In a world where winning is everything, the Blue Jays lost…..and it was a heartbreaking gut-wrenching loss, when they were so very close to victory.   In a do-or-die Game 7 they were leading 5-4 in the 9^th inning, 3 outs away from winning the World Series, then a Dodgers homerun tied the game.  On to two innings of nerve-wracking overtime – they had their chances – a few missed opportunities and some sheer bad luck and suddenly it was over with the sound of Kirk’s broken bat, leaving the team and the fans just as shattered after a wild drama filled ride. 

 Yes, it was great that they got that far.  They were the underdogs against the mighty LA Dodgers, and their turbo Japanese pitching machine.  The fact that they had even made it to the world series was something to be celebrated.  After placing last place in their division last year (74 games) they placed first (94 games, tied with New York), this year, and thus avoided the whole Wild Card spot scenario, which had defeated them in the past.  They went on to win against the New York Yankees capturing the ALDS division, then the Seattle Mariners winning the ALCS division, with a combination of grit, grind and pure determination.  They were known as the “comeback kids” as they never gave up, often rallying late in the game against the relief pitchers.  Or as my friend called them “the cardiac kids” as so many of the games were nail-bitters.  (I know my blood pressure was up because I took it).

The Jays this year were a unique and special team.  Yes, they had their veteran sluggers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer, but the younger players, some in their first year of MLB, contributed just as many hits as the stars – Davis Schneider, Nathan Lukes, who spent ten years in the minors, and Ernie Clement, with a record of 30 hits in post season, could always be depended on for a base hit or an RBI, with Kirk the catcher at the calm centre of it all.  Everyone stepped up, including the 22-year-old rookie pitcher, Trey Yesavage, who had only been called up to the majors from Triple A six weeks earlier.  If one player didn’t do well, past the baton to the next guy, get on base, get home, keep the momentum going.  The defense, the offense and the pitching were all good.  And they were such a likeable cast of characters.   My favorite was Ernie Clement, who always had a smile on his face and looked like he was having such fun, but in the locker room after, he was in tears, as were many others.  He was sad it was over, and they wouldn’t get another chance tomorrow and it was like losing 40 of his best friends.  If you’ve ever had a job that didn’t seem like work, with nice colleagues, good management and great teamwork, (as I had exactly once in my career), you know how rare a combination that is and can relate.

“I think this is a quote from Herb Brooks, but we are a team of uncommon men,” Clement said after the game. “I think a normal team would’ve folded today, and we’re not normal. I think we’re the best team in baseball, and we got out of bed today with our hair on fire and ready to play.”

I watched some of the post game interviews in the locker room and they were very emotional. (Who said there was no crying in baseball.) I felt so bad for them, to have come so close and have their dream snatched away like that.  Losing was no one person’s fault – but a lot of what-if’s – what if that ball had gone 6 inches farther and sailed over the fence instead of lodging, what if the runner had slid into home plate instead of running it out, what if Barger hadn’t been so far off the base – you can second guess all you want, but they just couldn’t seem to catch a break. Only 3 of the 40 members had ever played in a world series game, the manager John Schneider ( 24 years) never, and the pitching coach Pete Walker (40 years) never.   In his interview after, John Schneider thanked them all, and said he was proud of them and that they had done it the right way.

The Blue Jays are based in Toronto and are the only Canadian team in MLB, (there are 30 teams split between the American League and the National League) so the fan support was phenomenal, with many fans travelling across the country to spend thousands on tickets.  The Jays last won the World Series over 30 years ago in 1992 and 93, and I remember the pandemonium in the city as I was there for a conference at the time.  And while most of the players are Americans, when they come to Toronto they seem to absorb the culture of the team.  You don’t often see that degree of cohesiveness, (as Schneider called it), camaraderie and friendship when players are traded so frequently, and the all-important stats are used as a measure of performance and competition.     

There’s always next year, but this team is not likely to repeat itself with so many of the players free-agents now and a contract negotiation/possible lockout looming on the horizon.  Unlike the Dodgers with their deep pockets, the Blue Jays will not be able to afford to keep them all. They have some hard decisions to make.  I hope we don’t lose Bo Bichette, another long-time favourite, whose playing-with-an-injury home run should have won them the game. 

