From Ohtani to the Big Dumper: Reliving the 10 best moments in baseball from 2025

As the clock winds down on the 2025 MLB season, I had this brief moment where I thought back to Opening Day. That cliche about something feeling like yesterday? While writing this story, I realized that I’m pretty much in the same spot on my couch that I was when New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells led off the season with a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers. I’m probably wearing the same slippers, too, and my dog is, more or less, in her same place, next to my left arm and staring at the wall.

It’s not always the walk-off home runs or the sensational catches that come to mind when you reflect on a season. You think about the milestones you witnessed, and you appreciate the elite players destined for Cooperstown — or, perhaps, those destined for the Hall of Very Good. Which, as we just saw with Jeff Kent, means that they might eventually earn a Hall of Fame plaque.

So, as I watch my dog turn her attention from the wall to the blinds, I’m going to think about my favorite moments from the 2025 MLB season, and I urge you to join me.

Honorable mention: Just the 2025 season itself

Is this a copout? Perhaps. But, man, the 2025 season just got so much right. Even if you’re among the fans upset that the Dodgers won consecutive titles, keep in mind that this was the first instance of a repeat World Series champion in 25 years. The final four teams featured a Blue Jays club seeking its first pennant since 1993, a Brewers organization that hasn’t been to the World Series since 1982, and the Mariners, who have never made it to the World Series.

For a few years, it felt like drama constantly plagued baseball and made the sport difficult to watch. Analytics and sabermetrics led to social media feuds on both sides. The gray area between tanking and organizations simply making poor decisions had been erased, and it was evident which teams simply had no interest in winning. We even had the issue of Major League Baseball as a whole trying to go overboard in attracting new viewers. Remember the Players’ Weekend jerseys? Yuck.

Baseball is back to being baseball, and I’ve never been happier. We’ve left the pandemic behind us, and the next generation of superstars — Paul Skenes, Bobby Witt Jr., Tarik Skubal, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and the list goes on — have modernized the sport by doing what they do best: Playing baseball. 

10. Mike Trout, 400 home runs, and a bittersweet accomplishment

Let’s throw it back to 2007 for a second. It’s been nearly 20 years since the first time that I was invested in a full baseball season, and I got to catch Albert Pujols, Álex Rodríguez, Derek Jeter, Johan Santana, and so many others in their prime. But although Ken Griffey Jr. was still playing, he wasn’t “The Kid” that he was a decade earlier. By that point, age and injuries had robbed Griffey of what made him a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, Mike Trout has followed a similar path. I’ve seen Trout’s entire career, so the way that I’ll remember him will be far different than those who started watching baseball in, say, 2022. That in itself is the saddest part about Trout joining the 400-home run club this past season. Not only is he in danger of missing the 500-home run club — something that seemed impossible to consider when he entered his age-31 season with 350 home runs — but he’s a shell of himself. 

Still, Trout had his moments in 2025, and his 26 home runs briefly made us remember the perennial MVP candidate that he once was. 

9. Byron Buxton Bobblehead Bonanza (We needed another word that starts with “B”)

This was a fun one. The Minnesota Twins had Byron Buxton bobblehead day on July 12, and the All-Star center fielder gave the Target Field crowd an extra gift — or, technically, five extra gifts. Buxton went 5-for-5 and recorded the first cycle in Target Field history. 

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before the game started, just knowing it was bobblehead day,” Buxton said. “Obviously, you want to come out and do something good. So to be able to come out on bobblehead day and have a day like this is something I won’t forget.”

Buxton remained a bright spot for the rebuilding Twins, smashing a career-high 35 home runs and totaling 4.9 bWAR in 126 games. What does he have planned for 2026? Ideally, he’ll stay healthy and play 130 games for the first time since 2019. 

8. Nick Kurtz makes the Houston Astros hurt

​​At some point, you’d think the Astros would have realized they shouldn’t have pitched to Kurtz. Less than three months after making his MLB debut, Kurtz went 6-for-6 with four home runs and eight RBIs in a 15-3 rout of the rival Astros.

Kurtz became the first player in A’s history with a four-home run game, an incredible accomplishment considering that the franchise played its first game in 1901. No rookie in MLB history had ever recorded a four-home run game before Kurtz, who later took home AL Rookie of the Year honors. And speaking of four-home run games…

7. Kyle Schwarber, “Abbott Elementary” and a historic crossover

Granted, there’s some bias here because I like “Abbott Elementary,” but this is one of the coolest baseball stories in recent memory. See, back in August, Schwarber had a four-home run game against the Atlanta Braves. That’s good enough, right?

Fast forward to October, when ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” releases an episode with the main cast at a Phillies game. Schwarber hits four home runs that night. Now, we don’t blame you if you think that they did some editing to make it seem like the characters were there on the same night. We sure did!

