Baseball fans searching “dead ball” last night weren’t alone — a single stuck baseball may have saved the Dodgers’ season.
It happened on Halloween night in Toronto, where the streets outside Rogers Centre were filled with fans in costume — some dressed as their favorite Blue Jays, others wearing Raptors throwbacks or Shohei Ohtani jerseys. Inside, 47,000 packed the dome for what many hoped would be the franchise’s first World Series title celebration in 32 years.
BARGER WITH A DOUBLE!!
Dead ball was called on the field and lead runner stops at 3rd.
📺: #WorldSeries on FOX pic.twitter.com/Z39KrA3I5H
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 1, 2025
Instead, they witnessed one of the strangest finishes in postseason history.
Game 6: A Dead Ball Saves the Dodgers’ Season
In Game 6 of the 2025 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers clung to a 3–1 lead as the Toronto Blue Jays tried to rally. Bottom of the ninth. No outs. Myles Straw on first. Addison Barger lined a ball into deep left-center that could have tied the game — until it vanished beneath the wall padding.
Dodgers center fielder Justin Dean, a 17th-round pick out of Lenoir-Rhyne University, threw up his hands to signal the umpires. After review, the ruling stood: dead ball, ground-rule double. Each runner moved up two bases — Straw to third, Barger to second — and no run scored. Two batters later, a double play ended it. The Dodgers forced Game 7, and a team built on precision lived to fight another day because the ball got stuck.
At The Canuck, New York City’s premier Canada bar, fans in Halloween face paint and Grady Dick jerseys stared at the TV in disbelief. The play wasn’t bad luck. It was baseball law.
Earlier in the Season: Tommy Edman’s Awareness
This wasn’t the first Dodgers win built on a dead-ball call.
Back on June 19, 2025, Tommy Edman, who represented South Korea in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, scored from third when a pitch skipped in the dirt and hit the bat on a swing. The umpires ruled catcher’s interference, instantly killing the play and awarding Edman home.
Was Tommy Edman Out Mid Celebration?
What “Dead Ball” Really Means
A dead ball means the play stops immediately.
According to MLB Rule 5.06(b)(4)(F), if a fair ball becomes lodged in the wall, fence, or padding, it’s ruled a ground-rule double — the ball is dead, and every runner advances two bases from the time of the pitch.
MLB Rule 5.06 apparently pic.twitter.com/qkWgoVP5Rv
— Donnie (@DonnieN42) June 18, 2025
A dead ball can also result from a hit-by-pitch, interference, or obstruction.
In 2024, MLB adjusted timing rules so the pitch clock restarts automatically after any dead ball once the pitcher holds the ball and play is ready — a subtle tweak that keeps games moving.
Why the Dodgers Excel in These Moments
No team handles these situations better than Los Angeles.
They led MLB with 41 ground-rule doubles this year, and their pitchers produced the league’s lowest average launch angle (8.7°). The Dodgers don’t just react to weird bounces — they prepare for them.
Fun fact: Rogers Centre — opened in 1989 and renovated in 2023 — ranks third all time with 831 ground-rule doubles, and its new wall padding design just produced the most famous one yet. You probably know all this.
John Schneider’s Halloween Misfire
Even Blue Jays manager John Schneide seemed out of step with the moment.
Before first pitch, he called Halloween “a made-up holiday” and “my least favorite.”
By night’s end, that chill matched Toronto’s bats.
Mookie Betts Delivers — and Ohtani Loved It
After being moved down in the batting order, Mookie Betts answered immediately — ripping a two-run single to left that gave Los Angeles a 3–0 lead and sent Shohei Ohtani leaping in the dugout.
🎥 Watch the moment via Inatho Ohtani on YouTube
#WorldSeries #Dodgers #Ohtani #MookieBetts
While Toronto fans at The Canuck in New York City were stunned silent, Dodgers fans 2,500 miles away at Tom’s Watch Bar in downtown Los Angeles exploded in celebration.
The YouTuber Inatho Ohtani, who filmed the scene, translated from Japanese said afterward:
“It’s in Los Angeles. It’s Tom’s in downtown Los Angeles. After watching the video, many Japanese customers have come. A YouTuber also came to film there.”
Mookie Betts, who drove in two early runs in Game 6, continues to master every part of the sport. He represented Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, won the 2025 Roberto Clemente Award, and still finds ways to make small plays decisive.
From Toronto to Tokyo, the rule is the same: when the ball dies, smart teams stay alive — and the Dodgers keep proving it.
