Photo via Yahoo Sports

Will Smith won’t win the World Series, for the first time since 2019

The streak of six consecutive World Series victories by players named Will Smith has come to an end. The two most prominent athletes sharing the name—Dodgers catcher Will Smith and former Giants/Braves reliever Will Smith—both played pivotal roles in those championships between 2020 and 2025.

Their paths even crossed in the 2020 National League Championship Series, where the catcher delivered a three-run home run off the pitcher in a dramatic Game 5 against the Braves, helping the Dodgers turn a three-game deficit into a series win. The catcher’s home run was the only hit allowed by his pitching namesake in seven career matchups, while the pitcher’s team won titles in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The Dodgers’ catcher capped his run with a series-clinching homer in the 2025 World Series, also setting a record by catching all 73 innings of the Fall Classic. Neither player remains on a team competing this year, marking the first time since 2019 that a Will Smith hasn’t been part of a World Series-winning roster.

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