It’s a new year and excitement is building for the 2026 season with Spring Training on the horizon. But before we turn our attention ahead, let’s take a look back at the most electrifying moments of the '25 campaign.
MLB Network revealed its top 40 electrifying moments of last year on Saturday night -- here’s a trip down (recent) memory lane, from Opening Day all the way through a legendary Game 7 of the World Series:
1. Unforgettable 9th inning of World Series Game 7 -- Miguel Rojas homers in top half, Andy Pages makes game-saving catch in bottom half
2. The deciding 11th inning of World Series Game 7 -- Dodgers win it all thanks to Will Smith's go-ahead homer and a game-ending double play
3. Springer’s biggest dinger -- George Springer delivers a go-ahead homer late in ALCS Game 7
4. Freddie Freeman’s walk-off homer wins 18-inning marathon in World Series Game 3
5. Dodgers turn an incredible 7-4 double play to force World Series Game 7
One of the greatest World Series ever played dominates the top five electrifying moments of 2025, and for good reason -- for many good reasons, in fact. They include an 18-inning marathon that ended with a walk-off homer in Game 3; a 7-4 double play to force Game 7; and a Game 7 for the ages that involved a ninth-inning game-tying homer, an absolutely unbelievable game-saving catch and a go-ahead homer in extra innings.
6. Greatest performance ever? Shohei Ohtani slugs three homers, strikes out 10 in NLCS Game 4
7. Addison Barger’s pinch-hit grand slam in World Series Game 1
8. Jorge Polanco delivers walk-off single in 15th to send Mariners to ALCS
9. Cal Raleigh launches his 60th homer of the season
10. Raleigh hits a game-tying homer, Eugenio Suárez launches a grand slam in pivotal 8th inning of ALCS Game 5
The greatest single-game performance in baseball history? Ohtani’s historic effort in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers would be tough to beat for that distinction. Ohtani smashed three homers -- including one that went completely out of Dodger Stadium -- and struck out 10 to lead the Dodgers to a pennant-clinching victory.
Our first regular-season moment on this list comes in at No. 9, with Raleigh becoming the seventh player -- and first catcher -- to hit 60 homers in a single season. And some Mariners heroics are also among the top 10, including a walk-off single by Jorge Polanco in the 15th inning to send Seattle to the ALCS.
No. 11-No. 15
11. Vladdy launches first Blue Jays postseason slam in ALDS Game 2
12. Clayton Kershaw escapes a jam in marathon World Series Game 3
13. Ohtani belts his second homer of World Series Game 3
14. Dodgers advance to NLCS on walk-off error
15. Eugenio Suárez, Nick Kurtz and Kyle Schwarber each hit 4 HR in a game
In this group of electrifying moments, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. produces an iconic postseason moment, launching a mammoth grand slam against the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS, the first playoff slam in Blue Jays history. A legend bids farewell with a vintage performance, getting out of a 12th-inning jam for the Dodgers in World Series Game 3. And for the first time in MLB history, three different players each connected for four homers in a single game during the same season.
No. 16-No. 20
16. Aaron Judge homers off the foul pole in ALDS Game 3
17. Ohtani’s 3-run homer in the 9th gives Dodgers the lead in wild contest
18. Raleigh becomes the first catcher to hit 50 homers in a season
19. Patrick Bailey -- the catcher! -- with a walk-off, inside-the-park homer
20. Bailey, along with Stowers and Yelich, each deliver a walk-off slam
You knew Judge would make an appearance, and his big game-tying homer off the left-field foul pole in ALDS Game 3 against the Blue Jays checks in at No. 16. Ohtani appears for the third time with a three-run go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of a crazy game against the D-backs on May 10. We have another Raleigh milestone in “the Year of Cal,” and then Bailey steals the show with a walk-off inside-the-parker and a walk-off grand slam to join Kyle Stowers and Christian Yelich in the latter category in 2025.
No. 21-No. 25
21. Denzel Clarke’s phenomenal home run robbery, June 9
22. Jacob Young’s juggling catch off his foot, Sept. 21
23. Ohtani on the wrong end of a triple play, Aug. 12
24. Daulton Varsho stumbles, makes incredible spinning, backhanded catch, April 29
25. Ryan McMahon flips over railing for unbelievable grab in ALWC Series Game 3
In this group, some unbelievable defensive gems. Clarke made one of the all-time great home run robberies for the A's against the Angels at No. 21, and that moment is followed by Young’s hacky-sack-style catch for the Nats at No. 22. Ohtani, seemingly always doing the amazing, is on the wrong side of an amazing triple play. And then more incredible grabs -- one from Varsho and one from McMahon during the AL Wild Card Series.
No. 26-No. 30
26. The All-Star Game's first swing-off belongs to NL HR king Schwarber
27. Max Scherzer stays in with a stare, battles to finish fifth inning of ALCS Game 4
28. Springer’s second homer of Canada Day is a grand slam, July 1
29. Walk-off homer clinches AL Central title for Guardians, Sept. 28
30. Guardians, Padres and Yankees all walk off into the postseason
Here, we have history with the first All-Star Game swing-off, the great Scherzer staring his way through the fifth inning of ALCS Game 4 against the Mariners, another dramatic Springer dinger and walk-off wins to clinch playoff berths.
No. 31-No. 35
31. Kershaw’s final milestones -- 3,000th K and his final regular-season out
32. Mike Trout delivers signature moonshot for HR No. 400, Sept. 20
33. Jhoan Duran delivers in debut with save in first game with Phils, Aug. 1
34. Kurtz demolishes longest homer in the Majors in two years, Sept. 13
35. From Tokyo to the track, a memorable season-opener and an MLB first
Some eye-popping moments here, including some long homers. Trout’s 485-foot shot for career home run No. 400 comes in at No. 32, and Kurtz returns with the longest home run in the Majors since 2023 -- a 493-foot monster shot over the batter’s eye at Sutter Health Park. And in an unprecedented event, an MLB game was played at a race track with the Speedway Classic between the Braves and Reds some four months after the season opened with the Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs.
No. 36-No. 40
36. One after the other -- two Phillies score almost simultaneously, June 20
37. You never forget your first -- Alejandro Kirk steals first bag in 6th season, Aug. 15
38. Raleigh sets AL record with 38th HR before All-Star break, July 11
39. Ronald Acuña Jr. launches first pitch he sees for HR in return from injury, May 23
40. Yanks smash back-to-back-to-back HRs in 20-run outburst, March 29
More mind-boggling numbers here with Raleigh’s 38 first-half homers, the Yankees becoming the first team in MLB history to homer on each of the first three pitches they saw in the game -- one in which they smashed nine homers overall and scored 20 runs -- and … simply the number 1, as in the first steal in Kirk’s career (without a throw, at that!).