I saw this photo on Facebook the next morning, of the billion dollar Babe Ruths….

Yes, the LA Dodgers trio of imported pitchers are stellar, but they should be at that price. They Dodgers won last year, and no doubt will next year, as they are locked into long ten year contracts.  In a world where money talks, and the biggest payroll usually wins…..is there any sense of fair competition anymore?  It must be very discouraging to all the US teams that have much smaller payrolls.  Yes, Toronto has the fifth highest payroll, and the Jays signed Vladdy Jr, for 500million, but that was for 14 years, and he’d already played ten years for the Jays, starting in the farm teams at 16, plus he was voted MVP this year for his skill and stats, as well as being the heart and soul of the team.    

Maybe the payroll discrepancy is why the sport seems to be declining in popularity.  If the odds are that stacked against you why even try to compete. People can’t afford tickets to the home games thus discouraging attendance. Only 11 million Americans saw that Ronald Reagan ad from the Ontario premier in games 1 and 2, so why was Trump in such a snit about it that he cancelled trade talks with Canada – 11 million is peanuts for a country of 350 million, or maybe because it was on Fox news?  I watched the games on Sportsnet, with half of the 40 million people Canada tuned in.  Maybe the loss cut deeper for the Jays fans, as it would have been one small win for a country that has been bludgeoned to death economically over the past year by tariffs on autos/lumber/steel/aluminum and the taunting threats of becoming the 51^st state.

But it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.  Is that old adage even true anymore, where might equals right and a bully mentality seems to be the norm?

So let’s talk about fair play.  Is good sportsmanship obsolete or is it all about winning at any cost? There was always a Most Sportsman Like Player trophy awarded when I played, honoring fairness, honesty, and respect for other players, including the opposing team, both on and off the field.

The teams were evenly matched, and it could have gone either way.  But I lost track of how many times Blue Jays players (accidentally? you decide) got hit in the batter’s box.  Poor George Springer – they pitch inside to himself so often he’s excelled at “springing” out of the way. Yes, you can expect some wild throws, even from the pitchers who usually have deadly aim, but you have to wonder when it happens over and over again to the same key players.  The worst was Kirk getting hit on the wrist/hand.  It happened twice, in game 6 and the ninth inning of game 7 when the Jays were staging a comeback and things were really tense.  Hey, if you want to take out their star catcher, aim for his hands.  So, in the 4^th inning when Andres Gimenez got hit, and angrily said, “throw it over the plate” is it any wonder that both dugouts emptied onto the field and a verbal brawl ensued.  I’ve never seen that before in baseball, I thought I was watching a hockey game! (In hockey it would have been an actual physical fight) Tensions were running high.  The umps got them simmered down, and play proceeded, but it was jarring and I think the Jays were rattled after that. They never really regained their usual momentum. But maybe that was the whole point?  Like Ohtani, taking a leisurely dugout break between the first few innings?  Make them wait while I warm up… 

Let’s talk about those umps and the controversial calls.   Yes, it’s hard to be a home plate ump, but a delayed strike call at home plate by the ump disposed of Bo Bichette who was picked off walking to second base because he thought it was ball four (which it clearly was), as the batter who also thought it was a ball, had already started walking to first.  The ump eventually called it a strike, but by then everyone seemed confused as they all thought it was a ball.  This happened twice, the first time with George Springer.  What’s up with the hesitation – if you can’t decide, take some time to think about it? They need to change the rules on that.  If they can challenge a bad call on the field with a video replay why can’t they allow that at home plate – maybe up to 4 per game so as not to slow things down too much.  Especially when it’s a crucial play.  

