After an absolutely thrilling Game 7, the Blue Jays are on their way to the World Series for the first time since Joe Carter touched 'em all. I was on the edge of my seat as I watched, and I cheered like a little kid when Julio Rodriguez struck out with Cal Raleigh on deck in the top of the ninth and the score 4-3 Jays. It was like I was back working at that seedy bar in 1993, looking up at the TV screen as Joe hit the bomb and the place erupted. The DJ started playing 'We are the Champions', the crowd was hugging and toasting each other. Total strangers who would never see each other again were acting like long-lost friends. It was glorious.
And a decade ago in 2015, I watched the most impossible inning in baseball history unfold, and the Blue Jays come back thanks to three errors and a mammoth blast from Jose Bautista known forever as the Bat Flip. Like Springer's dinger, it was a 7th-inning blast, and it was a three-run home run, and it broke the back of the opposing team so that they went down without a fight after that. They got a leadoff single and a walk in the eighth, but Roberto Osuna came out and shut them down with a five-inning save, sending the Jays to the ALCS for the first time since Carter's blast.
The next year, it was Edwin Encarnacion's turn to be the hero, hitting a walk-off three-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Ubaldo Jimenez in the bottom of the eleventh inning, which sent the Jays to the ALDS for a rematch with the Rangers that had a lot of bad blood from a fight that happened in the last game they played together in the regular season, when Roughned Odor punched Bautista in the face and cleared the benches. Fortunately, the Jays got their revenge with a three-game sweep, the first in their playoff history, and the icing on the cake was Odor making a throwing error that allowed Josh Donaldson to scamper home with the series-winning run in the 10th inning of game 3. Maybe he should have practiced throwing to first instead of throwing punches.
Now, the Jays have made the playoffs three times since then, in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, 2022, and 2023. They lost all six games they played, and their young star, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., was ineffective and virtually silent at the plate. This time, though, they held on to a first-place finish in the regular season, tied with the Yankees in terms of their record but winning the tie breaker due to beating them 8 games to 5 during the season. Then they dominated the Yankees, beating them in four games in the best-of-five ALDS and moving on to face the Mariners in a battle of teams that joined the league exactly 49 years ago in 1977. It was the first time they ever faced off in the playoffs.
No, 2022 DID NOT HAPPEN. Do not bring that fever dream up again.
The Jays, with home field advantage, lost the first two games at the SkyDome (I refuse to call it the Rogers Centre) and their backs were to the wall. Fortunately, they came back in Seattle and tied the series at 2-2 before dropping game 5 with particularly boneheaded pitching change in the 8th inning that allowed the Mariners to go from 2-1 down to a 6-2 win. Now forced to return home with no margin of error, the Jays replied with a convincing 6-2 win of their own, before facing down the Mariners in a winner-take-all Game 7.
I maintain that there is nothing better than a Game 7 in baseball. Everything is magnified, even moreso than in hockey or basketball. Because unlike those two sports, every pitch takes time. Every play unfolds slowly and yet in the blink of an eye. One swing of the bat can crush a team's hopes and dreams...in either direction. And this was a Game 7 to remember. Was it the best one ever? Probably not; plenty of people will point to the 1991 World Series between Atlanta and Minnesota that went 10 innings and finished with a 1-0 score. And there have been plenty of other classics over the last 122 years of World Series play. But this one...this one is special for Blue Jays fans.
So, now it is on to the World Series against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. The oddsmakers are heavily favoring the Dodgers to take it despite the Jays having a better season record and playing in a tougher division (the AL East is a dogfight every year, and the NL West had the Colorado Rockies to play doormat).The Jays have shown the resilience necessary to win, and lead the majors in come-from-behind wins this year with 52, 17 of those when trailing in the 7th or later. So don't count out the Blue Jays, because this is a team that gets contributions up and down the lineup every single night. The Dodgers have plenty of stars, including ex-Jay Teoscar Hernandez, but it remains to be seen if their lineup will be as deep. The Jays have hit 20 homers in the playoffs next to the Dodgers' 15, despite the Dodgers playing only one fewer game. The Dodgers have a much better ERA in the postseason, but there are no weak spots in the Toronto lineup for a pitcher to ease up. And the Dodgers have faced no adversity in these playoffs, going 9-1 with two swept series.
All in all, I would say the Dodgers are favored, but it's not going to be a four-game sweep like some people are predicting. Historically, the Blue Jays get dismissed by many fans because they play in Canada. And it's been 32 years since those fans were reminded how good the Blue Jays can truly be. Here's hoping that the Jays can continue this magical run and finish the job. Four more, baby.
My prediction: Blue Jays in 6.
