Any baseball player growing up in North St. Paul probably dreams of playing for the Minnesota Twins. And playing in a World Series, hopefully with those same Twins. For pitcher Louis Varland, both things are happening in 2025.
Varland was part of the Twins fire sale that took place in late July that decimated the bullpen and the team down the stretch. But he ended up with the Toronto Blue Jays, who just so happen to be facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting Friday night.
Varland was on the WCCO Morning News on Thursday and spoke about what it was like to play in a Game 7 with a trip to the World Series on the line against Seattle on Monday.
“I couldn’t just wait for the game to start just cause all the anxiety and, and nerves beforehand, but there’s nothing like a Game 7, I’ll tell you that,” explained Varland. “It was just, it was truly unbelievable and it was also a great game as well. I mean, that (George) Springer home run was probably something I’ll never forget.”
DH George Springer hit a massive, three-run home run in the seventh inning of the game to give Toronto the victory.
Varland, who threw one and a third innings giving up a run in the Blue Jays 4-3 win, says he fully expects to throw in Game 1 against the heavily-favored Dodgers, and he adds his Blue Jay team is ready for the challenge and confident they can come out on top.
“Honestly, I don’t see us losing,” said the Blue Jay pitcher.
Varland’s mother, Kim, also worked at WCCO Radio for many years before retiring a couple of years ago.
Full article can be found at: https://www.audacy.com/wccoradio/local-sports/minnesota-twins/louis-varland-goes-from-twins-to-blue-jays-to-world-series