Blue Jays, Dodgers join forces to honour relief pitcher
Photo credit: https://www.mlb.com
Even amongst rivals baseball - and pitching - is a brotherhood.
As the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers prepare to battle it out for game 7 to determine the ultimate winner for the 2025 season, Game 6 showed the world that even on the biggest stage, rivals can work together and become friends.
Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia was not included on the World Series roster; he has been away from the team as he and his wife deal with a personal family matter. On Friday night, Blue Jays pitchers Chris Bassitt, Mason Fluharty, Louis Varland, and Seranthony Dominguez, all wore caps with 51 - Vesia's number - written on the side as they came out of the bullpen.
Blue Jays relievers wrote 51 on their hats last night to pay their respects to Alex Vesia, who is away from the Dodgers in the World Series due to a deeply personal matter 🙏
You just have to respect this.
You just have to respect this.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider as well as several Dodger players appreciated the gesture.
I think we have a lot of good people, a lot of good humans, in there that are husbands, fathers and all of that kind of stuff, who just appreciate what we do and the hardships that come with it. It's cool. They've got veteran guys over there, too, who respect the game and understand how to play it. It's nice.» - John Schneider
After Bassitt struck me out, I was looking up at the board to see the replay, and that's when I saw that he had 51. Instead of being mad that I struck out, I was kind of going back to the dugout thinking, 'Did Bassitt play with Vesia at some point?' And then after the game, I saw that everybody had them. - Kike Hernandez
Vesia, wife expecting first child, Dodgers have not offered any updates
While the Dodgers have not offered any updates on Vesia's situation, preferring to keep the family matter private, there were rumours circling that it was connected to the government's immigration reform policies.
Vesia and his wife Kayla are also reportedly expecting their first child, who was due right around the World Series.
The 2025 Major League Baseball season concludes tonight; Alex Vesia will be on the minds of both clubhouses.
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NOVEMBRE 1 | 853 ANSWERS Blue Jays, Dodgers join forces to honour relief pitcher Did you notice the number 51 on all the Blue Jays caps? | ||
| Yes | 657 | 77 % |
| No | 196 | 23 % |
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