‘We live in the weird’: How the Calgorithm became college football’s newest sensation
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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. — Miles Goodman, a first-year grad student at UC Berkeley, had no idea the chain of events he was about to set off when he opened his photo-editing app late in Cal‘s 21-14 win at Auburn on Sept. 7.
For months, Goodman had interacted with opposing fan bases under the handle @golDonbear on X, and it was normal for him to run into barbs about Cal as a bastion of progressive values. The stereotyping was often meant to be insulting, but it usually just left Goodman amused.
Still, those comments were top of mind as Cal put the finishing touches on a win in which it physically dominated the Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“I was like, ‘OK, well this thing that you are pushing both Cal as a team and as an institution, why not take it on from a satirical lens?'” Goodman said.
He cobbled together a few poignant photos, slapped on a rainbow and completed his meme with the phrase, “You just lost to the woke agenda.”
When the official Auburn football account posted a final score graphic on X, Goodman reposted it with his work of art. The post went viral, and in the weeks since has been viewed more than 5 million times.
The common sentiment among college football fans: Cal Twitter, I was not familiar with your game.
Goodman’s post was an inflection point in what has led to the Calgorithm, the overarching term that has come to define Cal’s irreverent community of fans whose self-deprecating brand of internetting has generated fresh enthusiasm about the football program as it begins a new life in the ACC.
Armed with basic photo- and video-editing skills, generative AI art tools and the desire to change the perception that people in Berkeley don’t care about football, the Calgorithm is powered by a mix of longtime fans who use their real names and a larger group of mostly anonymous posters, known as “the burners.” Their dedication played a contributing factor in the decision from ESPN’s “College GameDay” to visit Cal this week for the first time.
“It’s not that we changed that much,” a burner known as Admiral Bear told ESPN. “It’s that the national consciousness figured out that we exist and that we’re interesting.”
AUGUST 2023 WAS a particularly stressful month for Cal fans as the Pac-12 collapsed, leaving the Bears and rival Stanford with an uncertain future.
“There was a real fear that Cal football could die,” said Nick Kranz, a lifelong Cal fan and a contributor to the website Write for California. “Either a literal death, like the school decides, ‘This is not worth it and we’re going to stop playing football.’ Or a more figurative death. ‘We’re going to keep doing it in the Mountain West, but we’re going to get no revenue out of it and we’re never going to achieve anything.'”
Anxiety built over several weeks as the Bay Area schools languished in the Pac-12, their conference home for over 100 years, before the ACC formally admitted the pair on the eve of the first weekend of the college football season.
It was a strange development to process. From the press box at Cal’s Memorial Stadium, there is a view of the San Francisco Bay, and on a clear day it’s possible to see beyond the Golden Gate Bridge out to the Pacific Ocean. Yet, the stadium would now host games in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“Cal in the ACC is very strange,” said Avinash Kunnath, another prominent member of Cal’s online community who has written about the Bears for years. “There’s no two ways around it. And it’s not going to be something that’s going to be easy for a lot of older [fans] or people who have been in the Pac-12 for 50 years. But I think the one thing our community has done is — we live in the weird.”
Most importantly, the move secured a place in a power conference, but it also led to this opportunity for fans to engage in circles of the internet they wouldn’t have meandered to before. In the Pac-12, everything was familiar and there was monotony that came with that. In the ACC, Cal arrived with an element of intrigue for opposing fans, many of whom were unfamiliar with the school beyond its left-wing reputation.
For Cal fans, that dynamic turned into an opportunity.
GAMEDAY. pic.twitter.com/enbpg91IDG
— Admiral Bear (@AdmiralBear01) September 29, 2024
“We embraced our identity, we started to get more comfortable with the woke stuff and all the things that come with the political side of things, but we didn’t make it super serious,” Kunnath said. “We just kept it kind of lighthearted. We poke fun at ourselves a lot, and we didn’t run from our identity.”
Added Kranz: “Cal gets the ACC lifeline and a bunch of people online who just love Cal football have decided, ‘We are going to save Cal football through the sheer force of our vibes.'”
Considering how diametrically opposed Berkeley and Auburn, Alabama, are on the political spectrum, it was only natural for that to fuel the online banter leading up to and through the game. But as Cal fans playfully leaned into their own stereotypes, there was an disarming effect that welcomed anyone — including Auburn fans — to get in on the joke.
Their tone wasn’t universally adored, but it was clear they tapped into something fun and different. Goodman’s post was far from the only one that played with that theme, but its timing and execution made the most of the moment.
