LOS ANGELES Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani watches his home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fourth inning in Game 4 of baseball’s National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

There’s still three weeks or so of 2025 remaining, so this might seem a bit early to be proclaiming the high points of the area sports season.

Of course, sports writers have an easy place to start. On the baseball diamond, the hearts and minds and World Series trophy were all captured by Shohei Ohtani and his excellent supporting cast of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With dash and drama, Sho and His Merry Band won yet another World Series crown in seven finger-crossing games.

Ohtani put his personal signature on the whole season in the fourth game of the National League Championship Series when he hit three home runs and pitched a six-inning, 10-strikeout, no runs-allowed performance.

While he did not win the Series MVP – that went to Dodger pitcher Yoshinabu Yamamoto, who pitched two winning complete games – “Sho” was clearly the focus not only of the playoffs but of the sport itself.
The Dodgers, won, though, not strictly on glamour but bya combination of clutch hitting, as exemplified not only by Ohtani but also by Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas and strong pitching.

On paper, it shouldn’t have been the Dodgers. They were outhit 75 to 53, outscored 34-26 and committed three errors to none by the Jays. It all came down to the timing, and 2025 was the time for a magic Blue Crew season.

The game – and Sho – put baseball back center-stage in American sports for the first time in a long time.
That, alone, made for a quite amazing year.