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- World Series 2025: Addison Barger delivers the biggest swing of his life as Blue Jays clobber Dodgers in Game 1</p>
<p>Jake Mintz October 25, 2025 at 1:17 AM</p>
<p>0</p>
<p>TORONTO — Addison Barger, for reasons understandable, seemed peeved.</p>
<p>As the Toronto Blue Jays' pinch-hitter readied himself for the biggest plate appearance of his life — bases loaded with his club up 5-2 in the sixth inning of World Series Game 1 — he briefly glanced toward the visiting dugout and immediately recoiled in annoyance.</p>
<p>That's because Barger saw Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts trotting onto the field. A pitching change was in order. The game teetered in the balance. A big swing from Barger would, effectively, end the contest. So Roberts did the prudent thing, yanking struggling right-hander Emmet Sheehan in favor of left-hander Anthony Banda.</p>
<p>That elicited, from Barger, a brief rolling of the eyes.</p>
<p>"I was just frustrated because it was taking so long," he told Yahoo Sports after Toronto's emphatic 11-4 victory on Friday. "Also, I thought I was gonna face the righty."</p>
<p>[Get more Toronto news: Blue Jays team feed]</p>
<p>Moment I enjoyed: Barger shaking his head when he realized Roberts was bringing in the lefty. pic.twitter.com/gCmuOiRPtG</p>
<p>— Jake Mintz (@Jake_Mintz) October 25, 2025</p>
<p>Barger, a left-handed bat, did not exactly shine this season against same-sided pitching. His .607 OPS versus southpaws wasn't horrendous, but only one of his 21 long balls on the year came off a lefty. More often than not, Toronto skipper John Schneider benched his second-year slugger against wrong-handed starters, opting for Davis Schneider, the mustachioed righty and Barger's good pal. In fact, entering Friday, Barger had zero starts and just four October plate appearances against lefties.</p>
<p>So with the Dodgers sending dominant lefty Blake Snell to the mound in Game 1, Barger began the evening as a well-paid spectator. From the top rail of the home dugout, he spent the first five-plus innings cheering on his teammates. But at various points throughout the game, he retreated to the batting cage beneath the dugout to take some swings.</p>
<p>He knew his moment would come. A pinch-hit appearance, at some point, felt inevitable.</p>
<p>It arrived in the sixth inning, which began with the score tied at two. Then the first three Jays reached against Snell, sending him to the showers. Toronto was no friendlier to Sheehan, who surrendered three runs while recording just one out. With the Dodgers on the ropes, Schneider the manager tabbed Barger to pinch-hit for Schneider the outfielder. And after the brief, displeasing delay for Los Angeles' pitching change, Barger unleashed the swing of his life.</p>
<p>Banda made it possible, missing his spot by the entire width of the plate. His slider hung in the air, elevated and over the plate, right in Barger's wheelhouse. The Toronto slugger promptly dispatched the pitch high into the air, 10 rows beyond the right-field fence. Rogers Centre erupted into ear-splitting revelry. The Jays suddenly held a commanding 9-2 lead. They'd tack on two more before the frame was over.</p>
<p>"I was just talking to Max [Scherzer], who's been through basically everything," John Schneider recounted during his postgame media conference. "And just hearing him say, you know, never really felt an inning like that in the World Series."</p>
<p>Barger, absent from the starting lineup, was at the center of it all.</p>
<p>"He's built for the moment," Davis Schneider told reporters afterward. "He goes up with the same plan every single time. Couldn't have happened to a better dude."</p>
<p>After debuting with Toronto last year, the 25-year-old third baseman emerged as a productive every-day player in 2025, showcasing mammoth raw juice from a high-effort swing. Barger's bat speed, according to Statcast, ranked in the top 15 leaguewide. He is also freakishly strong, a gym rat, a human shaker bottle and proud of it.</p>
<p>Off-the-field, Barger's teammates appreciate him for his authenticity. He is unabashedly honest, willing to say whatever, whenever to whomever. That dynamic is particularly true with teammate Schneider, who has known Barger since the two spent time together in extended spring training in 2019. There's an old post on Barger's Instagram account of him hitting a grand slam in high school. The top comment, added October 2019, is from Schneider, his close friend and the man he pinch-hit for in Game 1.</p>
<p>View this post on Instagram</p>
<p>A post shared by Addison Barger (@addisonbarger)</p>
<p>On Thursday night, Barger slept on the pull-out couch in Schneider's hotel room. Players, particularly those in the early stages of their careers, often secure six-month leases during the season. So when a club, like the 2025 Blue Jays have done, makes a deep October run, lodging problems can arise. That results in a carousel of hotel rooms and, in this case, temporary roommates in one-bathroom hotel suites.</p>
<p>In fact, the team put Schneider up in the hotel connected to Rogers Centre, in one of the rooms that overlooks the playing surface.</p>
<p>"My girlfriend is actually here," he said. "So he was like, 'Can I sleep in the bed with you guys?' I was like, 'No, sleep on my couch.' It's a pull-out, but it was squeaking all night."</p>
<p>That's Barger, unafraid to let it rip.</p>
<p>"And that's how he swings a bat, too, right?" Jays hurler Shane Bieber told Yahoo Sports. "That's how he takes his at-bats. It's, like, all-encompassing."</p>
<a href="https://data852.click/5a32cd58501e613bf372/ee0a75caf0/?placementName=default" class="dirlink-1">Original Article on Source</a>
Source: "AOL Sports"
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<p>- World Series 2025: Addison Barger delivers the biggest swing of his life as Blue Jays clobber Dodgers in G...
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