“That particular joke really hit on a nerve where it’s like, ‘OK, we’re going to reappropriate the fact that you are looking down on us as lesser college football fans and you just lost to those lesser college football fans,” Kranz said. “If you’re going to make us a joke, then we’re going to run with that joke and we’re going to be the woke mob that can win football games and also go to goofy protests and hug the trees and whatever other silly stereotype that you like to make about Berkeley.”
In the wake of the Auburn game, the community grew.
“I actually made my account that I use now — @wokemobfootball — right after the Auburn game and just went deep into it,” a new burner, known as Callie, told ESPN. “I just happened to get lucky, saw a post, and the algorithm decided I needed more of it. And then I realized, ‘Oh, this is something I really like. I’m going to go all the way in.'”
Callie grew up going to Cal games with her father and in the past had occasionally waded into Cal Twitter from her main account — the one she uses her real name with — but she could sense there was a movement afoot. The more absurd the joke, the better.
As more people got involved, the more coordinated everything became. A group chat within X includes more than 100 burners who share ideas and provide feedback for one another.
Momentum continued to build as Cal beat San Diego State 21-0, but it was the following week when things reached a new level, as the Bears prepared for their ACC debut against Florida State in Tallahassee.
A visit to Florida’s state capital offered another opportunity to poke fun at the contrast in political viewpoints, and the Calgorithm took advantage. Name the stereotype, the burners embraced it.
Callie started an official tongue-in-cheek Change.org petition that called for FSU to change its mascot from the Seminoles to the Manatees.
“The Manatee–a graceful and majestic creature–aligns much better with Florida State’s football team and fandom,” the petition reads.
There was an onslaught of generative AI images. Those without editing skills realized the barrier for entry to fire off their own contributions wasn’t very steep. All they needed was a couple of minutes and a finely tuned prompt and any number of online tools could spit back an image to match their vision.
FLORIDA STATE FANS! Here come your very own PARTICIPATION TROPHIES!
We know you’re feeling down about being 0-3, but CHEER UP! This weekend, Cal is bringing PARTICIPATION TROPHIES for each of you to boost your self-esteem!
There’s no shame in TRYING YOUR BEST, guys! Way to go! pic.twitter.com/T7DlnmUojx
— Admiral Bear (@AdmiralBear01) September 19, 2024
For the team, the trip to Tallahassee ended poorly. Cal outgained FSU 410-284, but its offense was a disaster in the red zone, and the Bears failed to score a touchdown in a 14-9 loss. This could have been the moment for Cal fans to abandon ship and let the Calgorithm fade back into obscurity.
Instead, the opposite happened.
The Calgorithm doubled down headed into the bye week with the hope of luring “GameDay” to campus with top-10 Miami headed to Berkeley on Oct. 5.
FOR WEEKS, CAL’S fans had joked that the song “Hot to Go!” by Chappell Roan could be reworked as “Ott to Go,” a nod to the Bears’ star running back Jaydn Ott. But as the Calgorithm became more ambitious, the joke became a real endeavor.
“A friend of mine was like, ‘I’m going to commission a singer and we’re going to make ‘Ott to Go’ happen,” Admiral Bear said. “And I’m just like, ‘That’s a big move. But if you’re going to put up the money for it, that’s cool.'”
But when Admiral Bear looked at the lyrics, he wasn’t feeling them and decided to take his own stab.
“I punched out some lyrics and sent it to him, and he is like, ‘That’s a thousand percent better. We’re absolutely going with that,'” Admiral Bear said. “We workshopped the lyrics a little bit, refined things here and there. He got demos from three different singers, and we picked the one we liked the best and sent her the lyrics. And a couple days later, she sent us the file.”
The commission cost a little more than $300 and the Swedish singer, Micky Hage, had been previously unaware that Cal football even existed. After she finished recording, she learned more about the Bears, including the fact that their mascot and her boyfriend go by the same name: Oski.
Callie had volunteered to make an accompanying music video and on Friday worked on it past 3 a.m. The completed version was well received when it posted Saturday, reflecting another step forward by the Calgorithm.
O-T-T-T-O-G-O
We’ve got Jaydn Ott to go!#Calgorithm #FightForCalGameday #H1M #WhyNotCal pic.twitter.com/8D68f8pnjH— The Liberal Calgorithm (@wokemobfootball) September 28, 2024
At work Monday, a co-worker went by Callie’s desk specifically to show her the “Ott to Go” video.
