George Springer’s very first brush with the postseason, a single-game elimination affair in the 2015 AL Wild Card Game, occurred – somewhat appropriately, it now seems – in New York against the Yankees; for over the next 10 years, as the outfielder/DH has piled up an extraordinary amount of playoff experience, he’s climbed all sorts of postseason counting stat ladders, matching and passing by so many who donned the pinstripes.
In that very first game, the 26-year-old doubled in the third inning for his very first postseason knock. That would be all for Springer that day, whose very first taste of postseason ball resulted in the ultimate joy – a victory enabling him to walk toward the entrance door, rather than the one marked “Exit.”
Since then, Springer has started (and sometimes starred) in four more winner-take-all victories. Only one player has more, with Springer’s fifth moving him past Yankees greats like Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles and Derek Jeter. 10 years ago, Springer’s own postseason story began in the Bronx; its most recent paragraph was scripted nearly 500 miles away, in Toronto, his latest flourish going a long way toward enabling him to have a few more chances this year to keep adding to the career stats, to keep generating more memories and highlights on the October stage.
*Mariners v. Blue Jays, ALCS Game 7*
The Blue Jays rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Mariners, 4-3, capturing the club’s first AL pennant since 1993.
This tilt in Toronto marked the 32nd winner-take-all contest in LCS history, with the home team now celebrating the outcome in 20 of the contests.
Winner-Take-All LCS Games Won by the Home Team
1972 NLCS, G5 Cincinnati defeats Pittsburgh, 4-3*
1973 NLCS, G5 New York defeats Cincinnati, 7-2
1973 ALCS, G5 Oakland defeats Baltimore, 3-0
1976 ALCS, G5 New York defeats Kansas City, 7-6*
1982 ALCS, G5 Milwaukee defeats California, 4-3
1984 NLCS, G5 San Diego defeats Chicago, 6-3
1986 ALCS, G7 Boston defeats California, 8-1
1987 NLCS, G7 St. Louis defeats San Francisco, 6-0
1988 NLCS, G7 Los Angeles defeats New York, 6-0
1992 NLCS, G7 Atlanta defeats Pittsburgh, 3-2*
1996 NLCS, G7 Atlanta defeats St. Louis, 15-0
2003 ALCS, G7 New York defeats Boston, 6-5 in 11 innings*
2004 NLCS, G7 St. Louis defeats Houston, 5-2
2007 ALCS, G7 Boston defeats Cleveland, 11-2
2008 ALCS, G7 Tampa Bay defeats Boston, 3-1
2012 NLCS, G7 San Francisco defeats St. Louis, 9-0
2017 ALCS, G7 Houston defeats New York, 4-0
2020 ALCS, G7 Tampa Bay defeats Houston, 4-2 (played at neutral site, Petco Park)
2020 NLCS, G7 Los Angeles defeats Atlanta, 4-3 (played at neutral site, Globe Life Field)
2025 ALCS, G7 Toronto defeats Seattle, 4-3
*walk-off win
Winner-Take-All LCS Games Won by the Visitors
1972 ALCS, G5 Oakland defeats Detroit, 2-1
1977 ALCS, G5 New York defeats Kansas City, 5-3
1980 NLCS, G5 Philadelphia defeats Houston, 8-7 in 10 innings
1981 NLCS, G5 Los Angeles defeats Montreal, 2-1
1985 ALCS, G7 Kansas City defeats Toronto, 6-2
1991 NLCS, G7 Atlanta defeats Pittsburgh, 4-0
2003 NLCS, G7 Florida defeats Chicago, 9-6
2004 ALCS, G7 Boston defeats New York, 10-3
2006 NLCS, G7 St. Louis defeats New York, 3-1
2018 NLCS, G7 Los Angeles defeats Milwaukee, 5-1
2023 ALCS, G7 Texas defeats Houston, 11-4
2023 NLCS, G7 Arizona defeats Philadelphia, 4-2
George Springer played hero-for-the-day in Toronto, jacking a three-run homer in the seventh to erase the 3-1 deficit.
~Considering the specifics of the situation, Springer’s home run was about as rare as they come:
Winner-Take-All Games: HR in the 7th Inning or Later to Erase a Deficit and Give Team Lead
1960 WS, G7: Pittsburgh’s Hal Smith hits a two out, three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead.
2019 WS, G7: Washington’s Howie Kendrick hits a one out, two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give the Nationals a 3-2 lead.
2024 NLWC, G3: New York’s Pete Alonso hits a one out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
2025 ALCS, G7: Toronto’s George Springer hits a one out, three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.
~Springer’s latest blast raised his career four-bagger tally in the postseason to 23 to break out of a tie with Bernie Williams. Springer is now tied with Kyle Schwarber for the third most in history, behind Manny Ramírez’s 29 and Jose Altuve’s 27.
~Springer’s blast was one of 243 ever to come in a winner-take-all contest. He’s now responsible for two of them, with his other coming in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. There are 38 players with multiple longballs in games for all the marbles, with the majority of the batters, like Springer, owning exactly two. Those with more: Aaron Judge (4) and all these fellas with three: Yogi Berra, Bill Skowron, Troy O’Leary, Kiké Hernández, Didi Gregorius, Jose Altuve and Giancarlo Stanton.
