World Series cheat sheet: A bandwagon fan's guide to the Dodgers-Blue Jays matchup

The Dodgers are back in the World Series, looking to repeat as Major League Baseball champions.

If they win, they’ll be the first team to win consecutive titles since the New York Yankees did it from 1998 to 2000.

Standing in the way of L.A.'s quest for immortality: the Toronto Blue Jays.

But you knew all that, right?

Right?

It's OK if you didn't. Baseball is a long season, and if you're going to pay just a little bit of attention to it, now's the time.

So let's get you caught up and ready to join the water cooler conversations about how the Dodgers got here and what lies ahead.

Bandwagon fans, climb aboard.

When and where are the games?

The Blue Jays have home-field advantage for the World Series because they had a better winning percentage than the Dodgers during the regular season. So the series will start in Toronto, and if it has to go a full seven games, four of them will be played there.

All games will be broadcast on Fox and Fox Deportes. You can also stream the games on the Fox Sports app or FoxSports.com, but keep in mind that to do this, you’ll need to have a subscription for a cable or streaming TV provider.

If you’re dying to watch the games at home but don’t have access to cable or streaming TV, you might consider signing up for a free trial. Many TV streamers like YouTube TV and Fubo TV offer free trials for new customers. Fox also has its own streaming service called Fox One, which offers a seven-day free trial that includes access to World Series coverage. If you do go this route, you’ll have to remember to cancel your subscription before the trial ends so you don’t get charged if you don’t want to keep it.

Here’s the schedule of the games. All times are for the West Coast, and remember, it's the best of seven, so the series could be as short as four games if one team sweeps.

• Game 1: Friday, 5 p.m. at Rogers Center
• Game 2: Saturday, 5 p.m. at Rogers Center
• Game 3: Monday, 5 p.m. at Dodger Stadium
• Game 4: Tuesday, 5 p.m. at Dodger Stadium
• Game 5*: Wednesday, 5 p.m. at Dodger Stadium
• Game 6*: Oct. 31, 5 p.m. at Rogers Center
• Game 7*: Nov. 1, 5 p.m. at Rogers Center

*If necessary: The World Series is best of seven, so it could be as short as four games if one team sweeps.

How the Dodgers got here

The Dodgers began their postseason journey with a best-of-three wild-card series against the Cincinnati Reds, whom they swept with relative ease in two games. They then dispatched the high-powered Philadelphia Phillies in the Divisional Series, needing just four games to do it.

Next came the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite having the best record of any team in baseball during the regular season, the Brewers were no match for October’s Dodgers. L.A. swept Milwaukee in four games, clinching the National League pennant and a trip to the World Series.

In the series-clinching Game 4, Shohei Ohtani as starting pitcher allowed no runs over six innings and struck out 10 Brewers batters; Ohtani as offensive superstar hit three home runs, including this one that left Dodger Stadium.

It may go into the record books as the single greatest individual performance ever in baseball.

The opponent

The Toronto Blue Jays are returning to the World Series for the first time in 32 years. They won back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993.

The 1993 World Series remains one of the most memorable of all time thanks to a walk-off home run from slugger Joe Carter to win the series for Toronto.

Win bar trivia: Carter is one of only two players ever to hit a walk-off homer to win a World Series. The other? Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski, who did it first in 1960.

As the top seed in the American League, the Blue Jays got to skip the wild-card round and advance right to the Divisional Series, where they took care of the New York Yankees in four games. They then toppled the Seattle Mariners in the A.L. Championship Series, needing all seven games to do it.

They’re not a team full of household names, and they may be emerging from a three-decade World Series drought, but this Blue Jays team is young, talented and hungry to bring a championship back to Toronto.

Key storylines

Cementing a dynasty: The Dodgers have been to the World Series five times since 2017, winning titles in 2020 and 2024, so they’re already considered by most baseball fans to be an established dynasty. Becoming the first team in 25 years to win back-to-back championships would cement that status and further validate the team’s decisions to trade for Mookie Betts in 2020, sign Freddie Freeman in 2022 and give Shohei Ohtani a $700 million deal last year.