“He’s a Cal alum and he showed it to me, and I kept quiet,” she said. “He was like, ‘This is so funny. Did you know about Cal Twitter?’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of that.’
“I did send it to my dad and said, ‘Hey, I made this,’ but definitely not to my co-workers. I don’t need them knowing about my burner account.”
ON THE SAME day the “Ott to Go” video posted, “GameDay” announced it was headed to Berkeley. Segments of the Calgorithm had been lobbying for the show since the FSU loss and there was some cautious optimism after Miami stayed undefeated Friday night through a controversial ending against Virginia Tech.
“I was at Target in Emeryville when I found out,” Goodman said. “I did a backflip in the parking lot. Literally a backflip. The last time I ever hit a backflip was like eight years ago when I was doing gymnastics.”
Berkeley, for the FIRST TIME EVER, we’re headed your way!
College GameDay is coming to town as Cal welcomes top-10 Miami 🔥 @CalFootball pic.twitter.com/wnjmMT8rrE
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 29, 2024
Without the enthusiasm from the Calgorithm, it’s hard to gauge how appealing Berkeley would have been for the show. What’s clear is there is a correlation between what’s happening online and real-world benefits.
After “GameDay” announced it was coming, the California Legends Collective announced an inspired anonymous donor was willing to match up to $1 million in donations ahead of the Miami game, and in the first 36 hours the collective received more than $300,000 in pledges.
“Having a bunch of super-smart, super-engaged, super-creative people lending their voices to this and kind of raising awareness of Cal football has been a godsend,” said Kevin Kennedy, the collective’s executive director. “We don’t have this million-dollar match without ‘GameDay.’ So if we’re kind of saying that the Calgorithm brought us ‘GameDay,’ then the Calgorithm brought us a million dollars and counting.”
“We’re going to hit the million-dollar match. I think the only question is how much we’re going to go over the million-dollar match. So we’ll have at least $2 million more in NIL than we would’ve without this happening. So it’s been terrific.”
Sports
Never-before-seen history? A battle of villains?! The best World Series matchup for every type of fan
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David Schoenfield
It’s still early in the postseason, but it’s never too soon to start to dream about some of the possible World Series matchups we could get later in October.
With eight teams left, there are 16 possible Fall Classic scenarios — a matchup for seemingly every type of fan to enjoy. Well, unless you were really hoping for that Colorado Rockies–Chicago White Sox or Pittsburgh Pirates–Los Angeles Angels World Series. If that’s the case, you probably need to rethink your dreams.
Here are eight of the most exciting potential matchups — one of which a majority of fans might strongly disagree with including. There is something for everyone, from history to star power to longstanding droughts. Let’s get to it.
If you like No. 1 seeds making it: Blue Jays vs. Brewers
The Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers were together in the AL East from 1977 through 1993, when the Brewers moved to the AL Central (and then to the National League in 1998).
The only year they finished 1-2 was 1992, when the Blue Jays won the division title by four games. The Brewers went 15-2 at one stretch in September to close the gap to two games with two games left to play, but they lost both while the Blue Jays won theirs. The franchises have had a limited trade history, although former longtime Brewers general manager Doug Melvin (still a front office adviser for the club) is an Ontario native and member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Paul Molitor, Lyle Overbay, Buck Martinez, Roy Howell, Matt Stairs
Combined years without a championship: 75
Why this would be fun: Both teams finished with the best record in their league — well, the Jays tied with the New York Yankees but won the tiebreaker to get the top seed — and since the wild-card era began in 1995, the nature of baseball’s postseason makes it rare for the top seeds to meet in the World Series. It has happened just five times:
If you’re a traditionalist and want the most deserving teams to make it, this is the matchup for you. Even if you’re not impressed with Toronto’s run differential (third best in the American League), the Jays have been excellent since late May. Since May 27, they had the second-best record in the majors — behind just the Brewers.
Best potential drama: Blue Jays’ defense versus Brewers’ defense. These are two of the best defensive teams in the majors, a key reason they ended up with top records. The Blue Jays are led by infielder Ernie Clement, who tied for the MLB lead with 22 defensive runs saved while having started at all four infield positions; second baseman Andres Gimenez, who is playing shortstop with Bo Bichette injured; and center fielders Daulton Varsho and Myles Straw, who combined for 25 DRS. The Brewers are solid across the board and loaded with speed in the outfield with Jackson Chourio (whose status for Game 2 is uncertain after an MRI on his right hamstring came back inconclusive), Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick.