But as it turns out, all of their reactions were genuine, because it was the same game. Well, it’s far better than the alternative of the Phillies potentially giving up 20 runs. 

6. If you don’t know Trey Yesavage, you know him now

In the spring of 2024, Yesavage was putting the finishing touches on an impressive junior season at East Carolina. Barely a year and a half later, Yesavage was a mainstay in the Blue Jays’ postseason rotation, posting a 3.58 ERA and a 39-11 K-BB ratio over 27 ⅔ playoff innings. Yesavage stepped up on the sport’s biggest stage only months after beginning the season at Single-A Dunedin.

We’re likely not alone in wondering how Yesavage will fare in 2026, especially if he enters the season in the big-league rotation. At the same time, regardless of how Yesavage’s big-league career goes, he’ll always have a place in baseball history. For his sake, hopefully he’ll get another opportunity down the road to earn a World Series ring. 

5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. opts for loyalty

When the 2025 season began, it felt like the clock was ticking on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s impending departure in free agency. We knew that teams like the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers would come calling for Guerrero with a $500 million contract. And yet, Guerrero chose to re-up with the Blue Jays on a 14-year, $500 million deal in April, months before he’d even hit the open market. 

Guerrero did what players in his position rarely do: Stick with what and who he knew rather than take the money somewhere else. He grew up in Canada while his father played for the Montreal Expos, and Guerrero felt that he wanted to stay in Toronto as long as possible.

“My family and I have a special connection to our second home in Toronto, and I feel fortunate to carry on my dad’s legacy and represent an entire country,” Guerrero said. “I am very proud to wear the maple leaf and to be part of an organization with the same goal – to bring World Series championships back to Canada.”

4. Cal Raleigh, welcome to the record books

This Cal Raleigh guy is pretty good, huh? Raleigh shattered the single-season record for home runs by a catcher, smashing 60 homers for the AL West-winning Mariners. He recorded a career-high .948 OPS and finished behind only Aaron Judge in the AL MVP voting.

Not only did Raleigh record only the 10th 60-home run season in MLB history, but he became the first American League player to do so while not playing for the Yankees. Seriously. Judge (62), Roger Maris (61), and Babe Ruth (60) were the only American Leaguers to hit 60 homers in one season before Raleigh. Who’d have guessed that it’d be Raleigh, of all people?

3. The Blue Jays and Mariners? The Blue Jays and Mariners!

Forget about the fact that the Dodgers won the World Series. That’s irrelevant to our overall point here. We’ve collectively gotten fairly used to seeing the same American League teams — and not just the Astros and the Yankees, but the Guardians and Rays, too  — in the championship mix every season. So it was refreshing not only to see the Blue Jays and Mariners cement themselves as legitimate contenders, but to see the two square off in the ALCS.

The Mariners didn’t reach the playoffs between 2002 and 2021, yet they’ve now won seven playoff games since the start of 2022. Although the Blue Jays have experienced some postseason success over the last decade, who’d have guessed they’d come within one game of winning their first World Series in over 30 years? Trust us when we say that the increased parity is paying off. 

2. Shohei Ohtani, the unicorn

Why do we even need to bother explaining Ohtani anymore? We’ve never seen a player like him, and we’ll probably never see a similar talent. Much like kids wanted to Be Like Mike, there are probably aspiring baseball players out there curious to see if they can become a two-way phenom like Ohtani. If Major League Baseball ever introduces a Most Improved Player award, they should give Ohtani his own tier, because he continues finding ways to outdo himself.

There are certain moments in life that you remember where you were, and there are certain events that you’ll forever treasure and appreciate. That’s even more true for sports. A generation of baseball fans watched Babe Ruth, and they shared those memories with the generation that watched Mickey Mantle, and so forth. Even when — because it’s a when, not an if — Ohtani torments your team, be grateful that you’re getting the chance to witness history.

1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Enough said.

Remember when teams like the Tampa Bay Rays popularized the opener? Yoshinobu Yamamoto reminded us about the importance of the alpha pitcher, the one who isn’t afraid to take the ball without benefiting from extended rest. 

In Game 2 of the NLCS, Yamamoto became the first pitcher since Justin Verlander in 2017 to throw a complete game in the playoffs ... and then he did it again in the World Series. Then, Yamamoto pitched six innings of one-run ball in Game 6 of the World Series to help the Dodgers tie the series. But wait, there’s more! The next night, Yamamoto pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 7, rightfully earning World Series MVP honors.

Yes, there’s an argument for Ohtani to be the winner here. But after so many years of teams moving away from the workhorse pitcher and relying too much on their bullpen, Yamamoto stepped up. Dave Roberts deserves credit, too, for taking the risk and handing the ball to Yamamoto.

What were your favorite moments of the 2025 MLB season? Let us know in the comments below.

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