And how about that dead ball controversy in the ninth inning of Game 6 when a last-minute Jays rally was in progress.  Is a lodged/stuck ball really a dead ball if it can be easily pick it up off the ground and played?  Was it stuck or just lying on the ground at the base of the wall.  (watch the video)  It was certainly playable, but the Dodgers outfielder, seizing a golden opportunity to reverse some runs, made no attempt to pick it up.  I saw a dead ball in one of the other games, (Tampa Bay Rays in their temporary makeshift diamond) and it was stuck in the corner of the upper wall and hence not playable.   That dead ball call cost the Jays two runs in, and a potential game, as both players had to go back to their bases, according to the dead ball rule book and then someone popped out and the inning was over.  Yes, the play was reviewed in New York – but can you trust the New York reviewers?  How many viewing angles do they have for something like that?  Is anyone in management allowed to see the footage after the fact or is that top secret?  Those reviewers in New York seem leery of overturning anything.   Or how about that close call on the throw to home plate in the ninth inning that looked like the Jays Kiner-Falefa was safe – which would have won them the game. From my angle, it sure looked like the catcher had stepped off the bag.  Even the announcer thought the game was over.  But on video review – nope – out.     

Do I seem bitter?  I am.   A combination of missed opportunities, bad luck, controversial calls, and the brawl on the field, by the end everyone’s nerves were rattled, including mine. While it was a memorable year, I’m glad it’s over for 4 months – give the guys a a chance to rest and recover from their injuries, and spend some time with their families. ( I’m sure George Springer at 36, was being held together by duct tape and Advil.  His wife looked very concerned)

They showed the WAG’s and kids on the field after one of the division wins, and they all look like models of course, but who would want to be married to a major league baseball player?  You’re basically signing up to be a single parent.  On the road 9 months of the year, and when they are home, there’s the workout routine and the nutrition protocol, and all the night games, and when you get home, pumped with adrenalin, how do you even sleep. You’re certainly not getting your kids ready for school or putting them to bed. I noticed some the Jays relievers had written number 51 on their hats in game 6 in support of Alex Vesia, the Dodgers player who missed the world series because of a family crisis – a small acknowledgement to the opposing team that there are more important things than baseball.  What a classy thing to do, but then they are a class act.

During the play-offs there was only day off between cities, a rigorous schedule along with the 3 hour time change.  I wonder what they do all day when the game starts at 8pm and goes until midnight and you’re just waiting around for it to start.  When do they eat, before or after the games? What do they eat to keep up their stamina?  I can’t imagine there is much nutrition in the sunflower seeds they spit out.  Game Three went on for an exhausting and record-breaking 18 innings, lasting 6 hrs and 39 minutes, like two games in one.  I went to bed at midnight when it was tied, as I had to get up early for a medical test, and it was over close to 3am.   And then to get up and do it all over again, the next day.   It must be really hard on your body, even if you are in good shape – 162 games in a regular season plus October if you’re lucky enough to get that far. Plus, you’re only ever one critical injury away from ending your career.  If you’re lucky you get surgery and a long recovery time.  Yes, the money is good, but the careers are often short.  And then what do you do with the rest of your life – coach? Any other job might seem boring by comparison?

The oldest member of the team was (Mad) Max Scherzer, at 41, who has pitched in three world series and says he lives for that kind of stuff. The youngest was 22-year-old Trey Yesavage, who did great in his two pitching starts, game 1 and 5.  A very poised and confident young man from Pennsylvania, it was nice to see his family, especially his dad, so emotional in the stands at his first game.  So your son is in A level in Dunedin in the spring, playing to a crowd of 4000 and now he’s the starter pitcher in the world series with 45,000 people cheering – that’s heady stuff.  If I had been the Blue Jays manager, I would have put him in as the relief pitcher in the overtime innings – for such a young kid, he was fearless, grace under pressure.   But then the whole team was.

So even though the Jays did not win, the fans are proud of them and will be there when opening day rolls around again March 26.   Anything can happen in October baseball, but as one of the announcers said, the baseball gods got it wrong this time.  The best team did not win.  And I agree, but perhaps I’m  biased.  But while they may have lost the series, a series no Canadian will ever forget, they won the hearts of the nation.

PS.  Readers who are surprised by my enthusiasm for baseball, might enjoy my 2021 blog Take Me Out To the Ball Game where I write about being the worst player ever….