World Series Matchup Features Jewish Storylines

The 2025 World Series, pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Toronto Blue Jays, doesn’t feature any Jewish players, coaches, or managers. That said, quite a few intriguing Jewish storylines pervade this year’s Fall Classic as evidenced by the following angles:

— Andrew Friedman, Stan Kasten, and Lon Rosen

The Dodgers are gunning for their second consecutive World Series title, a feat that has become increasingly difficult with the expanded playoff format and hasn’t been accomplished since the New York Yankees were crowned champs three years in a row (1998 to 2000). But the Dodgers’ success spans well beyond the back-to-back World Series appearances as the club hasn’t missed the postseason since 2012. President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, President/CEO Stan Kasten, and Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer Lon Rosen have been spearheading the front office for virtually that entire time frame.
Prior to Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, in which the Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in four games, Friedman was asked about the past year’s journey towards securing that elusive second straight title.
“I haven’t really had a chance to kind of think through the ‘25 season — living it day-to-day but not really being able to rise above it to really assess,” Friedman offered. “Living it, there were definitely challenging moments.”
The Dodgers, who did, in fact, grind through an underwhelming 93-69 regular season, have been able to spend unprecedented amounts of money on free agents over the past few winters. However, Guggenheim Baseball Management’s (the ownership group of the Dodgers) unlimited resources translating into annual deep postseason runs is a dynamic that some fans have decried recently — and one that Friedman addressed during his World Series media availability.
“Yeah, I mean, for us, it is all about our incredible fans and us giving back … so, you know, that’s our focus. So, anything else that comes from it — and obviously, I’ve heard a lot of it — it’s just not front of mind for us because everything is around how do we put ourselves in the best position to win now and also to win in the future.”

— Mark Shapiro

Whereas the Dodgers have established themselves as the team of the 2020s, the gold standard of Major League Baseball, the Blue Jays are coming off a last-place finish in 2024. But Canada’s only Major League franchise, one that coming into this year hadn’t won a playoff game this decade, has authored a stunning season-to-season turnaround in reaching its first World Series since 1993. As Blue Jays President & CEO, Mark Shapiro has not only presided over the roster overhaul to position the club for this unexpected postseason run but has also been heavily involved with business operations, partnering with ownership to execute massive renovations to the Jays’ regular-season home, the Rogers Centre, and player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.
Speaking to the media back in August, Shapiro remarked: “We’ve established our brand of baseball that is rooted and founded in the toughness and the cohesiveness of our players … I find a lot of joy in watching this team play because of the way they play,” said Shapiro. “I appreciate tough at-bats. Love that style of baseball.”
Following this season, Shapiro’s future in Toronto remains shrouded in mystery as he’s in his final contract year. A longtime executive for the franchise formerly known as the Cleveland Indians, Shapiro has been in Toronto for a decade now and has stated he wants to remain with the Jays, but has yet to share specifics on extension talks

— Sandy Koufax

When fans stream into Dodger Stadium for the middle games of the World Series this week, many will pass by the Sandy Koufax statue standing tall outside the centerfield plaza entrance. The all-time most celebrated Jewish pitcher who’s widely considered to be the greatest lefty in baseball history, Koufax spent his entire 12-year career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers and in many ways remains the face of the franchise. This month also represents the 60-year anniversary of Koufax’s magical October 1965 run when the Hall of Famer yielded a single run over three World Series starts.

— Shawn Green

Shawn Green, a two-time All-Star with more than 2,000 career hits, retired in 2007 as one of the all-time most prolific Jewish sluggers. His prime years (1998 to 2002), during which he was the face of Jewish baseball, were split between both of this year’s World Series participants. As a Dodger in May 2002, Green became only the 14th Major Leaguer to club four homers in one game.

— Andrés Giménez

The Blue Jays acquired Andrés Giménez, the sure-handed second baseman who’s been a surprising offensive sparkplug this October, from the Cleveland Guardians in a multi-player trade involving infielder Spencer Horwitz during last year’s Winter Meetings. A few hours later, Horwitz was flipped to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he had a career year in 2025.

— Dan and Ben Shulman

For many sports fans, Dan Shulman is a household name as before becoming the Sportsnet television voice of the Blue Jays, he was a fixture on ESPN’s baseball coverage, calling a dozen World Series for ESPN Radio and serving as the play-by-play man for ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” from 2011 to 2017. The elder Shulman’s also a finalist for the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award, given to one baseball broadcaster every year by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. A few booths down at the Rogers Centre, Dan’s son, Ben Shulman, the 25-year-old lead radio voice of the Jays, is one of the youngest broadcasters calling games for a North American major pro sports franchise.