A dynasty has to be earned, and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned it Saturday night in a Game 7 for the ages. They didn’t have a lead until past midnight in the 11th inning, but they held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 to clinch their second consecutive championship and bring an epic World Series to a fitting and monumental conclusion.

Once down to their last two outs of the series, the Los Angeles Dodgers rode a game-tying home run in the ninth inning from Miguel Rojas and a game-winning home run from Smith in the 11th to become MLB's first back-to-back champions since the New York Yankees in 2000.

The Los Angeles Dodgers repeated as World Series champions after a dramatic 5-4 comeback win over the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings of Game 7.

With the second quarter of the 21st century ready to crown another baseball king, USA TODAY Sports ranks the 25 World Series champions from least-accomplished to the very best:

Los Angeles celebrated a dual sports triumph as the Dodgers, fresh off their second consecutive World Series win, were honored at an NBA game. Dodgers

There have been just 19 walk-off home runs in the long history of the World Series. Here is every one of them.

While Yoshinobu Yamamoto won World Series MVP, plenty of other players stepped up for the Dodgers, including Shohei Ohtani. The reigning National League MVP had a .282 batting average this season while crushing 55 home runs and 102 RBIs. He also made 14 starts on the mound with 62 strikeouts, nine walks and a 2.87 ERA.