If you like left-handed pitching: Yankees vs. Phillies
The Yankees last won the World Series in 2009 — when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies, who were trying to defend the title they won in 2008, the last time they won it all. The Yankees took the 2009 title in six games with Hideki Matsui hitting .615 (8-for-13) with three home runs and eight RBIs to win MVP honors. The teams also met in the 1950 World Series, when the Phillies’ “Whiz Kids” were the surprise pennant winners in the National League. The Yankees swept in four games.
The obvious current tie-in is Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who served as third-base coach and bench coach with the Yankees from 2008 to 2017 before joining the Phillies as their bench coach in 2018 after the Yankees hired Aaron Boone over Thomson to replace Joe Girardi as manager.
Five players to fill our Immaculate Grid: Bobby Abreu, Oscar Gamble, Kenny Lofton, Andrew McCutchen, Charlie Hayes
Combined years without a championship: 33
Why this would be fun: Lefty pitching against lefty power. The Yankees feature lefties Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, who combined for 37 wins in the regular season, while the Phillies run out Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo and Ranger Suarez. The last team to win the World Series with at least four games started by lefties was Atlanta in 2021, but two of those were openers. The Boston Red Sox had three southpaw starters when they won in 2018 (Chris Sale, David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez), as did the Dodgers when they lost in 2017 (Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Alex Wood), but prior to the Red Sox, the last team to win with three lefty starters was the 1996 Yankees with Andy Pettitte, Jimmy Key and Kenny Rogers.
What would make this an intriguing World Series, however, is the left-on-left matchups. The Yankees have righty slugger Aaron Judge but also led the majors in home runs by left-handed batters, while the Phillies, with left-handers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, ranked fourth. The Yankees’ splits were even, but Boone did bench lefties Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon against lefty Garrett Crochet in favor of right-handed hitters.
Best potential drama: Judge! Giancarlo Stanton! Schwarber! Harper! If those names don’t get you excited, go watch pickleball.
If you like a never-before-seen historical matchup: Tigers vs. Dodgers
Of the 16 original franchises that existed when the American League formed in 1901, there have been 44 out of a possible 64 World Series matchups (including franchise relocations). This is the most surprising one not to have occurred because the Dodgers have played in 22 World Series and the Detroit Tigers in 11. Tigers-Phillies would be the other original 16 matchup that could be crossed off this year.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Kirk Gibson, Max Scherzer, Gary Sheffield, Enos Cabell, John Shelby
Combined years without a championship: 41 … that’s 41 for the Tigers and zero for the Dodgers
Why this would be fun: You think the Dodgers might like revenge on A.J. Hinch, Houston’s manager in 2017 when the trash-can-banging Astros beat L.A. in seven games to win the World Series? Yeah, most of the guys from that matchup are gone, but Clayton Kershaw is still here, as is L.A. manager Dave Roberts. And though the Dodgers have won two World Series since then, you know they think they were wronged in 2017.
Aside from that, we would get two classic franchises, two classic uniforms, maybe one last World Series appearance from the retiring Kershaw and the chance for the Dodgers to become the first repeat champions since the 2000 Yankees.
Best potential drama: Tarik Skubal versus Shohei Ohtani. The best pitcher in the AL versus the best player in the world. If the baseball gods are in an especially compassionate mood, they will give us Skubal starting against Ohtani. May the baddest man on the planet win.
If you like a drought-buster World Series: Mariners vs. Brewers
You want history? We have history. The Brewers were born in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, but the Pilots went bankrupt before the start of the 1970 season and a Bud Selig-led group purchased the team (whose equipment trucks were literally stranded in Utah after leaving spring training waiting on where to go). Indeed, the Brewers’ blue and gold colors are a remnant of the Pilots’ original colors.
The Seattle Mariners came aboard as an expansion franchise in 1977 after the City of Seattle and King County sued the AL for breach of contract. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the teams had a heated rivalry that led to a massive brawl at the Kingdome in 1990. Lately, they have been frequent trade partners. Brewers ace Freddy Peralta came over from the Mariners as a minor leaguer in exchange for Adam Lind, one of Jerry Dipoto’s first trades as Mariners GM.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Gorman Thomas, Chris Bosio, Richie Sexson, Mike Cameron, Yuniesky Betancourt
Combined years without a championship: 104
Why this would be fun: First off, this is the matchup that gives us the longest combined title drought, with neither franchise having won a World Series (at least Milwaukee has the Braves, who won in 1957, but even that was 68 years ago). The Pilots tie-in is certainly interesting, but mostly this is fun because you can make the argument that the biggest story in the AL this season was Cal Raleigh bashing 60 home runs and the Mariners winning 17 of 18 in September to capture their first division title since 2001, and that the biggest story in the NL was the Brewers finishing with the best record in the majors, winning more games than the superstar-laden Phillies or Dodgers.
