Game 3 of the 2025 World Series was tied for the longest ever \u2013 18 innings. By the time it ended, it was nearly 3 a.m. ET. <\/p>\n
A trio of Globe staffers were there, representing three separate yet equally important groups \u2013 the reporter who writes the game, the columnist who has an opinion on it and the editor who makes sure the other two show up. These are their stories of that night. <\/p>\n
Rachel Brady was in the main press box. Jamie Ross and Cathal Kelly were in the auxiliary box. <\/p>\n
Open this photo in gallery:<\/a>Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Jays fandom at Game 3 was a binational and multigenerational affair. Richard Kouwenhoven brought his Joe Carter jersey. Isaias Mercado of Texas came with his father, an American Dodgers fan.<\/p>\n Dodger Stadium<\/p>\n JR: Majestic from the top deck. Confusing at field and clubhouse level. Chaos on the concourse. Uncomfortably close to Cathal Kelly in the auxiliary press seats.<\/p>\n CK: They had us out in the cheapest seats in the house. Upper deck (which is vertiginously upper at Dodger Stadium), and beyond the fence in left field. In a set-up so ad hoc you could not sit with your back against the seat and still see over your laptop. A lovely view of the parking lot.<\/p>\n Food <\/p>\n JR: I sat next to a reporter from the L.A. Times during the first two games in Toronto. He knew it would be my first time at Dodger Stadium, so he was frank in his assessment of the food: \u201cIt sucks,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ll get a $25 voucher. Take it and go to Shake Shack in right field. It\u2019s not great, but at least you\u2019ll know what you\u2019re getting.\u201d I took his advice, and against my own urges for a mini baseball helmet filled with nachos and queso, I had a burger. 7\/10. <\/p>\n CK: All I can say about Dodger dogs is they\u2019re no Nathan\u2019s. Congratulations on the nacho helmet though.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Ivy Kiner-Falefa, 2, bites into a Dodger dog as Ronnie Ogomori holds her. The Kiner-Falefa family turned out to cheer for one of the Jays’ utility players, Isiah Kiner-Falefa.<\/p>\n Pregame ceremony<\/p>\n CK: Everybody who sang O Canada had apparently won a Grammy, but it must have been for line dancing or something. I\u2019d never heard of any of them. They brought Brad Paisley out to do The Star Spangled Banner, with Super Bowl-level production. A sign. <\/p>\n JR: Rigged against Canada. <\/p>\n RB: I\u2019ve seen thousands of anthems. Most are forgettable. But three of my favourites ever came from this Blue Jays postseason. Pearl Jam\u2019s Mike McCready in Seattle. Voices of Fire in Game 1 of the World Series in Toronto. And Paisley\u2019s gem at Dodger Stadium, strummed on an electric guitar with fireworks popping, jets flying overhead and a flag stretched across the outfield. The country star understood the assignment.<\/p>\n The fans<\/p>\n CK: When George Springer led off for the Jays, the people around us \u2013 roughly a 50\/50 gender split, all of them in tip-to-tail Dodgers gear \u2013 weren\u2019t just booing. There were several death threats, a couple of which I would call credible. Dodgers fans care a frightening amount. <\/p>\n JR: They absolutely love Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez. Like, their enthusiasm for this guy is inversely proportional to his output. And everybody is wearing Dodger Blue. Ohtani jerseys are ubiquitous.<\/p>\n Shohei OhtaniWho reached base a record nine times<\/p>\n CK: Every once in a while, you see something and afterward feel honoured to have witnessed it in person. Ohtani\u2019s performance in this game is near the top of my personal list. <\/p>\n JR: It took the Blue Jays a few hours to figure out they should just intentionally walk him every time he comes to the plate. <\/p>\n RB: Shohei Ohtani personifies his walk-up song at home games. His arrival at the plate is superbly choreographed to Michael Buble\u2019s Feeling Good \u2013 strolling, stepping into the box, bringing his bat to his shoulder in sync with the soulful horns and crooning. Is he the greatest baseball player and the greatest showman, I wondered?<\/p>\n The first nine innings<\/p>\n CK: It started at 5:10 p.m. PT. The sun was going down. It was cool for L.A. \u2013 jacket weather. The Jays jumped on L.A. starter Tyler Glasnow in the fourth, but the Dodgers reeled them in. After the seventh, tied 4-4, the game settled into competitive limbo. Then on to extras. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Jays fans at Dodger Stadium watch Ohtani hit a home run. Toronto and Los Angeles had both courted him two years earlier, but the Dodgers won with a record-breaking US$700-million contract.