So close, but no series title for Blue Jays

- By Bruce Penton

November 10, 2025

key points from this story:

• Blue Jays miss World Series title
• Hoffman’s pitch tied game in ninth
• Dodgers win on Smith’s extra-inning homer
• Toronto overachieved during the season
• Bichette may leave as free agent
• Team united Canada with playoff run

If this year's World Series could be narrowed down to a simple ‘Who killed the Toronto Blue Jays?’, let’s get right to the point and play a sports version of Clue. Open the little envelope and here’s what’s inside: It was Hoffman. In the ninth. With a slider. Poor Jeff Hoffman. The Blue Jays much maligned ninth-inning closer was two outs away from turning Canada into a state of sports delirium when he delivered a fateful slider to the weakest hitter in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup, Miguel Rojas, who hadn’t had a base hit since Oct. 2, thanks mainly to sitting on the bench.. Rojas swung and the ball sailed over the left-field wall, tying the game 4-4, sending it into extra innings and the pessimists among Canada’s 41 million people had a bad feeling that the Jays’ spectacular season was not going to end well.