The Toronto Blue Jays are going to the World Series. Fans in Toronto have been anticipating this, some of them for weeks, and more, after the Jays beat the New York Yankees. Now, Blue Jays fever has taken hold of the city, and is even spreading across the country as Canadian fans root for Canada’s team as it prepares to meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.
They defeated the Seattle Mariners in Toronto on Monday in a do-or-die Game 7, winning it 4-3 to secure the American League Championship. The crowd at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto went wild when George Springer batted a three-run homer in the seventh inning, taking the lead for the Jays after being down 3-1. Then closer Jeff Hoffman struck out the Mariners in the ninth to preserve the Blue Jays’ lead and clinch a dramatic come-from-behind victory, punching their ticket to the World Series for the first time since 1993.
The fans then flooded Toronto’s downtown, waving Blue Jays flags, honking horns and the party was on. It lasted well into the night.
And while the fired-up party goers eventually went home to sleep off their excesses, on Tuesday everywhere you went in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area the talk was all about the Blue Jays. If you were wearing a hat or Jays shirt, it was an invitation to share the excitement.
And it comes as no surprise to many. Former player, manager and the broadcast voice of the Blue Jays, Buck Martinez, says the current Jays are a very special group.
“It’s the closest team I’ve ever seen in this franchised history. These guys truly love one another,” he said. “You heard it time and time again, (Monday) night after the game, the post interviews, they always talked about how close this team was, how close their families are. You know a bunch of Americans living in Canada, they’ve really united here, they’ve embraced the country, they’ve embraced the fan base. It’s a special group of players that always believed they could get it done.”
He gave special mention to George Springer, who batted in those three winning runs. That will go down as one of the biggest home runs in franchise history. He had been hit in the knee by a pitch a couple of games before.
“I spoke to his dad after the game. George Senior said George could barely walk. He got hit on that right knee, a 96-mile-an-hour fastball and there was some doubt whether or not he would even play. But not only did he play, he led the team to the World Series.”
Tickets for the Blue Jays home games in the World Series went on sale at10 a.m. Tuesday. Within half an hour they were sold out. At point, the online queue for tickets reached more than 235,000.
Some of those tickets are now being resold in the five-figure range.
Incredibly, one ticket for the Jays 1993 World Series was just 32 dollars.
Across the city and the country Blue Jays gear is being snapped up - hats, shirts, scarves, posters, as fans wanted in on memorabilia for the Canadian team going to the World Series.
Toronto lost the first two games of the American League Championship Series at home, before coming back to win the pennant. Just as they had during the regular season, it was typical of a team with 49 comeback wins.
One of the team’s better known fans says he’s “super pumped” about the win.
“Well, I always knew. But I mean that is clutch. Its absolutely clutch,” said Canadian prime minister Mark Carney. “Springer coming through with one knee, and then getting it closed out. It was fantastic and I’m super excited.”
Toronto hosts the first game of the World Series, facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning champions.