~Of the 243 winner-take-all home runs, Springer’s in 2025 places among the top 10 in Win Probability Added.
0.64 Hal Smith (1960 WS, G7)
0.64 Pete Alonso (2024 NLWC, G3)
0.45 Johnny Bench (1972 NLCS, G5)
0.42 Rick Monday (1981 NLCS, G5)
0.41 Yadier Molina (2006 NLCS, G7)
0.39 Rajai Davis (2016 WS, G7)
0.39 Chris Taylor (2021 NLWC)
0.39 George Springer (2025 ALCS, G7)
0.38 Chris Chambliss (1976 ALCS, G5)
0.38 Conor Gillaspie (2016 NLWC)
~Springer is heading to his third World Series with the following career postseason numbers (aside from homers, which has already been covered):
→54 runs – 12th most in history (needs one to move into the top 10)
→85 hits – tied with Paul O’Neill for 18th
→43 extra-base hits – fifth most
→47 RBI – tied with Chipper Jones for 12th most
→174 TB – tied with Albert Pujols for fifth most
→.540 slugging percentage – 13th highest (min. 200 PA)
→.883 OPS – 20th highest (min. 200 PA)
~This game marked the fifth time Springer has started in a winner-take-all victory. Only Yadier Molina, with seven, has more. At five, Springer is matched with Matt Holliday, David Freese, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trea Turner.
Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. went 1-for-4 to close out his ALCS with a .385/.484/.846/1.330 line. For all LCS players with at least 12 plate appearances, his slugging mark ties for the 71st highest (matched with Willie McGee in 1982 and Kiké Hernández in 2021). Under the same qualifications, his OPS comes in ranked 58th. Among Blue Jays in any LCS, the 1.330 vaults Guerrero to the top rung (outworking Rance Mulliniks’ 1.189 in 1985) and his .846 slugging also muscles out Mulliniks (.727 in ’85) for the top spot.
Batting leadoff for the Mariners, Julio Rodríguez homered and doubled and scored a pair of runs – historically, such production in a winner-take-all contest, when it rarely comes around, has been associated with a victory.
Winner-Take-All Games: Leadoff Hitters With 2+ Runs and 2+ Extra-Base Hits
1982 WS, G7 Lonnie Smith doubles twice and scores two runs for the Cardinals in a win
2004 ALCS, G7 Johnny Damon homers twice and scores twice for the Red Sox in a win
2007 ALCS, G7 Dustin Pedroia homers and doubles and scores three runs in a Red Sox win
2017 WS, G7 George Springer homers and doubles with two runs for the Astros in a win
2019 ALWC Yandy Díaz homers twice with two runs scored for the Rays in a win
2023 ALCS, G7 Jose Altuve doubles and homers with two runs for the Astros in a loss
2025 ALCS, G7 Julio Rodríguez doubles and homers and scores twice in a Mariners’ loss
Seattle’s Josh Naylor singled in a run and concluded his ALCS with a .417/.481/.792/1.273 line while pacing Seattle in hits, with 10. The sample size isn’t huge, but for all Mariners in an LCS with a minimum of 12 plate appearances, Naylor …
~Owns the highest average, his .417 overtaking Álex Rodríguez’s .409 in 2000
~Owns the highest OBP, his .481 passing Álex Rodríguez’s .480 in 2000
~Owns the highest SLG, his .792 toppling Jay Buhner’s .783 from 1995
~Owns the highest OPS, his 1.273 surpassing Álex Rodríguez’s 1.253 in 2000
~Naylor’s 10 hits established a new high mark for any Mariner in any LCS. Similarly, Eugenio Suárez’s seven RBI this year set a new franchise bar and Randy Arozarena’s seven runs scored created a new Mariner high.
Cal Raleigh connected on his fifth home run of the 2025 postseason and closed out his run in this October with a .304/.407/.674 line.
~Raleigh’s five round-trippers left him one shy of matching Ken Griffey, Jr.’s tally from 1995 for the most by a Mariner in any one year. But instead of focusing on Raleigh’s team placement, let’s shift toward an exploration of what backstops have done in the postseason. There, his five do tie for the top spot (among players with at least 75% of their games at catcher), matching Sandy Alomar’s productivity in the 1997 postseason.
~There are 114* players in postseason history to have at least 30 plate appearances and a finishing line of (at least) .300/.400/.600. There are 15 representatives from 1903-1968, but mostly this is a “Since-1969” kind of grouping. Anyway, Raleigh has little company when it comes to backstops.
At Least 75% of Games at Catcher, .300/.400/.600 (or Better) with 30+ PA in a Postseason
1981 Gary Carter slashes .429/.488/.714 for the Expos
1996 Javy López slashes .365/.443/.635 for the Braves
2000 Mike Piazza slashes .302/.403/.642 for the Mets
2013 A.J. Ellis slashes .323/.400/.613 for the Dodgers
2025 Cal Raleigh slashes .304/.407/.674 for the Mariners
*Two Blue Jays in 2025 (Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Ernie Clement) currently have the numbers to qualify, but of course, their lines are still subject to change.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.