The coronation of Ohtani: It’s no secret the Dodgers’ two-way star is the best baseball player on the planet. We’ve known that since he entered the American pro ranks with the Angels. But since coming to the Dodgers — and particularly this season when he’s finally gotten healthy enough to pitch and hit simultaneously — we’ve really gotten to see what he’s capable of. He’s already considered a future Hall of Famer, and this World Series will be a chance for him to showcase why he just might be the best baseball player the game has ever seen.

Lockout fears: Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement between players and owners is set to expire after the 2026 season. Whether the Dodgers win the World Series this year could end up at the center of longstanding disagreement between owners and players over whether baseball should have a salary cap that limits how much teams can spend on players. Unlike pro football, basketball and hockey, it currently does not. Owners and some fans worry this allows teams like the Dodgers to buy championships and puts smaller-market teams who can’t spend as much at a disadvantage. Players, unsurprisingly, don’t want a salary cap because it would limit how much they could get paid.

It’s a long, complicated story, one I recommend you read more about from respected ESPN baseball writer Jeff Passan.

Not that the Dodgers seem too concerned with those who think what they’re doing is ruining baseball.

Too much rest? When the World Series kicks off, it’ll have been a week since the Dodgers last played a game. And while rest is good for athletes, too much can backfire. The Dodgers have been practicing all week, but we’ll have to see if the time off created a few cobwebs.

The finale of Kendrick vs. Drake? OK, this isn’t an actual storyline so much as it is a mostly dead story reanimated by the internet, but it’s out there so let’s address it. You might recall the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, which culminated in Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime performance this year that was widely seen as the final word in the beef.

Lamar is from Compton. Drake is from Toronto.

Why does this matter? Last year, one of the highlights of the World Series was when South L.A. rapper Ice Cube electrified the Dodger Stadium crowd with a performance of his hit “It Was A Good Day” before Game 2.

The Yankees responded when the series shifted to New York in Game 3 by bringing out Bronx rapper Fat Joe. He performed his hit “All The Way Up,” and it was … well, you be the judge.

Now, we have no evidence or information to suggest this would happen, so maybe it’s wishful thinking, but come on … how cool would it be to see Drake and Kendrick rap battle it out on national TV as their hometown teams compete for a World Series?

Dodgers players to watch

Shohei Ohtani, starting pitcher/designated hitter

I’m not sure what to write that accurately encapsulates just how good Shohei Ohtani is at baseball.

If there were any doubts about his talent as a two-way player, Ohtani silenced them with his historic Game 4 performance.

Last year, Ohtani was recovering from elbow surgery and wasn’t able to pitch. The Dodgers won it all anyway. This year, we’ll get to see his full suite of hitting and pitching talents in the World Series. If you pay attention to nothing else, make sure you’re watching when No. 17 is at the plate or on the mound.                                             

Freddie Freeman, first base

One, two, Freddie’s coming for you ….

This is what we imagine former Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortés hearing in his nightmares after the Dodgers star took him deep for a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of last year’s World Series.

Freeman went on to hit home runs in Games 2, 3 and 4 of the series too. His performance, all while nursing an ankle injury, earned him World Series MVP honors. This year, Freeman is fully healthy and remains a centerpiece of the Dodgers offense. And the road games will be a bit of a homecoming — his parents are both from the Canadian province of Ontario.

Dodgers starting pitchers

Last year’s team relied on a steady bullpen to carry it to a World Series win. This year, it’s been all about the starters. Out of the 10 games it took the Dodgers to reach the World Series, nine of them featured a starter who pitched six innings or more. The Dodgers won all nine of those games.

They included dominant performances in the NLCS — including Blake Snell’s eight scoreless innings in Game 1, Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s complete game in Game 2, Tyler Glasnow’s solid six in Game 3 and Shohei Ohtani’s Game 4 magnum opus.

It’s rare to see a starting staff with this many pitchers at the top of their game all at once, and the Dodgers will be relying on their recent dominance to continue if they want to win it all again.

Roki Sasaki, closing pitcher

Like his now-teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto last year, Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki was the most highly sought-after player this offseason. And once again, the Dodgers managed to win the sweepstakes.

Sasaki made a couple of starts for the Dodgers early in the season before a shoulder injury sidelined him in May. After a long recovery, Sasaki rejoined the team in September as a relief pitcher and has been the Dodgers’ de-facto closer for the playoffs.