<\/p>\n The 10th inning<\/p>\n CK: About two-thirds of the journos in the auxiliary box left in the eighth, so that they\u2019d be downstairs when the game ended. Their sacrifice meant I could finally unclench my knees. For about 20 minutes there, I was just enjoying that. <\/p>\n JR: Really looking forward to a quick yet exciting end to this game, with lots of time left to hit our latest print deadline of midnight ET. <\/p>\n The 11th inning<\/p>\n CK: Dodgers put men on first and second. Mookie Betts just misses a cutter. Obviously, this won\u2019t go on too long. <\/p>\n The 12th inning<\/p>\n RB: By now, the Jays have replaced many players who could play hero, from Bichette to Barger and Kirk. Tall task to win this game without them, no?<\/p>\n CK: Jays load the bases with two out. Lukes grounds out and tosses his helmet. Obviously, this is going on forever. <\/p>\n JR: We have the privilege of watching future Hall-of-Famer Clayton Kershaw throw his final at-bat, which he uses to bail the Dodgers out of a bases-loaded situation. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a>Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Clayton Kershaw pitched against the Jays in the 12th, and Edgardo Henriquez in the 13th, as the Dodgers tried to end the deadlock.Brynn Anderson\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n The 13th inning<\/p>\n CK: This is about where we blew past my midnight ET deadline. I stopped writing. I continuously hacked at my story, chopping out plays that seemed important two hours earlier but forgettable now. The feeling set in: how am I going to make sense of this in one story?<\/p>\n JR: The Dodgers\u2019 Freddie Freeman gives us false hope that this one is over. His long fly ball to centre field is hauled in by Daulton Varsho. <\/p>\n The 14th inning<\/p>\n CK: It occurred to me that I was cold. The fans who were left \u2013 and there were a lot of them \u2013 started tying game scarves around their heads. <\/p>\n RB: In our reporter\u2019s group chat, we shifted from texting about where we might get a drink after the game to discussing the closest all-night breakfast places. <\/p>\n JR: Devouring trail mix from Trader Joe\u2019s to keep my energy levels up. <\/p>\n The 15th inning<\/p>\n RB: The fans, remarkably, have not left. The Dodgers repeatedly get them out of their seats by crushing fly balls to centre field, only to see unemotional Daulton Varsho make one cool catch after another.<\/p>\n CK: Both teams went through the hearts of their order \u2013 or what was left of them \u2013 in this inning, and got nowhere. I wondered if anyone had ever slept over at Dodger Stadium. <\/p>\n JR: Eating more trail mix.<\/p>\n The 16th inning<\/p>\n CK: I had never cared who won, but this was the point at which I began actively rooting for whomever was at bat. Come on, Alex Call, whoever you are. Come on. <\/p>\n RB: I think back on a game in early September when Tyler Heineman delivered a walk-off winner for the Jays. Please just do that again and end this. Like now.<\/p>\n JR: Cold, tired and questioning my career decisions. <\/p>\n The 17th inning<\/p>\n JR: It dawns on me that I covered a 19-inning Blue Jays game more than 10 years ago (I remember the red uniforms) when I worked for MLB.com in 2014. Am I cursed?<\/p>\n CK: As the Jays brought in Little, the guy on the other side of me \u2013 an American who I hadn\u2019t spoken to the whole game \u2013 tapped me on the shoulder and smiled. Our long wait was coming to an end. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Freddie Freeman’s home run in the 18th inning finally brought the contest to an end.Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The 18th inning<\/p>\n JR: My entry from The Globe and Mail live file<\/a> during the game, posted at 2:55 a.m. ET: \u201cFreddie Freeman did it. In the bottom of the 18th. A walk-off homerun and Dodgers win 6-5. They lead the series 2-1. We all thought this game would never end.\u201d<\/p>\n CK: All I could feel was pity for Little. It was his fault, but he didn\u2019t deserve it. It was at this point that I decided the Dodgers were going to win the Series, despite being the lesser team. I would revise that opinion after each of the next three games, but it was the rare instance in which I got it right the first time. <\/p>\n RB: Freddie Freeman cracked a homer 406 feet over the centre field wall, ending the game six hours and 39 minutes after it began, with 609 pitches thrown. It was the only time on our three-game trip we would see the Dodgers spill out of their dugout cheering and hear their victory song, Randy Newman\u2019s 1983 anthem I Love L.A.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n When Game 3 ended, Moez Kassam was the one dejected face in a section of Dodgers fans. The teams would play one more game in Los Angeles before the series returned to Toronto, where it would end in another late-night thriller on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n World Series 2025: More from The Globe and MailThe Blue Jays look ahead<\/p>\n \u2018Totally, utterly obsessed\u2019: Blue Jays spark a surge of interest in baseball from a new generation<\/a><\/p>\n Blue Jays front office looks back once more and gets to work on next season<\/a><\/p>\n Despite Blue Jays\u2019 heartbreaking loss, Rogers wins big in broadcast numbers<\/a><\/p>\n Commentary<\/p>\n Cathal Kelly: Congrats on the loss, Toronto. It was a masterpiece<\/a><\/p>\n