The contrast in styles would be intriguing as well. The Mariners — despite playing in a pitcher’s park — finished third in the majors in home runs. It wasn’t just Raleigh, as Eugenio Suarez hit 49 (between the Diamondbacks and Mariners) while Julio Rodriguez (32), Randy Arozarena (27) and Jorge Polanco (26) each topped 25. The Brewers were second in the majors in batting average and stolen bases while ranking fourth in lowest strikeout rate. Don’t, however, view the Mariners as a one-dimensional team: Though they can’t match Milwaukee’s speed up and down the lineup, they did finish third in the majors in stolen bases as Arozarena, Rodriguez and Josh Naylor each swiped at least 30 bags.
Best potential drama: Mariners hitters versus late-game heat. Unsurprisingly, considering his 60 blasts, Raleigh led the majors with 34 home runs against fastballs, and improving against four-seamers up in the zone was a key to his big season. But the Brewers’ bullpen can really dial it up. Abner Uribe throws a 99 mph sinker. Trevor Megill throws 99 mph. Jacob Misiorowski, if he’s in the pen and not starting, throws 99 and reaches triple digits. Aaron Ashby is a lefty with 97 mph gas. Nick Mears sits at 95 with a wipeout slider.
If you like cold weather: Tigers vs. Cubs
These teams have met in four World Series — although the last one was 80 years ago. The Chicago Cubs won in 1907 and 1908, defeating the Ty Cobb-led Tigers. Detroit won in 1935 and 1945. Aside from that, this would give us another original 16 matchup, and those always seem a little special. As long as these two teams have been around, they haven’t had much intertwining history. They didn’t even make a trade with each other from 1987 to 2004.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Bill Madlock, Luis Gonzalez, Keith Moreland, Richie Hebner, Kyle Farnsworth
Combined years without a championship: 50
Why this would be fun: The cold weather joke aside (anybody who was at Games 3 and 4 in Detroit in the 2012 World Series can attest to the possibility of needing to wear their winter parka in late October in Detroit), this looks as if it might be the ultimate battle of the bullpens. So, no, not exactly 1907 when Cubs starters Jack Pfiester, Ed Reulbach, Orval Overall and Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown reeled off four consecutive complete games to defeat the Tigers. This might be the ultimate second-guessing matchup as Cubs manager Craig Counsell would have to know how to deal with Detroit’s two lefty sluggers, Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene, while Hinch would churn through his relievers in the non-Skubal starts.
Best potential drama: If he gets healthy, Cubs rookie Cade Horton could get his postseason moment. Horton was one of the best starters in the majors in the second half, going 8-1 with a 1.03 ERA in 12 games while allowing a .154 average and just three home runs in 61⅓ innings. He allowed more than one run just once. Horton, however, missed the wild-card series with a right rib fracture and is still out for the NLDS against the Brewers.
Aside from that, we would get Javier Baez, who was part of Chicago’s 2016 title-winning (and drought-breaking) team, going against the team he spent his first eight seasons with, as well as Cubs starter Matthew Boyd facing a Detroit team he was with for seven seasons.
If you like Joe Carter highlights: Blue Jays vs. Phillies
This would be a rematch of the underrated 1993 Fall Classic, which featured the wildest game in World Series history — a 15-14 slugfest in Game 4 that the Blue Jays won — and, of course, Joe Carter’s walk-off, three-run homer against Mitch Williams in Game 6.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Roy Halladay, Scott Rolen, Jose Bautista, Jayson Werth, Juan Samuel
Combined years without a championship: 49
Why this would be fun: Well, all the highlight clips from the 1993 World Series would be worth it by themselves — not just Carter hitting the biggest home run of his life but the star-studded rosters of both teams that included Rickey Henderson, Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, John Olerud, Curt Schilling, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra and Dykstra’s chewing tobacco.
