Coming up with the top-10 moments over the past year was not easy for 2025.
Baseball hit a boom period this past year, with history being made throughout the season at MLB’s biggest events. The World Series was one to remember, and the All-Star Game finished with a swing-off for the first time ever.
Here is the best of the best from 2025:
Honorable mention: A trio of four-homer games
Major League Baseball went seven straight seasons without a four-homer game when Eugenio Suarez changed that on April 26 against the Braves, becoming the 19th MLB player to accomplish the feat. Stunningly, two more players would join him on the exclusive list before season’s end.
A’s rookie Nick Kurtz became the first rookie in MLB history with a four-homer game when he went 6-for-6 in Houston on July 25, joining Shawn Green (2002) as the only players ever with six hits and four homers in a single game. One month later, Kyle Schwarber became the 21st member of the club in a career year for the Phillies slugger, who led the National League with 56 home runs.
Prior to the 2025 season, the last player to record a four-homer game was J.D. Martinez in September 2017. — Kavner
10. Clayton Kershaw gets his 3,000th strikeout, then goes out on top
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Kershaw’s first career strikeout came when he was 20 years old on May 25, 2008, on a fastball to Skip Schumaker. Seventeen years later, in front of a sold-out crowd of 53,536 fans at Dodger Stadium who went to see history on July 2, 2025, the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader threw a slider to Vinny Capra that dotted the outside corner to become the 20th member of the 3,000-strikeout club. It’s possible, given the way that pitching has changed, that he’s also the last member of that exclusive list. It was just the latest feat in a career full of them for the former MVP, three-time Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer, who went out a champion in 2025 with his third World Series ring. — Kavner
9. Denzel Clarke makes the catch of the year
(Photo by Tom Wilson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
If you still don’t know who Denzel Clarke is, get used to stuff like this from the A’s 25-year-old outfielder. This was, without question, the catch of the year. It might also go down as the greatest home run robbery ever (though I’m partial to the Gary Matthews Jr. grab). Clarke nearly fell over the left-center wall to make the catch. His waist was on top of the fence as he robbed Nolan Schanuel, who seemed to be in disbelief. A’s pitcher Grant Holman put his hands on his head in disbelief, who gazed incredulously out toward center-field.
It should come as no surprise that Clarke’s defense and sprint speed are both elite. Clarke ranked fifth among all MLB center fielders in outs above average (13), despite playing in just 47 games. — Kavner
8. Cy Young Skubal’s 13-strikeout complete game shutout (and a Maddux)
(Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Tarik Skubal, in a late-May matchup against the Cleveland Guardians, was one out away from recording his first career complete game, and he had the chance to pull off a Maddux — a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches. Not only did Skubal strikeout Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias to complete the feat, Skubal’s final pitch of the afternoon, an 0-2 fastball, clocked in at 103 mph — the hardest pitch thrown by a Tiger in the Statcast era, which dates back to 2015, and the fastest strikeout pitch thrown by an MLB starter since pitch tracking began in 2008. The final out represented the 13th strikeout of the game from Skubal, who celebrated by smiling and clapping his glove atop the mound.
Afterward, Skubal’s teammates had only three words to describe their ace: “He’s the best.” The southpaw’s electric performance was one of many that, months later, helped Skubal win the AL Cy Young award for the second consecutive year, becoming the first AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez (1999-2000) to achieve back-to-back wins. — Thosar
7. The first All-Star Game swing-off
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Good luck trying to top the 2025 All-Star Game, because this one went down in the history books. After the AL offense tied the game off Edwin Diaz and the NL in the ninth inning, the All-Star Game went to a swing-off for the first time in history. Even though players didn’t know this at the time, the rule had been in place since 2022: if the All-Star Game was in a tie after nine innings, the game wouldn’t be decided in extra innings, but by dingers. So it went to a Home Run Derby-like six-man swing-off, and who else but Kyle Schwarber emerged as the slugger nobody could beat.
2025 MLB All-Star Game: Full Home Run Swing-Off | MLB on FOX
Schwarber went deep with all three of his allotted swings to give the NL the lead and the AL couldn’t keep up. For the AL, Brent Rooker homered twice, Randy Arozarena left the yard once, and Jonathan Aranda came up empty. In addition to Schwarber’s three dingers, the NL padded its lead with a Kyle Stowers home run. The NL outhomered the AL, 4-3, in the first ever swing-off, which resulted in a 7-6 win for the NL. — Thosar
6. Vladdy’s legendary go-ahead homer off Ohtani in Game 4 of World Series
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The comeback kids authored another rally, as they had done all year, but this one, facing Los Angeles and Shohei Ohtani in the Fall Classic, turned the series on its head. The Blue Jays, playing on the road at Chavez Ravine, trailed the Dodgers by one run in the third inning when Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the ALCS MVP, crushed a go-ahead two-run blast off the two-way unicorn to even the Series at 2-2 and send it back to the Rogers Centre.
