Ex-Oiler Sam Gagner and family in attendance at Blue Jays vs. Dodgers Game 1 of the World Series

Former Edmonton Oilers forward Sam Gagner, his wife Rachel and their eldest son Cooper attended Game 1 of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Centre where the Toronto Blue Jays opened the Fall Classic against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Rachel captured the family outing on her Instagram stories throughout Friday night.

In the first photo she shared, the trio smiled from a restaurant before heading to the stadium. Sam wore a white T-shirt and Blue Jays cap, Rachel sported a cropped navy Blue Jays top and Cooper was in full fan gear with a blue hoodie and matching cap.

“My kind of pregame,” she captioned the story, tagging the steakhouse.

Her following stories showed the pregame atmosphere inside Rogers Centre. One image captured the Canadian flag displayed across the field as the national anthem played under red-and-white lighting.

Later, Rachel posted a selfie with Sam from their seats, writing, “I’m a baseball girl now?”

Sam Gagner caught a foul ball

Midgame, Sam Gagner even caught a foul ball hit into their section. Rachel posted several clips showing Cooper holding up the ball in awe as his dad waved at the game below, followed by a close-up shot of the official 2025 World Series baseball stamped with the game’s logo.

Her final photo of the night showed Sam and Cooper smiling together in the stands with the caption:

“He would catch a foul ball.”

Toronto stormed to an 11-4 victory over Los Angeles on the night to take a 1-0 series lead. After falling behind early, the Blue Jays erupted for nine runs in the sixth inning with Addison Barger’s historic pinch-hit grand slam, which was the first in World Series history.

Daulton Varsho had earlier tied the game with a two-run homer in the fourth, while Alejandro Kirk added a two-run blast to cap the Jays offensive surge. Toronto starter Jose Berrios earned the win after six strong innings allowing only two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts.

Toronto’s bullpen trio of Tim Mayza, Yimi García and Jordan Romano closed it out cleanly, with Romano recording the final three outs before a standing ovation. Dodgers starter Blake Snell took the loss after giving up five runs over five frames, while Shohei Ohtani accounted for Los Angeles late offense with a two-run homer in the seventh.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

Know More

Wayne Gretzky’s wife Janet responds to critics questioning his loyalty to Canada, Bobby Orr's support following 4 Nations drama

Edited by Anjum Rajonno