As the sun has set on the 2025 baseball season, I’m in a reflective, thankful mood. We had a heck of a World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays taking the mighty (i.e., mightily financed) Dodgers into 11 innings of Game 7 before coming up short.
I was rooting for the Jays and shut the TV off immediately after the final out. Now, a few days later, the sting of that loss lingers, but the stronger feeling is an appreciation for a fine series capping an outstanding season.
Cal Raleigh’s home run chase of Roger Maris was a great story to follow throughout the year, as were the sensational numbers put up by Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. For us baseball fans, it was a fantastic run.
Some of my personal highlights for 2025 included getting to walk the bases at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and to watch Tarik Skubal pitch for the Tigers at Oriole Park in Baltimore.
I listened to a lot of games, the Phillies on my car radio, and many more on my iPhone at home. When the Fightin’ Phils weren’t playing, I’d switch to broadcasts of the Guardians, Giants, Brewers or Mariners.
I also saw a good number of Princeton Tigers home games and delighted at the news that a few members of the team signed contracts with major league teams.
Another highlight was watching an old-time baseball game played with 19th century rules.
The long winter sans baseball approaches, but the memories will stick with me. For now, it’s wait till next year! 🧢
The Ball Caps Blog 
The thing about the length of the baseball season, as you allude to, are the various, almost weekly story lines that pull though. Cal’s season…the decline of the Mets…the ups and downs of the Phillies…the Yankees who can’t move past a certain point…the upstart Blue Jays….I wanted to keep a log book for the various stories every week, but I failed in that attempt. Because of my MLB package, I did have a lot of West Coast/late games on (baseball and TCM are about all I watch) so did see Cal and Otani play a great deal. And, yes, while the Dodgers have the big payroll…they also made the plays in Game 7. That catch by Andy Pages will forever be in my memory. He covered so much ground to save that game. But now, till Spring, I’m always reminded of that scene in Field of Dreams where Ray Kinsella sits at the window in a Christmas sweater and a cheery party going on behind him, staring out the snow-encased window, looking at his field, waiting for Spring.
Oh, yes. The collapse of the Mets. I failed to mention it! What an eventful year.
That is a great scene in “Field of Dreams,” and it brings to mind a great quote from Rogers Hornsby expressing a similar sentiment:
“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
Interesting, while perusing a used book store in Trenton today, I came across W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe. I had to buy it; the Universe was speaking to me.
It’s a terrific book — with some differences from the movie. Both are compelling. Enjoy it!