With the year almost at an end, I thought this was as good a time as any to revisit the magic that came before.
The magical run of the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays came to an unfortunate (and perhaps controversial) finish on the Friday night of October 23rd. Even these couple months later there is still a lot to digest from that eventful Game Six of the ALCS, not to mention the much debated direction of the team beyond that point. But I want to take a step back from anything like that and look at what actually transpired for those seven months there in the summer.
Because frankly, it was incredible.
I've only been writing on Da Box for a couple of years, but one of the more interesting dynamics I've noticed on this site is that wide spectrum of age amongst the posters. Some of you can vividly recall George Brett bopping balls deep into the night at Exhibition Stadium in 1985, and thus the emotions that ran through your mind at that moment. For others, it is hardly more than words and numbers in a boxscore, or perhaps a grainy YouTube clip of a game played decades before with an outcome long decided. For one who never saw a moment like that in the moment, to watch footage of it is enjoyable as a historical curiosity but any emotional connection isn't really possible because frankly, you just weren't there.
I personally fall into that second group. When Joe touched em all I'd just turned six and the memories of those times are as blurry as my first day of school or the first time I ever played Nintendo. (Actually, I remember that last one really well. Kids, um... those days). Anyhow, the point is that there is an entire generation of baseball fans here in Toronto and all across the country for whom the idea of the Blue Jays playing postseason baseball was just one of those grainy, far away video clips that only affects you in the present because words and numbers say it happened. You know, the kind of thing your parents talk about when claiming they were young and hip. Well, it's different now. Everything has changed.
The Toronto Blue Jays did not make the postseason for 21 straight seasons. They went through nine managers (two of them twice!), and watched other team after other team reach October baseball. Some of these squads had never even made the postseason before (Texas, Seattle), others reached the big final dance despite having never previously won a playoff round (Astros, Angels), and a quartet of teams that either were barely in their initial existence (Colorado, Miami) or that didn't even exist (Tampa Bay, Arizona) when the Blue Jays last played a postseason game. When the Kansas City Royals won a berth in the 2014 AL Wildcard Game, these Bluebirds had the sudden and unfortunate distinction of owning the longest playoff drought in any major North American sports league. Even the Cleveland Browns (!) appeared in a playoff game more recently than the Blue Jays. I don't follow football at all, but even I know that's a very, very bad thing.
Toronto (and all of Canada for that matter) had suffered through a long period of low-stakes baseball. This season Toronto employed a pitcher who hadn't even been born yet when fans of the Blue Jays last enjoyed playoff baseball. When Toronto took on the Texas Rangers in the ALDS, they were the thirtieth and final team to ever participate in that specific playoff round. That's because the last time the Blue Jays made the MLB playoffs, the LDS didn't even exist yet.
Needless to say, this had been a long time coming. And there were a whole bunch of Toronto baseball fans that just practically went through a customs checkpoint in a foreign country. The concept of the Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs(!) was difficult to grasp in many, many ways. I remember watching the first game at an old buddy's house, nursing a brew while Jamie Campbell interviewed Don Cherry about baseball for some unfathomable reason. But most important was that feeling of eagerly awaiting that first pitch to kick off the series, like a pinch to prove to yourself you're not actually dreaming. These guys had finally done it, finally made it to the big stage. The new formula from this point on was equal mix satisfaction, confidence, and fear. This was an excellent team, but the playoffs are always an unknown. A big, scary unknown.
After the Bluebirds dropped the first two games against Texas, the discussion and attitudes changed again. It all seemed over too quickly, too cruelly, even though it technically wasn't. But it felt like it. Out came the usual quotables like "inexperienced in the playoffs", "no leadership" and everyone's favourite "Toronto sports curse" trope. Seeing as Paul Pierce was nowhere in sight, I reasonably hoped for just one victory. If the Blue Jays went down in four, okay fine grumble grumble. But to wait for so long through countless seasons of underwhelming mediocrity, only for it to end so underwhelmingly, didn't seem fair. Just steal one in Texas and see what happens tomorrow. And they did. Then, they did it again.
Ah. Game Five.
Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about the Blue Jays not winning the World Series in 2015, or at least making it there, is that Game Five won't quite get the notoriety it deserves in baseball history. Consider the events comparatively: you have something similar to Merkle's Boner (Martin throwing the ball off Choo's bat), Buckner's famous error (twice! twice!!!), a big go-ahead home run to effectively win a series (always a classic), and if you wanna stretch it, a Kirk Gibson-lite performance by a guy not even expected to play at all in 2015 (the Duke college guy). Nevermind the bench clearing stuff, Pompey's somewhat questionable slide into home (he was so trying to take out Gimenez), Edwin Carbo with the game tying blast, and the guy who can't legally drink in most US States finishing off the deal. Some sharp Canadian sports writer is going to write a book about this game one day. It wasn't so much a game as it was an opera, with twists and turns and even betrayal (I mean, how else can you explain Elvis Andrus and his glove in the 7th inning?)
But what really made this past season so magical wasn't only that game. Rather, that game encapsulates what 2015 was all about: exciting baseball from an exciting team. Ninth inning wins, dramatic comebacks, absurd comebacks (that million run inning in Boston), crazy winning streaks, walk off moon shots, dazzling catches, rain being brung; all commonplace for this squad. This was a fun team to watch even before the big trades, because despite the middling W-L record there was always the potential for something magical each and every game. Nobody knows what 2016 will bring (I still think this is a pretty darned good looking team, For What It is Worth) but whatever concern or frustration with that carnival shouldn't diminish from the exhilarating ride called "The 2015 Toronto Blue Jays".
After fifteen-plus years of following this team, it was indescribably great to finally be there for something meaningful. To share in the excitement and feelings of a big moment. And there's an entire generation of fans feeling the same way.