Aside from that, we would have the Blue Jays in the World Series for the first time since those back-to-back championships in 1992-93 and the Phillies trying to finally win with this roster that is aging and has Schwarber heading into free agency in the offseason. We also would get one of the best uniform matchups in the sport. The Phillies, in my opinion, have the best uniform set in the majors, while the Jays have the classic baby blues to go with their traditional home whites. Do not underestimate the value of a good uni matchup.
Oh, and both fan bases are among the loudest in the sport — Phillies crowds are notoriously loud from the first pitch of games, although Blue Jays fans probably broke the noise meter back in 2015 when Jose Bautista hit that grand slam against the Rangers.
Best drama: Jeff Hoffman facing his former teammates. Last year with the Phillies, Hoffman was an All-Star who had a dominant regular season before losing two games in the NLDS against the Mets. In 2025, he had an uneven season as the Blue Jays’ closer, allowing 15 home runs — the second most of any reliever — but saving 33 games. Hoffman facing Schwarber and Harper with the game on the line would be the reverse tension of Williams facing Carter in 1993.
If you like center fielders: Mariners vs. Cubs
The Cubs owe a little favor to the Mariners for ending their World Series curse in 2016. Mike Montgomery, whom Chicago acquired from Seattle at the trade deadline in 2016 for Daniel Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn, recorded the final out of the Game 7 victory — certainly one of the most obscure pitchers to get the last out of a World Series.
Lou Piniella managed the Mariners from 1993 to 2002 and the Cubs from 2007 to 2010, making the playoffs four times with Seattle and twice with Chicago, but he couldn’t guide either team to a World Series. The two teams shared another manager in Jim Lefebvre.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Jamie Moyer, Goose Gossage, Steve Henderson, Gary Matthews, Heathcliff Slocumb
Combined years without a championship: 57
Why this would be fun: Julio Rodriguez and Pete Crow-Armstrong. They were the two best center fielders this season — and two of the most exciting players in the sport — with Rodriguez ranking fifth among all position players in Baseball Reference WAR and Crow-Armstrong ranking 11th. They also ranked 13th and 15th in FanGraphs WAR. Both finished with 30-30 seasons.
Both provide power, speed and highlight-reel catches in center field. J-Rod got hot in the second half: He hit .290/.341/.560 after the All-Star break with 18 home runs and 45 RBIs in 65 games. Crow-Armstrong looked like the NL MVP in the first half when he had an .847 OPS with 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases before hitting just .216 after the break.
Best potential drama: The Mariners winning the World Series? That’s all the drama some of us need.
If you like villains: Yankees vs. Dodgers
Lots of history between these two teams, with 12 World Series matchups, including last year when the Dodgers won in five games.
Five players to fill out your Immaculate Grid: Rickey Henderson, Willie Randolph, Robin Ventura, Kevin Brown, Darryl Strawberry
Combined years without a championship: 16 (long years for the Yankees)
Why this would be fun: Haters are going to hate, and it would certainly be understandable if you’re not a Yankees or Dodgers fan considering the purchasing power of these two franchises. Indeed, though the Yankees held the “villain” title among the general population of baseball fans for the longest time, the Dodgers have usurped them in recent years with their slew of high-priced free agents (Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Freddie Freeman, Tanner Scott) and big extensions (Mookie Betts, Tyler Glasnow). Heck, even Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner complained in the spring that it is “difficult” for other teams to keep up with the Dodgers — though he didn’t receive much sympathy.
Still, a rematch would be … dare we say … let’s put this as gently as possible … entertaining! Sure, some of you wouldn’t be able to handle it, but it would be the first World Series rematch since 1977-78, between the … yes, Yankees and Dodgers (the Yankees won both times). The Dodgers would be trying to become that first repeat champion since the Yankees in 2000 to further cement their historical legacy. The Yankees would be trying to end that — for them — long World Series drought since 2009. There would be big stars all over the field. And considering both teams have had bullpen issues, perhaps some late-game drama that could turn this showdown into a seven-game epic.
Best potential drama: Judge vs. Ohtani. This didn’t quite materialize in last year’s World Series when the two MVPs didn’t do much at the plate — Judge hit .222 with one home run (in the fifth game) and three RBIs while Ohtani hit just .105 with no home runs and no RBIs. Of course, now that Ohtani is pitching, it sets the stage for the sport’s two biggest stars going directly head-to-head. That, my baseball friends, is October drama at its best.
Sports
Our hottest early MLB playoff hot takes: From one pitch deciding October to the Jays averaging … how many runs per game?!
