The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t appear to be ruining baseball, after all.
On Wednesday, MLB Communications revealed that across the United States, Canada and Japan, an average of 51 million viewers tuned into Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.
More news: World Series Ratings Revealed and Prove That Dodgers Aren’t Ruining Baseball
That made it the most-watched MLB game in 34 years.
The fans who tuned in were rewarded with one of the best games in recent memory. The Dodgers and Blue Jays truly left it all on the field, with LA needing every single player en route to securing their back-to-back championship.
Down two runs in the eighth inning, Max Muncy got things started with a home run. Then, with the Dodgers down to their final two outs in the ninth, Miguel Rojas tied things up with a solo home run.
More news: Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto Revealed How His Trainer ‘Tricked’ Him Into Pitching in Game 7
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, on zero days’ rest, then entered the bottom of the ninth inning with two runners on and one out. He loaded the bases with a hit by pitch, before securing a ground ball force out at home and a fly ball that Andy Pages caught while tackling Kiké Hernanez.
In the 11th inning, it was Will Smith hitting the biggest home run of his life to give LA a 5-4 lead. Then, in the bottom of the inning, the Blue Jays had runners at the corners when Yamamoto generated a ground ball to Mookie Betts that became the series-clinching double play.
For all the discourse about the Dodgers ruining baseball, part-owner Magic Johnson summed it up best when speaking with the LA Times.
“What the Celtics and Lakers were able to do, and Michael Jordan’s Bulls, was to bring in new fans — fans that were, ‘Oh, I don’t know about the NBA,’” Johnson said, “but the play was so good, and the Celtics and Lakers and Bulls were so dominant, people said, ‘Oh man, I want to watch them.’
“It’s the same thing happening here.”
Photo Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
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One Response
So I asked ChatGPT about the player salaries of the 1927 Yankees. Apparently we aren’t the first ones to ruin baseball.
Here’s a summary of what I found regarding payroll / salaries for the 1927 New York Yankees and how they compare (to the extent possible) with other teams of that era:
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Yankees payroll / salaries in 1927
• Some sources estimate the total payroll for the 1927 Yankees at about US $250,000. ?
• According to a salary-list:
• Lou Gehrig – around $8,000. ?
• Tony Lazzeri – similar, about $8,000. ?
• Others: e.g., a player listed at $2,400. ?
• The superstar Babe Ruth is often cited at or above $70,000 for 1927. ?
• Additional commentary suggests the average salary on that team was around $10,000. ?
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Comparison with other teams
• Unfortunately, detailed payrolls for all the other teams in 1927 are not readily available in the sources I found.
• What is noted: The Yankees’ payroll was significantly higher than many of their peers, given their ability to command high salaries (especially for Ruth) and to draw large attendance. For example, one source states the Yankees’ total payroll was approximately $250,000, which at the time would have been among the highest in the league. ?
• Without specific numbers for other teams, it’s difficult to rank precisely, but the Yankees were clearly among the top spenders of that era.
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Key takeaway
In the context of the 1920s:
• A total payroll of ~$250,000 was a very large investment for a team in 1927.
• The Yankees were spending significantly more than typical teams of that era (who generally operated on much leaner payrolls).
• Their ability to pay stars such as Babe Ruth at that level contributed to their dominance (they won 110 games in 1927).