SEATTLE — George Springer just had a moment that will live forever in Toronto.
With one of the biggest home runs in franchise history, Springer put the Blue Jays ahead in the seventh inning, sending them to a 4-3 win Monday night in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre.
Springer bounced up the line, screaming into the air as the towering three-run shot sailed out to right field, just like Joe Carter skipped up that line 32 years ago. Now, because of Springer, the Blue Jays are headed back to the World Series for the first time since Carter touched ‘em all in 1993.
This is the moment Springer was brought to Toronto five years ago for. This is what the Blue Jays dreamed of when they signed Springer to a six-year, $150 million deal, which signaled to the rest of baseball that the club was ready to spend big and win big around its young core of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. It has taken some time, but with one swing, it was all worth it.
All postseason, the Blue Jays have rolled out stars from the 2015 and ‘16 teams for ceremonial first pitches. We’ve seen Russell Martin, Kevin Pillar, Edwin Encarnación, Josh Donaldson, José Bautista and Marco Estrada, all of whom were part of teams we’ve celebrated for a decade in this city, but those teams stalled out in the ALCS. Springer won’t just be celebrated in this city, he’ll be held up among the Blue Jays’ legends, especially if Toronto can take down the mighty Dodgers.
Springer’s home run was the first go-ahead homer while trailing by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later in Game 7 history. The Blue Jays had played in only one Game 7 before in their 49-year history, a loss in the 1985 ALCS to the Royals.
A new generation of Blue Jays fans has its core memory now. Bautista’s bat flip defined one generation of baseball in Toronto and in Canada, but Springer’s moment just defined another.