We’re one week into the 2025 MLB playoffs, with two games having now been played in all four division series matchups.
In the small-sample-size world of October baseball, it might seem like that means we’ve seen enough to know a lot. But the reality for a sport that combines 162-game seasons with the chaos of short playoff series is: Things can change in a hurry this time of year.
As we do early in every MLB regular season, we asked our MLB experts to go all-in on one thing they’ve noticed by giving us their boldest prediction for the rest of the postseason based on what they’ve seen so far.
Some of our predictions are quite bold, whereas others took a milder approach. But all of them have a chance of becoming smokin’ hot by the time the World Series trophy is raised this month — or ending up freezing cold.
The themes that we’ll all be talking about
All four division series will go five games
The division series was introduced 30 years ago, and only once, in 2012, did all four of them go the distance. It’ll happen again this year — even though three of the four have already begun with a 2-0 lead.
The gap among the eight remaining playoff contenders feels smaller this year than it has in quite a while, especially with arguably the two best, the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, squaring off so early. The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs are perfectly capable of winning back-to-games at home. The series between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners, which began with a split in Seattle, seems primed to extend into a fifth game. And though the Phillies have their backs against the wall, coming off two straight losses in Philadelphia, they have the ability to take two in a row at Dodger Stadium — heck, they did it less than a month ago. — Alden Gonzalez
One pitch will decide October
The team that wins the World Series will be the team that has the best differential in performance between throwing splitters and hitting them. Do I know if this will happen? Definitely not! But the proliferation of splitters so far in the postseason has been staggering.
TruMedia has pitch-type data going back to 2008. The percentage of pitches classified as splitters has ranged from 0.2% (2016) to 3.1% (2023). So far this year: 5.7%. The leading practitioners: the Toronto Blue Jays, by far, at 25.9%, mostly thanks to Kevin Gausman and the amazing Trey Yesavage. Incidentally, they were also by far the best-hitting team against splitters in the regular season (.346 WOBA). Guess this means the Jays are going to win it all. — Bradford Doolittle
The success of the splitter this October will make it the most-talked-about pitch in the spring
The eye-opening postseason performances of Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Roki Sasaki will serve as jet fuel for the rising popularity of the split-fingered fastball. There was already growing interest in the splitter throughout the 2025 season, thanks to the success of the likes of Hurston Waldrep. Then, along came Yesavage and Gausman and their diving splitters, neutralizing the powerful Yankees: In the first two games of the ALDS, New York was 0-for-22 with 13 strikeouts in at-bats ending with a splitter. The Yankees swung at splitters 39 times and missed 24 times. In a copycat industry, you can bet a ton of pitchers will be tinkering with splitters before next spring, just as hundreds of pitchers adopted cutters because of Mariano Rivera. — Buster Olney
The stars who will shine all postseason
Cal Raleigh will outhomer every other 60-home run hitter in the postseason — combined
The Mariners’ star slugger just became the fifth player to reach the postseason on the heels of a 60-homer season. The others?
1927 Babe Ruth: 2 HR in 4 games
1961 Roger Maris: 1 HR in 5 games
1998 Sammy Sosa: 0 HR in 3 games
2022 Aaron Judge: 2 HR in 9 games
Raleigh didn’t leave the yard in the first two games of the ALDS against Detroit, but he did collect four hits while Julio Rodriguez, batting behind him, supplied the power. Given Seattle’s balance, depth and October path, it’s easy to envision a long run — and with it, at least half a dozen blasts from the Big Dumper. — Paul Hembekides
Jackson Chourio will become the 10th player to win both LCS and World Series MVPs
Why doubt the Milwaukee Brewers now? They’ve enjoyed a magical run to this point and have looked great at the onset of the division series. Chourio has been quite the table-setter — he had three hits in two innings in Game 1 — and he’s one of the game’s budding superstars. This October is his breakout party. — Tristan Cockcroft
Roki Sasaki, Jhoan Duran and Andres Munoz will post nothing but zeros
This trio — two relief aces and a starter-turned-closer for the playoffs — won’t give up an earned run in either the LDS or LCS. Munoz and Duran were two of the top relievers in the sport this year, and Sasaki started looking like one in the past couple of weeks, which my colleague Jeff Passan broke down in his dive into how the Dodgers fixed their flamethrower. — Kiley McDaniel
Roki Sasaki Clayton Kershaw will record the final out of the 2025 World Series