Just one day prior, in Game 3, Toronto had suffered a physically and emotionally draining loss over the course of six hours and 39 minutes. But it didn’t break them. Guerrero’s seventh home run of the postseason set a new Blue Jays franchise record and re-energized a fan base that started to believe the World Series would go the distance. — Thosar
5. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes the distance
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Eleven days after becoming the first Dodgers starter to throw a complete game in the postseason since Jose Lima in 2004, Yamamoto did it again on the game’s biggest stage when he went the distance against the Blue Jays and retired the last 20 batters he faced in Game 2 of the World Series to even the Fall Classic at a game apiece. He became the first pitcher to throw back-to-back postseason complete games since Curt Schilling in 2001.
As was the case with Schilling’s Diamondbacks, Yamamoto’s Dodgers also went on to win the World Series. Yamamoto played a vital role in the outcome. Coming off a 96-pitch outing in Game 6 that kept the Dodgers’ season alive, he triumphantly fired 34 more pitches one day later to close out the World Series in Game 7. — Kavner
4. ‘Big Dumper’ hits 60th home run
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Cal Raleigh ultimately wasn’t named the MVP, but the 2025 MLB season will still be remembered as the year of “Big Dumper”. Raleigh gave Aaron Judge a run for his money for MLB’s top honor by leading the league with 60 home runs, setting single-season records for homers by a primary catcher (passing Salvador Perez’s mark of 48), homers by a switch-hitter (passing Mickey Mantle’s mark of 55) and homers by a Mariners player (passing Ken Griffey Jr.’s mark of 56).
The list of players to hit 60 home runs is a short one: Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Judge, Roger Maris, Babe Ruth and now Raleigh, who not only was an All-Star for the first time in his career but also won the Home Run Derby and helped lead the Mariners to their first division title (and ALCS appearance) in 24 years. — Kavner
3. George Springer sends Blue Jays to World Series for the first time since 1993
(Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
What better way for Toronto to go back to the Fall Classic for the first time in 32 years than this swing from George Springer? With nine outs remaining in Game 7 of the ALCS, the Jays trailed the Mariners by two runs when Seattle right-hander Eduard Bazardo’s sinker leaked over the plate. Springer, the postseason hero in so many October classics, hobbling on a sore right knee, outdid himself. With runners on second and third, Springer sent Bazardo’s sinker to the left-field seats and Canada into pandemonium.
George Springer crushes three-run home run, giving Blue Jays lead over Mariners
The Rogers Centre roof threatened to come off as Springer touched the bases, screaming and celebrating Toronto’s comeback that sent it to a World Series showdown against the Dodgers. It was Springer’s 23rd career playoff home run, tied for the third-most in MLB postseason history. It was the biggest home run of Springer’s life. It was legendary. — Thosar
2. Showcasing two-way talents, Shohei Ohtani puts together the best game ever
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Every year, the expectations for Ohtani are so far beyond the comprehension of what most once deemed possible for a single player. And every year, he somehow surpasses them. A year after he created the 50/50 club as MLB’s first player ever with 50 home runs and 50 steals, he made a new one, becoming the first player ever with 50 homers as a hitter and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.
‘We are witnessing greatness’ 👑 Big Papi, A-Rod, & Derek Jeter on Shohei Ohtani’s LEGENDARY NLCS
The two-way greatness of Ohtani, who was named MVP for the fourth time in his career, culminated in arguably the single greatest game ever played. In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers, he went 3-for-3 with three home runs and a walk as a hitter and fired six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts as a pitcher to send the Dodgers to the World Series. Decades from now, when someone wants to understand Ohtani’s greatness, this is the game they will show. — Kavner
1. Epic Game 7 World Series crowns the Dodgers as the first repeat champions in 25 years
(Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
From Miguel Rojas’ game-tying ninth-inning home run, to Andy Pages’ jaw-dropping catch at the base of the left-field wall, there was no shortage of iconic plays in a World Series Game 7 that we wish, especially in a long and cold offseason, we could be reliving right now. Alright, maybe Blue Jays fans don’t want to relive Rojas cutting down Isiah Kiner-Falefa at home in the ninth. And Canada definitely doesn’t miss the feeling of impending doom after Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound, again and again and again.
Miguel Rojas gets emotional describing game-tying HR in World Series: ‘Biggest spot in my life’
Between all the hoopla, it was actually easy to overlook that Game 7 even featured a benches-clearing incident after Justin Wrobleski hit Andres Gimenez with a pitch. But who could forget Bo Bichette’s iconic three-run home run off Shohei Ohtani that knocked him out of the game in the third inning, right after the Dodgers made the mistake of intentionally walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in front of him?
Game 7 had a little bit of everything before Will Smith blasted the game-winning home run in the 11th inning, and the Dodgers shut the door on the Jays to become the first repeat champions in 25 years. Nothing is topping that finale to the 2025 season. — Thosar
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
