Blue October

Tonight, Toronto will face Los Angeles in game one of the World Series. It will be the first Series game at SkyDome/Rogers Centre since October 23, 1993, when in the bottom of the ninth inning, Joe Carter became immortal. A similar moment allowed for Toronto’s appearance today. On Monday, George Springer delivered the second most dramatic hit in franchise history when he homered with two runners on in the seventh. That bomb gave Toronto the lead in a game it was losing, and was enough to secure an American League Championship Series victory over Seattle. But while the Mariners were a difficult test, that experience may pale in comparison to what comes next.

To provide a technical breakdown of the Series is beyond me. The Dodgers are a clear favourite: so much has been made about their pitching, of how each starter in their rotation would be a number one on most other teams. There is also Shohei Ohtani, who turned in an all-time sports performance during the National League Championship Series when he struck out ten batters and hit three home runs in a single game. This brief description of an accomplishment we might never see again is a disservice, but Ohtani – who will be the most watched and talked about player in the World Series – has long been ensconced in praise. And Jays fans have drooled over the Japanese superman: prior to signing with the Dodgers, when improbable rumours began circulating about him coming to Toronto, people were tracking private flights into the city’s airports, hopeful they had a shot. Once more, the cruel logic of capitalism prevailed when Ohtani signed with Los Angeles for $700 million. 

While the Dodgers have the largest payroll in Major League Baseball, the Jays have shed their longstanding reputation for being cheap. In Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto has a half-billion dollar superstar, a player who, like Ohtani, has given his team everything it paid for this postseason. Vladdy is leading the playoffs in homeruns, RBIs and hits, and he has been solid defensively for the Jays’ reliable infield. The first baseman has further provided a star presence whose emotionalism Jays Nation has rallied around: no success passes without a shot of Vladdy’s dugout cheerleading whenever one of his teammates has come through with a decisive hit – as so many have during this playoff run.

The Jays have earned their runs by committee throughout these playoffs. With Bo Bichette sidelined, players like Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger have been remarkable. Andrés Giménez, while a less dynamic hitter, has also had his moments: the cool Jays shortstop homered in consecutive games during the ALCS, and then on Monday executed an elegant bunt to advance two runners, helping set the table for Springer’s jack. An ex-World Series MVP, Springer, with his four home runs, has played the role of hero – felled by a pitch to the kneecap on Friday in Seattle, only to limp his way back into the lineup and so satisfyingly crush the hopes of a fanbase that hates him. The cumulative danger of Toronto’s offense is why analysts have argued that Toronto will pose a more difficult test to Los Angeles than Seattle might have. 

Beyond the Jays’ offensive leaders, pitcher Trey Yesavage has been one of the more interesting stories in recent memory, having come from nowhere to start only three regular season games before appearing in the playoffs, where he dismantled Aaron Judge and the Yankees in his first start. The 41-year old Max Scherzer, who has the eyes of a husky and mannerisms of a starved wolf, came off the bench to provide Toronto with excellent pitching in game four of the ALCS. Scherzer’s outburst towards Manager John Schneider encapsulated the soul of a team that’s had to claw and bite for its Series berth. 

Outside of the 2015 and 2016 seasons, where Toronto lost twice in the ALCS, being known as a dangerous team is something Jays fans have been waiting over thirty years for. For those of us old enough to remember the two World Series wins (however faint these childhood memories are), the intervening decades have been trying. Stagnating for so long in baseball’s most competitive division, with a frustratingly modest payroll despite ownership’s endless resources, Jays fans became accustomed to mediocrity. Attendance bombed.  

I remember going to one especially depressing game, on a rainy April day in 2009, when Roy Halliday, then one of the best players in baseball, was starting against the Texas Rangers. The dome was closed and there may have been nine thousand, similarly depressed people there. Six years later, Jose Bautista flipped his bat against the Rangers and it felt as though a new era of possibility had arrived. 

While the Bautista-Encarnacion-Donaldson teams never reached a World Series, their success represented a turning point for the franchise. A revival had taken place, the Jays were beloved again. The 2025 roster, with its assembly of characters, has unified Canadian sports fans otherwise fractured by their NHL allegiances. This national swell of goodwill, made possible only by the interest of fairweather fans who otherwise wouldn’t pay attention, have packed bars across the country. Conversations on the street and in the office find their way to baseball. This is the same level of nervy attention reserved for an Olympic gold medal hockey game. 

As a new generation of fans are being introduced to the dramatic wonders of playoff baseball, the older guard is finally getting its flowers: those who (unlike me), have had the fortitude to remain with this franchise through so many forgettable years. From its public faces, like that of Buck Martinez, who brought so much enthusiasm and game-earned gravitas to the team’s presentation, to friends who’ve followed and supported the Jays for decades, their moment has arrived. And while lapsing into sentimentality is never good, it’s nice to see a return on their loyalty. Still, the games must be played, innings won and runs batted in. However tough the Dodgers are, the Jays possess enough of everything to have a chance. No victory is sweeter than one which seems forbidden.