By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez said the Los Angeles Dodgers’ triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays capped “the greatest World Series I’ve seen in my lifetime” and signaled the franchise’s firm grip on Major League Baseball.
Before the series, Rodriguez said the matchup looked like “David versus Goliath,” but by Game Seven it was “Goliath versus Goliath.”
The Dodgers were down to their final two outs in Saturday’s decider in Toronto but rallied to force extra innings and went on to claim their second title in a row and third in six years.
GOLD STANDARD
Rodriguez, commonly known by the nickname A-Rod, called the Dodgers the sport’s “gold standard”, praising president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for deploying resources to assemble elite talent and keep them as annual contenders.
“The Dodgers have taken a strong hold as the franchise in Major League Baseball,” Rodriguez told Reuters in an interview tied to a new HBO docuseries ALEX VS AROD about his life, which debuts on Thursday.
“They’re the first team in Major League Baseball history to go over $1 billion in gross revenue for one year in 2025,” he said, crediting both their spending power and roster construction.
JUST GETTING STARTED
“If you hate the Dodgers, you’re probably going to want to cover your ears here,” he said.
“Not only are they just getting started, but they have the number one minor league system of the 30 teams. Number one in pitching, number one in prospects, number one in hitting. So the Dodgers have it all going on.”
During Monday’s championship parade, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani was among those who talked about a ‘three-peat’ next season and Rodriguez, a three-time American League MVP and World Series champion in 2009, said it was a definite possibility.
“I think they can do it,” Rodriguez said, while expressing sympathy for Toronto after its late Game Seven collapse.
GLOBAL GAME
Rodriguez, who is an MLB studio analyst for Fox Sports, praised the series’ global pull, noting U.S., Canadian and Japanese audiences tuned in in massive numbers to watch the drama unfold.
“It was a huge, huge hit,” he said, lauding the return of small-ball elements like hit and runs, bunting, and starting pitchers going deep into games.
“It was like the most delicious meal you can have. It had it all. It had stars, it had storylines, and it had great strategy.
The former infielder also highlighted Ohtani’s impact.
“He’s definitely the greatest of all time as far as a unique, spectacular player,” he said, comparing his hitting to Barry Bonds and his pitching to Roger Clemens.
Ohtani, he said, is part of a “Japanese train” of talent alongside World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and closer Roki Sasaki.
“It was just an awesome World Series to cover,” he said.
“My only wish, I would be embarrassed to tell you how much money I would pay to be part of the World Series, to actually play in the World Series because I miss it so much.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los AngelesEditing by Toby Davis)
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