Schneider & Guerrero Jr. Launch Historic Back-to-Back Home Runs to Start World Series Game 5
At 8:07 PM EDT on October 29, 2025, Davis Michael Schneider swung at the first pitch of Game 5 of the World Series — and changed baseball history. The 26-year-old Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter launched a 96.3 mph fastball from Los Angeles Dodgers starter Blake Harrison Snell 417 feet into deep left field at Rogers Centre, giving Toronto an instant 1-0 lead. Less than 80 seconds later, Vladimir Gabriel Guerrero Jr. did the same — crushing a 94.8 mph sinker for a 402-foot homer down the left-field line. Back-to-back home runs to open a World Series game? Never happened before. Not in 119 years. Not since 1903. And now, it’s etched into the record books.
The Ambush That Shook the World Series
It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t a fluke. It was execution — cold, calculated, and perfectly timed. Blue Jays manager John Robert Schneider had spent Tuesday afternoon in a closed-door meeting at Rogers Centre, studying Snell’s tendencies. The plan? Swing early. Swing hard. Take advantage of Snell’s reliance on the fastball, especially in the first pitch. The Dodgers, according to field reporter Ken Rosenthal, had emphasized the same strategy — only they didn’t expect it to be turned against them.
When Schneider stepped in, he didn’t even look at the pitch. He just reacted. The ball left his bat at 112 mph exit velocity. Snell didn’t even have time to blink. Then came Guerrero Jr., who had already homered 12 times in the postseason. He didn’t swing for the fences. He just stayed inside the ball, driving it just fair enough to clear the wall. Two swings. Two homers. Two runs. In under 80 seconds.
Who Was Watching — And Recording
David Michael Schneider, Davis’s father, sat in section 236, row K, seat 12, iPhone 16 Pro Max in hand. He didn’t know he was capturing history. He just wanted a good video of his son’s first World Series at-bat. When the ball cleared the wall, he screamed so loud, fans three rows behind him turned around. MLB Advanced Media later confirmed the timestamp: 8:07:03 PM EDT. The footage, now circulating globally, shows the moment the stadium went silent — then exploded.
Color commentator John Andrew Smoltz, a Hall of Famer and former pitcher, didn’t even wait for the replay. “That’s telling you what they’re going to do to your fastball if you don’t place it well,” he said live on FOX Sports. “When you’re facing a guy back to back, one and five, it’s about reading what he tried to do before — and vice versa.”
A Legacy in the Making
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn’t just hit a home run. He became the first player in World Series history to follow a leadoff homer with another in the same inning. He’s the son of Vladimir Guerrero, the Hall of Fame slugger inducted in 2018. Now, he’s carving his own legacy — on the biggest stage, against the best pitching in baseball.
For the Blue Jays, this was more than a game. It was a generational moment. Their last World Series appearance? 1993. Twenty-two years of drought. And now, with a 3-2 series lead, they’re one win away from their first championship since Joe Carter’s walk-off homer. The Dodgers? They’ve been here before — their fourth World Series in six years — but never has a game opened like this. Their manager, David Ray Roberts, called it “a gut punch.”
What Comes Next?
Game 6 is scheduled for Friday, October 31, 2025, at 8:08 PM EDT at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Blue Jays will send left-hander Kevin Gausman to the mound. The Dodgers, down 3-2, will likely counter with their ace, Tony Gonsolin — but the momentum? That’s all Toronto’s now.
MLB Commissioner Robert Dean Manfred Jr. confirmed post-game that the sequence will be permanently displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. “This is the kind of moment that reminds us why we love this game,” he said. “It’s not just about stats. It’s about timing. It’s about courage.”
The final score? Blue Jays 4, Dodgers 2. The crowd? Still buzzing. The players? Already thinking ahead. And the world? Watching.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has any team ever started a World Series game with back-to-back home runs before?
No. According to MLB’s official records spanning 119 years since 1903, this was the first time in World Series history that two batters hit home runs on the first three pitches of Game 1 of a World Series. While back-to-back homers have opened regular-season games, the pressure, stage, and history of the World Series make this unprecedented.
How did the Blue Jays’ coaching staff prepare for this moment?
Manager John Schneider and hitting coach Greg Brock spent hours reviewing Snell’s pitch sequences, noting he threw first-pitch fastballs 78% of the time in high-leverage situations. They designed a game plan specifically to attack early, even if it meant swinging at pitches outside the zone. The strategy was confirmed in a 2:00 PM meeting on October 28 — just hours before the game.
What’s the significance of Davis Schneider being from Toronto?
Schneider is a hometown hero — born and raised in Toronto, drafted by the Blue Jays in 2020, and now the first native Torontonian to hit a leadoff home run in a World Series game. His father’s emotional reaction, captured on video, became an instant cultural moment in Canada, symbolizing the city’s long-awaited return to baseball’s pinnacle.
How rare is it for a father and son to both play in the World Series?
Extremely rare. Only three father-son duos have ever played in the same World Series, and none have done so as batter and pitcher in the same game. While Davis Schneider and his father David Sr. didn’t play together, the emotional weight of a father capturing his son’s historic moment on camera — from the stands — adds a deeply human layer rarely seen in professional sports.
What does this mean for the Dodgers’ pitching strategy in Game 6?
The Dodgers will likely abandon the fastball-first approach against Schneider and Guerrero Jr. Expect more breaking balls, off-speed pitches, and possibly even intentional walks to set up double plays. But with both hitters swinging aggressively, the risk of another early homer is high — and the psychological toll on the pitchers could be even higher.
Will this moment be displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Yes. MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. confirmed the event will be permanently enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The footage, the bats used, and the game ball from the second home run are already slated for display — a rare honor for a single play in a single game.
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