He’s been effective so far, allowing just three hits and one run over eight innings coming into the World Series. But the Dodgers bullpen may be this team’s biggest question mark, so Sasaki and his fellow relievers will have to lock in.

Blue Jays players to watch

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., first base

He’s the heart and soul of the Blue Jays and arguably their best hitter. He also happens to be the son of a Hall of Fame Angel.

Even the fairest of fair-weather fans might remember Vladimir Guerrero Sr.'s time with the Angels from 2004-2009. He could do it all — run, throw, play defense and hit just about anything you threw at him. Even if it bounced first …

Vlad Jr. was born in Montreal when his dad was playing with the Montreal Expos (they don’t exist anymore — they moved to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season and became the Washington Nationals), and he was regularly at games and in the clubhouse with his dad.

Now, this little kid is all grown up and mashing home runs as he looks to lead his birth country’s baseball team to the promised land.

George Springer, right field

If his name sounds familiar … well, that’s because he was a member of that infamous 2017 Houston Astros team that beat the Dodgers in the World Series and ultimately was found to be illegally using video cameras to steal signs.

Springer tortured Dodgers pitchers in that series, hitting five home runs on his way to winning World Series MVP.

Now with the Blue Jays, Springer once again proved himself a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. His three-run home run in Game 7 of the ALCS propelled Toronto into the World Series.

Springer now brings his World Series experience to this young, talented Blue Jays team. The Dodgers undoubtedly know what he’s capable of at the plate and will have to pitch to him carefully if they want to avoid a repeat of his 2017 performance.

Bo Bichette, shortstop

Like Guerrero, Bichette also is the son of a former major leaguer. His dad, Dante, was drafted by the then-California Angels and played for them from 1988 to 1990 before he was traded. He spent his best years with the Colorado Rockies, earning four All-Star selections.

Bo Bichette led the Blue Jays in batting average and RBIs during the regular season, but he’s been out since early September with a knee injury and has missed all of the playoffs so far. But when asked after the Jays’ ALCS win if he’d be playing in the World Series, he didn’t hesitate with his answer.

And that’s bad news for the Dodgers and the baseballs they’ll be throwing to him because when he’s healthy he can do things like this:

Trey Yesavage, starting pitcher

At just 22 years old, this hurler is the youngest player on the Blue Jays. After starting this year at the lowest level of minor league baseball, Yesavage earned a call-up to the majors in September and has continued to impress, winning two of his three playoff starts.

Part of what makes him so hard to hit? His incredibly high release point, which can make the ball even harder for hitters to track coming out of his hand.

Celly season

Especially in the playoffs, there’s never a shortage of celebrations when a player hits one out of the park. And in the last few years, a lot of baseball teams have come up with their own team-specific celebrations, or “cellys.”

For the Dodgers, you might see a few things, depending on what they’re celebrating. Here’s infielder Miguel Rojas breaking a few down.

Another one you might see after a Dodgers home run is this swipe across the eyes, inspired by an ad that Shohei Ohtani did with a Japanese beauty and skincare company.

And then, of course, there’s the sunflower seed shower that outfielder (and former Toronto Blue Jay) Teoscar Hernández brought with him from Toronto. You’ll see him tossing a handful at his teammates when they homer. Of course, when Teo is the one who homers, they return the favor. Sometimes forcefully.

For the Blue Jays, their main celebration piece is the Blue Jacket.

The Blue Jays home run jacket first appeared in the team's dugout in 2021 with the names of all the countries the players were from, but it's since expanded to include the home countries of their many fans.

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The tradition started in 2021 as teams around the league were coming up with ways to celebrate the long ball. According to Hector “Tito” Lebron, the Blue Jays’ Spanish language interpreter for players, the idea spun off of golf’s green jacket, which is awarded to the winner of the Masters Tournament.

Lebron said as time went on, fans in Toronto would reach out and ask if the team would add their country to the jacket. They did, and this year’s version (by our count) includes nearly 50 countries.

The Jays retired the jacket in 2022 after the Seattle Mariners swept them out of the playoffs, but the team revived it in 2024 as a way to try and spark the team after a tough start to that season.

You’ll see Blue Jays players don the jacket when they return to the dugout after hitting a home run.

It’s an objectively cool jacket with a fun backstory. But Dodgers fans will be hoping they don’t see a lot of it during the World Series.