Former Cardinals star shines bright for Dodgers during instant World Series classic

St. Louis Cardinals fans had a deep appreciation for what makes Tommy Edman so valuable during his five seasons with the club. Now his star is shining even brighter on the national stage thanks to the greatness of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Last night, the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays played in one of the best World Series games we have seen this century, battling for 18 innings before Freddie Freeman's solo blast to center field gave the Dodgers a 2-1 series lead over the Blue Jays.

While Freeman's blast and Shohei Ohtani's epic offensive night were the talk of the town, anyone who watched the game closely knows just how pivotal a role Edman played defensively in that instant classic.

Former Cardinal Tommy Edman was a key reason why the Los Angeles Dodgers won Game 3 of the 2025 World Series

During the top of the ninth, with the game tied at 5-5, Blue Jays center fielder Dalton Varsho hit a line drive that bounced off the leaping glove of Freddie Freeman, dribbling into shallow right field. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was on first base, saw the chaos building and made a mad dash to third base so that Toronto would have runners on first and third with just one out. But Edman made his own dash to the outfield to retrieve the ball, made an epic sliding play, stood up, spun toward third base, and threw the ball on the money to nail Kiner-Falefa at third base for the second out of the inning.

Had Edman not made that epic web gem, Toronto could have easily scored that inning and gone on to take Game 3 of the series. Instead, the Dodgers got out of the inning and went on to fight into extra innings.

In the top of the tenth inning, Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes slashed a ball down the right field line into the corner with two outs and pinch runner Davis Schneider on first base. Schneider ran all out to try and score from first on the play, but once again, Edman was there to end the threat. Right fielder Teoscar Hernandez made a perfect throw to Edman in the short outfield, and Edman delivered the perfect throw to the plate to beat Schneider at the plate and save the game for the Dodgers.

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

Cardinals fans will forever love Edman for the way he plays the game, and Dodgers fans now get to reap the rewards of having such a savvy player on their roster. It's even sweeter that the national audience is getting to see Edman for the kind of player he is as well. Yes, he won NLCS MVP last year and got a ton of attention for his play in that postseason, but it's plays like this that truly make Edman so special.