TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, starting Friday at Rogers Centre. Here are five things you need to know before the Major League Baseball Championship Series begins:
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE — Who will host Games 1 and 2, as well as the clinching Game 7 of the World Series, has been determined in various ways throughout the championship's 122-year history. This season, it is based on teams' regular season winning percentage. The Blue Jays have a .580 winning percentage compared to Los Angeles' .574, so Rogers Center will host the first two games, plus Games 6 and 7 if necessary.
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OTANI'S BRIDES — When Shohei Ohtani became a free agent in 2023 and made it clear that he intended to leave the Los Angeles Angels, there was good reason to believe he would sign with the Blue Jays. It turns out that he and agent Nez Balelo used negotiations with Toronto as leverage to negotiate a 10-year, $700 million contract that would keep him in Los Angeles but go to the Dodgers.
WAGE GAP – Los Angeles has one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball, spending about $509.5 million on players this season, with a payroll of $341.5 million plus $168 million in projected luxury taxes. That nearly doubles the Blue Jays' $252.7 million payroll with projected taxes of $13.4 million.
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HISTORY — The Dodgers' eight World Series championships are the fifth in MLB history. This year will be their 23rd appearance at the Fall Classic, where they will perform in Brooklyn, New York and Los Angeles. This is Toronto's third trip to the World Series, as its previous championship series appearances were won in 1992 and 1993. The Blue Jays are tied with the Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Angels and Washington Nationals for the perfect winning percentage in the World Series.
BALL PARKS — Despite opening 37 years apart, Dodgers Stadium and Rogers Center are the third and sixth oldest stadiums in Major League Baseball, respectively. Los Angeles Stadium opened in 1962 and seats 56,000 fans, perhaps the most in MLB. Rogers Center opened in 1989 and seats about 42,000, 10th in the league.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