The magical run of the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays came to an unfortunate (and perhaps controversial) finish on the Friday night of October 23rd. Even these couple months later there is still a lot to digest from that eventful Game Six of the ALCS, not to mention the much debated direction of the team beyond that point. But I want to take a step back from anything like that and look at what actually transpired for those seven months there in the summer.
Because frankly, it was incredible.
I've only been writing on Da Box for a couple of years, but one of the more interesting dynamics I've noticed on this site is that wide spectrum of age amongst the posters. Some of you can vividly recall George Brett bopping balls deep into the night at Exhibition Stadium in 1985, and thus the emotions that ran through your mind at that moment. For others, it is hardly more than words and numbers in a boxscore, or perhaps a grainy YouTube clip of a game played decades before with an outcome long decided. For one who never saw a moment like that in the moment, to watch footage of it is enjoyable as a historical curiosity but any emotional connection isn't really possible because frankly, you just weren't there.
I personally fall into that second group. When Joe touched em all I'd just turned six and the memories of those times are as blurry as my first day of school or the first time I ever played Nintendo. (Actually, I remember that last one really well. Kids, um... those days). Anyhow, the point is that there is an entire generation of baseball fans here in Toronto and all across the country for whom the idea of the Blue Jays playing postseason baseball was just one of those grainy, far away video clips that only affects you in the present because words and numbers say it happened. You know, the kind of thing your parents talk about when claiming they were young and hip. Well, it's different now. Everything has changed.
The Toronto Blue Jays did not make the postseason for 21 straight seasons. They went through nine managers (two of them twice!), and watched other team after other team reach October baseball. Some of these squads had never even made the postseason before (Texas, Seattle), others reached the big final dance despite having never previously won a playoff round (Astros, Angels), and a quartet of teams that either were barely in their initial existence (Colorado, Miami) or that didn't even exist (Tampa Bay, Arizona) when the Blue Jays last played a postseason game. When the Kansas City Royals won a berth in the 2014 AL Wildcard Game, these Bluebirds had the sudden and unfortunate distinction of owning the longest playoff drought in any major North American sports league. Even the Cleveland Browns (!) appeared in a playoff game more recently than the Blue Jays. I don't follow football at all, but even I know that's a very, very bad thing.
Toronto (and all of Canada for that matter) had suffered through a long period of low-stakes baseball. This season Toronto employed a pitcher who hadn't even been born yet when fans of the Blue Jays last enjoyed playoff baseball. When Toronto took on the Texas Rangers in the ALDS, they were the thirtieth and final team to ever participate in that specific playoff round. That's because the last time the Blue Jays made the MLB playoffs, the LDS didn't even exist yet.
Needless to say, this had been a long time coming. And there were a whole bunch of Toronto baseball fans that just practically went through a customs checkpoint in a foreign country. The concept of the Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs(!) was difficult to grasp in many, many ways. I remember watching the first game at an old buddy's house, nursing a brew while Jamie Campbell interviewed Don Cherry about baseball for some unfathomable reason. But most important was that feeling of eagerly awaiting that first pitch to kick off the series, like a pinch to prove to yourself you're not actually dreaming. These guys had finally done it, finally made it to the big stage. The new formula from this point on was equal mix satisfaction, confidence, and fear. This was an excellent team, but the playoffs are always an unknown. A big, scary unknown.
After the Bluebirds dropped the first two games against Texas, the discussion and attitudes changed again. It all seemed over too quickly, too cruelly, even though it technically wasn't. But it felt like it. Out came the usual quotables like "inexperienced in the playoffs", "no leadership" and everyone's favourite "Toronto sports curse" trope. Seeing as Paul Pierce was nowhere in sight, I reasonably hoped for just one victory. If the Blue Jays went down in four, okay fine grumble grumble. But to wait for so long through countless seasons of underwhelming mediocrity, only for it to end so underwhelmingly, didn't seem fair. Just steal one in Texas and see what happens tomorrow. And they did. Then, they did it again.
Ah. Game Five.
Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about the Blue Jays not winning the World Series in 2015, or at least making it there, is that Game Five won't quite get the notoriety it deserves in baseball history. Consider the events comparatively: you have something similar to Merkle's Boner (Martin throwing the ball off Choo's bat), Buckner's famous error (twice! twice!!!), a big go-ahead home run to effectively win a series (always a classic), and if you wanna stretch it, a Kirk Gibson-lite performance by a guy not even expected to play at all in 2015 (the Duke college guy). Nevermind the bench clearing stuff, Pompey's somewhat questionable slide into home (he was so trying to take out Gimenez), Edwin Carbo with the game tying blast, and the guy who can't legally drink in most US States finishing off the deal. Some sharp Canadian sports writer is going to write a book about this game one day. It wasn't so much a game as it was an opera, with twists and turns and even betrayal (I mean, how else can you explain Elvis Andrus and his glove in the 7th inning?)
But what really made this past season so magical wasn't only that game. Rather, that game encapsulates what 2015 was all about: exciting baseball from an exciting team. Ninth inning wins, dramatic comebacks, absurd comebacks (that million run inning in Boston), crazy winning streaks, walk off moon shots, dazzling catches, rain being brung; all commonplace for this squad. This was a fun team to watch even before the big trades, because despite the middling W-L record there was always the potential for something magical each and every game. Nobody knows what 2016 will bring (I still think this is a pretty darned good looking team, For What It is Worth) but whatever concern or frustration with that carnival shouldn't diminish from the exhilarating ride called "The 2015 Toronto Blue Jays".
After fifteen-plus years of following this team, it was indescribably great to finally be there for something meaningful. To share in the excitement and feelings of a big moment. And there's an entire generation of fans feeling the same way.
