Thoughts for the Day, October 28, 2025: A game for the ages as Freddie exceeds Gibby

Freddie meets Gibby. Freddie exceeds Gibby

In game one of the 2024 World Series Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers hit a walk off grand slam in the ninth inning. At the time, announcer Joe Davis called the home run with the now famous call of “Freddie meet Gibby” in reference to Kirk Gibsons’ walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of game one of the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers.

In game three last night Freddie exceeded Gibby’s heroics by hitting a walk off home run in the bottom of the 18^th inning to give the Dodgers a 6-5 victory in a game that was the longest in World Series history. It lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes. I wished I would have stayed up, but I was getting up at 6 AM and this game ended at 3 AM. Freddie gets my second Orchid of the Day

The game featured many heroic efforts by both teams. Neither team scored for the last 11 innings until Freeman’s heroics. There were 19 pitchers in the game. Both teams were out of pitchers, except for few starters who neither team wanted to use because they pitched in Saturday’s game or will be pitching in Tuesday’s game.

Once again Shohei Ohtani showed why he is the greatest player in baseball today. Last week in the NLCS he performed the greatest individual feat in playoff baseball history as he pitched 6 innings of 2-hit ball striking out 10 and hit three home runs as the designated hitter. It was a performance that never will be repeated unless Ohtani does it again.

In last night’s game Ohtani set another MLB record that will never be repeated. Ohtani got on base nine times in nine at bats. In his first four at bats Ohtani hit two doubles and two home runs, the last tied the score 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh. After that at bat, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Ohtani the next four times he came to the plate. On his ninth appearance, he received a semi-intentional pass as the Blue Jays threw him four straight balls hoping he would chase a bad pitch. Per Blue Jay manager John Schneider, look for Ohtani to be intentionally walked for the remainder of the World Series.

Ohtani will be the starting pitcher in tonight’s game.

See the game highlights below in my Video of the Day.

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Will Klein-Last man on the roster to hero.

The most valuable player in the game for the Dodgers had to be Will Klein the right-hander who went from the last man in the bullpen to the hero after throwing four scoreless innings. Klein, a minor-league midseason pickup and a surprising addition to the Dodgers’ World Series roster, saved last night’s game for the Dodgers.

Per ESPN, Klein has always thrown hard but hardly ever exhibited much control. The Dodgers are Klein’s fourth team in five years because of it. But after using eight previous pitchers in the first 14 innings Dodgers’ Manager Dave Roberts turned to Klein. Before Game 3, Klein had never thrown more than three innings in professional baseball and had never thrown more than 36 pitches in the major leagues. But he was the only man left.

“I realized that when I looked around in the bullpen and my name was the only one still there,” Klein said. “I was just going to go until I couldn’t, and that’s kind of what happened.”

Klein held the Blue Jays scoreless in the top of the 15th. Then the 16th. Then the 17th. Each time, he’d walk back into the dugout, field a question about how many more pitches he had left and answer the same way: “As many as you need.”

“I started to feel it,” Klein said, “and there were times when, like, you’re starting to feel down and you feel your legs aren’t there or your arm’s not there, and you just gotta be like, well, who else is going to come save me, you know? So I had to dig deep, do it myself.”

Klein gets my third Orchid of the Day

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Plate Umpire Mark Wegner gets my First Orchid of the Day.

In the summer of 1972, I was the plate umpire in the Downriver Detroit 16^th District American Legion championship game. The game lasted 17 innings over five hours. The temperature was in the low 90s when it started. The game included some of the best 18-year-old players in the Detroit area. It included two future MLB players, including Bob Owchinko who five years later was the NL Rookie of the Year. Also playing were future Division 1 college players including many who were on EMU’s national championship runner up team four years later. It was a big-time game and when it was over I was physically and mentally exhausted. I suffered from dehydration and mental fatigue to the point where I missed two days of work following the game. To this day I remember mental fatigue more than physical fatigue.

I share this to put into perspective the performance of last night’s plate umpire Mark Wegner. The game lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes. To the best of my knowledge Wegner didn’t use the restroom. Here are some key points of Wegner’s performance.

• · There were 609 pitches, thrown by 19 different pitchers who throw different ways and with different pitches that go in different ways. He was probably hit by at least 10 of them.

• · The 609 pitches mean Wegner did 609 squats during the game.

• · There were 149 batters during the game. This means the strike zone changed 149 times from one batter to the next.

• · Wegner called 279 of 291 pitches correctly for a 96% accuracy rate which compares favorably to the MLB average of 95%.

• · Wegner’s strike calls were 94% accurate, which compares favorably to the MLB average of 88%. His ball calls were 97% accurate, which is the MLB average.

• · His missed calls impacted favorably the Dodgers by 0.4 runs over the course of the 18 innings.

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Quote of the Day: “I realized that when I looked around in the bullpen and my name was the only one still there. I was just going to go until I couldn’t, and that’s kind of what happened.” Dodger pitcher Will Klein

Orchid of the Day: Plate umpire Mark Wegner

Second Orchid of the Day: Freddie Freeman for his walk off home run.

Third Orchid of the Day: Dodger pitcher Will Klein for his out of nowhere performance.

Onion of the Day: No onions on a day I give multiple orchids.

Question of the Day: I know of one of my subscribers who stayed up to watch the entire game. Were there more?

Lyrics of the Day: You got a beat up glove, a homemade bat
And a brand new pair of shoes. You know I think it’s time to give this game a ride. Just to hit the ball and touch ‘em all, a moment in the sun
It’s a-gone and you can tell that one goodbye

Lyrics of the Day for October 28, 2025. Gimme Three Steps by Leonard Skynard

Video of the Day: World Series Game 3 Highlights | Blue Jays vs. Dodgers - October 27, 2025

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