TORONTO — Addison Barger just rocked Toronto, launching the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.
If the Blue Jays can pull this off and win their first World Series championship since they went back-to-back in 1992 and ’93, it’s already so easy to see the famous moments piling up. If that time comes, the sixth inning in the Blue Jays’ 11-4 Game 1 win on Friday night may be known simply as “The Inning.”
Barger’s moment was sandwiched between another all-hands-on-deck effort by the bottom of the Blue Jays’ lineup and a two-run shot from Alejandro Kirk that had Rogers Centre shaking and rattling, louder than it’s been since Joe Carter touched ‘em all 32 years ago. It was the biggest moment of Barger’s baseball life. He rounded the bases wide-eyed, just as shocked as everyone else in the building by what he’d just done.
“I couldn’t even feel my legs,” Barger said. “I just kind of blacked out.”
What a moment. What an inning. The Blue Jays are three wins away from winning the World Series.
“I was just talking to Max [Scherzer], who’s been through basically everything, and I was just hearing him say he’s never really felt an inning like that in the World Series,” said manager John Schneider. “My vantage point was pretty cool.”
Only two teams in World Series history have scored more runs in a single inning than the Blue Jays’ nine in the sixth — the 1968 Tigers and the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics, both of whom scored 10. The 11-run output in the game also tied the Blue Jays for fourth in World Series Game 1 history, behind only the ’07 Red Sox (13), ’96 Braves (12) and ’32 Yankees (12).
“That’s the epitome of our offense,” said Ernie Clement, who’s hitting .435 in a postseason for the ages. “It’s a collective effort, and everybody just doing their job.”
Davis Schneider could be a trivia question years from now when Blue Jays fans ask: “Who did Addison Barger pinch-hit for when he hit that grand slam in Game 1 of the 2025 World Series?” John Schneider had kept Barger in his pocket for that spot in the lineup, but what makes this even more amazing is that the Dodgers countered with lefty Anthony Banda. Barger had homered just once off a lefty this season compared to 20 against right-handed pitchers.
John Schneider made a great call at this point, but it’s not how it looked. Schneider was actually trying to force the hand of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to put in a lefty like Banda because Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was coming up next. Schneider hoped that Barger could do enough — maybe loft a sac fly into the outfield — to set up Guerrero for the big blast.
“… So that was a little bit more than what we could have hoped for,” Schneider said, grinning at the podium.
How good was this inning? Kirk launched a two-run homer and singled in the same frame … and we’ll barely remember it. The first 5 1/2 innings rolled by like we all thought this Series would play out, with the Blue Jays clinging to the edge and trying to scrape out a victory against the big, scary Dodgers, but then it was all blown wide open.
The kicker in all of this? Barger slept on Davis Schneider’s couch Thursday night before pinch-hitting for him in the biggest moment of the Blue Jays’ season. You just can’t make this stuff up.
“He was staying with Myles [Straw], then he stayed with me last night,” Schneider said. “My girlfriend is here and he was like, ‘Can I sleep in the bed with you guys?’ So I was like, ‘No, sleep on my couch.’ It’s a pull-out. It was squeaking all night. It was so funny to look over and see him sleeping there in the middle of the night. He’s a head case, but he’s funny.”
What a snapshot of the 2025 Blue Jays. There are headstrong veterans, superstars and a bunch of 20-somethings who live like their parents all went out of town on the same weekend, but somehow it works. This is the type of clubhouse chemistry you couldn’t craft if you tried. It needs to happen naturally and by surprise. Just about everything this season has happened naturally and by surprise, hasn’t it?
Barger’s spikes are headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame now. He has a moment that’s one of one, the only pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history and a moment this city will never forget. Already a team this city will never forget, the 2025 Blue Jays are just three wins away.