As Dodgers manager Dave Roberts goes game to game in the postseason trying to figure out exactly which relievers he can trust in a big moment, how about this for the ultimate scenario: Kershaw, in his final pitch in the majors, gets that final out. Maybe it’s a save. Maybe it’s a blowout. Maybe the game goes extra innings. Maybe it’s an act of desperation after Roberts uses Roki Sasaki — who’s looking more and more like Roberts’ closer — earlier in the game. And that final pitch? A big, looping 72 mph curveball. — David Schoenfield
The teams that we’ll be watching all October
The Blue Jays will average 10 runs per game in the playoffs
Well, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and pals are certainly off to a great start, but why stop after two blowout wins over the Yankees? The Blue Jays hammered Luis Gil, Max Fried, Will Warren and Luke Weaver. Will Carlos Rodon, Cam Schlittler (maybe, if the series goes to Game 4) and whichever pitchers other remaining teams throw at the Blue Jays do better? Probably, but Vlad Jr., Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Ernie Clement and eventually Bo Bichette are ready to make history! — Eric Karabell
Toronto won’t lose a game until the World Series
The Blue Jays have enough pitching to win every game on the way to the World Series. So much so that Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt weren’t even needed in the ALDS and were left off the roster. They might be in the ALCS, but even then, Toronto will have choices to make for its rotation. The emergence of rookie Trey Yesavage has changed the calculus for the Jays on the mound, giving them more options than most teams at this time of year.
Add in the potential return of Bichette, Toronto’s great home record (tops in the AL) and a potential long series between the Tigers and Mariners on the other side of the AL bracket, and the Blue Jays are set up for a potential undefeated run to the Fall Classic. Their smoking hot offense might get them there on its own. — Jesse Rogers
The Yankees will send the ALDS back to Toronto
As underwater as they look, the Yankees have a pathway back into this series despite a 2-0 deficit. Shane Bieber, the Blue Jays’ Game 3 starter, is going to fill up the strike zone — and has been homer-prone in recent starts. And with the short porch in right field calling, the Yankees’ left-handed bats will answer. Getting to Game 4 brings Cam Schlittler, who, in his first postseason start, threw eight shutout innings and punched out 12 without walking a batter. Although the Blue Jays are ball-in-play merchants, Schlittler’s stuff is overwhelming enough to quiet them and make for a Game 5 for the ages at Rogers Centre. — Jeff Passan
The Dodgers are going to 2019 Washington Nationals their way through the postseason
Washington rode five starting pitchers and three relievers all the way from the do-or-die wild-card game through its World Series Game 7 victory over the heavily favored Houston Astros. Led by starters Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez, eight pitchers combined to pitch 141⅔ of the Nationals’ 153 playoff innings. Joe Ross, who got a spot start in Game 5 of the World Series, was the fifth starter Washington used.
Those Nationals happened to topple the Dodgers in the NLDS.
This year’s Dodgers, like those Nationals, boast a deep rotation and a shaky bullpen. Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Emmett Sheehan, Roki Sasaki and Alex Vesia should absorb the bulk of the October workload. Of those eight pitchers, only Vesia was primarily a reliever during the regular season. The Nationals proved a version of the formula can work. Six years later, it’s the best recipe for the Dodgers to win a championship. — Jorge Castillo
The Dodgers will sweep their way to a repeat
With 10 hitters who hit double-digit home runs during the regular season, the Dodgers simply don’t have to worry about that one bat going cold. And outside of Yamamoto, none of their pitchers has thrown over 125 innings — but they have such a depth in their rotation that they’ve been able to push some of their starters to the bullpen in October.
It’s all hands on deck in any game they need it. — AJ Mass
The 2025 World Series champion won’t come out of the Dodgers-Phillies NLDS
Ever since the bracket for this postseason was set — even before the Dodgers advanced out of the wild-card series to make the meeting official — there has been a thought percolating that Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia was this year’s true World Series (or at least NLCS) playing out in the division series round. Well, I’m here to tell you that is not a foregone conclusion.
Yes, the Phillies and the Dodgers possess the most talent of any teams in the sport — but that didn’t stop the Brewers from going a combined 10-2 against Philly and L.A. during the regular season. And how about those Blue Jays (the team two of my colleagues predicted very big things for above), or the Mariners, who definitely have the it factor on their side, or the Tigers, who have the best pitcher on the planet (excluding at-bats vs. Jorge Polanco) on theirs.
I’m going to play the percentages here and say someone other than the Phillies or Dodgers will be the last team standing. — Dan Mullen
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