The Toronto Blue Jays cruised to a surprisingly lopsided victory in Game 1 of the 2025 World Series against the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers. Addison Barger was the star of the show with a pinch-hit grand slam in a massive nine-run sixth inning.
The Blue Jays rolled the Dodgers by a score of 11-4 in Game 1. And afterwards, Barger joined the MLB on Fox postgame set with host Kevin Burkhardt and analysts David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter.
That’s when Ortiz pulled out a “my dawg” shirt with his picture on it in commemoration of Barger’s performance. It’s not quite Jim Nantz giving his tie to a senior on the national championship winning college basketball team, but you get the idea.
The first @DavidOrtiz “MY DAWG” shirt of this Postseason goes to Addison Barger! 💪@BlueJays pic.twitter.com/uYMOE1OJcF
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 25, 2025
While he shared with some laughs and seemed to enjoy the moment, Addison Barger actually left Big Papi’s gift behind on the MLB on Fox set. However, Barger left it behind, which was something that Derek Jeter brought to his attention later in the show.
Afterwards in the postgame press conference, Barger had a simple reason for doing so. He didn’t want any part of memorabilia that showed a division rival from the Boston Red Sox.
Addison Barger wasn’t taking that shirt https://t.co/zlCZYVm9BJ pic.twitter.com/wRHWH9almN
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) October 25, 2025
“I left it. It has Red Sox on it. I’m not wearing that, are you kidding me?” Barger said. “I’m not wearing a team that’s in the divison’s shirt. No way. It’s awesome, but no.”
That may have been the wisest decision of Addison Barger’s career. Who knows what curses could have been attached to that thing if he accepted a Red Sox shirt as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Apparently Yankees-Red Sox isn’t the only rivalry that runs deep in the AL East.
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