Egyption Museum, and I specifically remember how poorly the King Tut artifacts were displayed (dusty; bad exhibit info). That all changed this month with opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the Pyramids at Giza. Bill and Pam Knoth had perfect timing. Below, their photo of the massive entry hall of the new museum.
Bill edged out Gerard Grimaldi who reported in from Ushuaia, Argentina (6,680 miles), the world’s southernmost city. Gerard and Julie are going north from there to Patagonia. Rita and I were in Ushuaia in 2008, but we were headed south on a cruise to Antarctica (our sixth continent; Australia came later). LOVE the penguins.
There is a purpose to telling these travel stories. For all of you out there putting off foreign travel for your “golden” years, DON’T WAIT! Speaking from experience (and maybe biased today by a hospital stay), energy and patience levels decline. Adventures around the world need a lot of energy and patience. And airplanes that are mostly on schedule.
Last Laugh – Seinfeld: KC Star sportswriter Vahe Gregorian often uses Seinfeld references in his columns. I remember a few years ago when the Royals were repeatedly blowing leads, and Vahe wrote of how the team knew how to take a lead but did not know how to keep a lead. For us Seinfeld aficionados, we immediately knew he was referencing the Seinfeld rental car scene (view here; 2 minutes).
Vahe’s message to me on my recent hospitalization: “On the assumption you are feeling better, I’ll employ a riff off a Seinfeldism that just came to mind: ‘the pancreas was angry that day, my friends’.”
Vahe is referring to the episode where fake marine biologist George saves a whale. And don’t miss that Kramer is hitting a golf ball into the ocean to start the clip (view here; 2 minutes).
Lonnie’s Jukebox – 2015 Royal Blue Edition: At the rally for the 2015 World Series champions, KC photographer Roy Inman climbed to the roof of Union Station for this epic shot.
The city was awash in blue, so I’m going with a playlist of songs with blue in the title.
“My Blue Heaven” by Fats Domino (1956). This was the song I played at the end of my series of playoff emails in 2015. The city was indeed in blue heaven.
“Blue Suede Shoes” by Carl Perkins (1956). Perkins wrote the song, which was soon covered by his former fellow Sun Records artist, Elvis Presley (Elvis here).
“Blue Monday” by Fats Domino (1957). When Fats Domino died in 2017, I wrote a tribute (Hot Stove #58 – Fats Domino – RIP – Ain’t That a Shame). Part of my source material came from a bio on Fats by Rick Coleman. He told the story of Fats’ songwriting partner Dave Bartholomew being stuck in a blizzard in Kansas City and attending the “Blue Monday” shows in the jazz and blues clubs on Vine Street. Dave put lyrics to his thoughts, and a hit single followed.
Now here’s the fun part. When I went to Google to check the videos on this song, I put in some of that info, and the AI response from Google began like this:
The link went directly to my Fats’ tribute. Lesson: AI may not always direct you to reliable sources. Be careful out there.
“Nel blu, dipinto di blu” by Dominico Modugno (1958). This Italian song became a #1 hit as I was starting my junior year in high school. It was #1 for five weeks and became the Billboard Song of the Year. A cover version by Dean Martin also became a 1958 hit under the title “Volare,” which alternated between the original Italian lyrics (Martin was fluent in Italian) and English lyrics. Dean’s version here.
“Blue Moon” by the Marcels (1961). A doo-wop version of a 1934 standard written by Rodgers and Hart. As you will see in the video, the group was integrated, a rarity in those days. But this caused trouble when they toured the Deep South, so the two white members bowed out.
“Blue Velvet” by Bobby Vinton (1963). As if that was not enough blue, Bobby had another 1963 hit titled “Blue on Blue.”
“Devil With a Blue Dress On” (1966) by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels. One of the great party songs.
“Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and the Shondells (1969). James said the song was inspired by imagery from the Bible, but that did not keep some fans from linking it to high-quality blue LSD tablets.
“Song Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond (1972). Inspired by a Mozart piano concerto. One of Diamond’s two solo #1 hits (the other, “Cracklin’ Rosie”).
“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle (1977). On the jukebox at the Brewery in Brookside (for those who remember that establishment).
“Blue Bayou” by Linda Ronstadt (1977). Probably my favorite “blue” song. LOVE Linda Ronstadt. Her recording was a cover of Roy Orbison’s 1963 original (Roy here).
Walk-Off Photo – LBJ: In the fall of 1965 – 60 years ago! – I was in my second year of law school. In October, President Lyndon Johnson had his gallbladder removed. Last week, one of my law school classmates, Hollis Hanover, refreshed my recollection on this by sending me this photo. The President famously showed off his scar at a press conference after the operation.
That would have been a long scar in the days before laparoscopic surgery. I have four minor incisions. I don’t plan to post a photo.