MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS BLUE JAYS

November 1, 2025

John Schneider

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Postgame 7 Press Conference

Dodgers - 5, Blue Jays - 4

Q. Where is your head at right now? How are you feeling?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Man, it's hard. I had my first team meeting of the year after the game. There's so many things that to unpack there, not just the series as a whole, seven games, two of them go to extras. I thought we played great baseball, both teams having chances there late. I feel for the guys. This is a special group of guys.

That being said, I am so proud of them, of the entire organization, really. That's kind of where I'm at. We have set a new expectation and a new standard here and did it with a lot of hard work, did it with a lot of cohesiveness, and man, it's tough to say bye to this group.

Q. This feels like a team that we'll be asking you about 10, 15 years from now too. When I ask you about the 2025 Blue Jays, what are you going to remember?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: All of 'em. Like, literally all of 'em. It's not very often you get a group together that genuinely likes one another and genuinely cares about one another. And I'm talking about their wives, their kids, and them. It's a special group. I think Blue Jay fans for generations are going to remember this team, not just what we accomplished, but how we went about it.

Q. You said you held your first team meeting. What did you want to say to your players?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I said thank you. I said thank you probably about 10 times. And that was the main message. I'm sure I'm going to talk to them all again, but I said thank you. I said, I'm sorry that we're feeling this way right now. It definitely could have been the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of emotions. So I said thank you. And this is a group that I'm never going to forget. They're going to have a place in my heart, every single one of 'em. So that was the gist of it.

Q. With all the good things that have happened this year and all the things that you mentioned to be proud of, how does that ending impact the feeling that this group may leave with?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It will hurt for a few days, a few weeks, when you're that close. The positive person in me will take some time to digest it, and I'll go back to Bo's homer in Texas, George's Canada day. So many things I'll go back to and be proud of.

But I think right now you just have to kind of, I don't know, take in what happened. But going forward -- you know, the beauty of baseball is that it goes on. There will be spring training in February. That being said, you take away the sacrifices the guys made, the way they went about it, the performances everyone had, and kind of just the cohesiveness of the team.

Q. Bo, with that swing, he essentially had his signature moment even though it didn't end up in a win. What was your feeling for Bo having that moment?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: That was right up there with George's homer against Seattle. For a guy that has been a staple of this team for the past six or seven years, to have Vlad intentionally walked, and then he went dead center on the first pitch, it was so fitting. It felt right at the time.

In terms of Bo, what he did this year is nothing short of amazing. What he did to get back is nothing short of amazing. He's playing on one leg. So in the moment, it felt right. And for guys like him, George, Varsh, Kirky, guys that have been here, I feel for them because they deserve to be on the stage right now.

Q. When you look back at this game, do you see it as a couple of heavyweights going at it back and forth, or do you see it as you guys had all the chances that you wanted to have to win it?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: A little bit of both. I thought we had chances to sweep them. I thought that we played our game, and our game is as good as anybody in baseball. So is it two heavyweights going back and forth, you know, going back to the beginning of the series when people were calling it David versus Goliath, it's not even close.

So, they're good. I put this group of guys against any other 26 players in the entire planet. Yeah, we had our chances, we had our chances to beat them soundly, and we didn't, and that's baseball.

Q. When you had opportunities both last night and tonight with the guys you want up in those situations, you want Ernie up with second and third and nobody out, you want Kirk up when you need contact, how does that feel in the dugout when you're going in in those spots?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You like it. You want the game to be decided by the players, and I think that throughout this series, it was. We came up short. I'll relive those bases loaded at-bats for a long time.

But, man, I've said it so many times. I trust everyone on this roster, and you want to let them decide the outcome of the World Series. That was an epic World Series for a variety of different reasons. So at the end of the day, players, they can become legends or they can be this close, and we were this close, and I'm just proud that we went about it the right way.

Q. What did you think of Max Scherzer's performance tonight?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I thought Max was really good. I thought he was exactly what we thought he would be in a big game. It's a testament to him. Man, he's 41 years old. He's throwing 96. He's making pitches. I thought he was awesome. In games like this, you try to -- you usually think starts are going to be short, but there's no one I trusted more than Max in that situation, you know, bottom of the order, and I thought he handled everything extremely well and he gave us exactly what we needed.

Q. Do you think tonight was his last game in Major League baseball?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

Q. To win the championship, you have to perform, but you also need a little bit of luck. It seemed as though a lot of the bad breaks went against you guys, ball in the fence, and losing a game in 18, and tonight you get two hard hit balls to infielders that don't go through, a couple of also close calls on strikes and balls there at the end that don't go your way. Do you feel like there was a little bit of lack of luck on your side?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah. I mean, to be the last team standing a lot of things have to happen. You have to perform, you have to make good decisions, you have to make plays. I think that's why it hurts so much. Gimi hitting the ball to -- I mean, I don't know how Muncy caught that. Izzy just not getting there and Will almost coming off the plate.

We played so good defensively too, double play from Vlad, Varsh's catch. Yeah, man, there's a lot of stuff that has to happen in order to win it. We did everything that we needed to do, it felt like. So I think that's why it stings just a little bit more.

Q. How would you describe the Dodgers as a team?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Talented.

Q. Can I ask you about Vlad? I mean, today he had the one hit, but it came in the double in the 11th, he makes three terrific defensive plays. If this game had gone the other way, he's probably the World Series MVP. What did you see from him tonight?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Exactly what we saw the entire postseason. Vladimir took his game to another level. I think for players that are here and that are going to be here and that are going to be here in the future, knowing that we got 14 more years of Vladimir Guerrero Jr playing complete baseball is an awesome thing for our team and for our fans.

Q. And Ernie sets the record with 30 hits in the postseason, and in the first round, one of the TV commentators said, Nobody's ever heard of this guy. You've watched him for a couple of years. What did you think of his postseason and his game today?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Historic. You don't see that very often. We're talking about really good pitchers, right-handers, left-handers. Ernie had a phenomenal year. I hope he wins a Gold Glove. He should. And he kind of became one of the faces of our team because of the way he plays. Unbelievable run that he was on this entire postseason and, man, he's turned himself into what people think was a waiver wire pickup or a guy that's kicked around the minors. He's turned himself into an everyday Major Leaguer that is going to contribute to win a world championship.

I don't want to leave without saying congratulations to Dave and the Dodgers. It's a hard-fought series, and it sucks when you're not the last team standing. But to Dave and his staff and his team, congratulations.