NEW YORK — Start spreading the news, the Toronto Blue Jays are going to the ALCS.
The Blue Jays have eliminated the Yankees in four games with Wednesday’s 5-2 win at Yankee Stadium, finally knocking off the powerhouse that’s felt like their big brother in the American League East for nearly a decade.
Why not the Blue Jays? Why not this year? It’s the dream season no one wants to wake up from.
The Yankees have fallen, and now, the Blue Jays fly back to Canada to kick their feet up for a day, waiting on either the Tigers or Mariners to punch their own ticket to the ALCS in their Game 5 on Friday. It’s the Blue Jays’ first trip to the Championship Series since those incredible runs of 2015 and ‘16. Those teams were overflowing with talent and attitude, just as capable of winning a ballgame as a brawl, but this ‘25 team has captured the country in the best way, which is by surprise.
“It’s hard to describe. These guys don’t quit — this team never quits,” said George Springer postgame. “Day in and day out, you fight, and it’s just a special group and I’m so proud of everybody.”
Why else watch 162 games of baseball — a good 500 hours of your summer — if it weren’t for the game’s ability to surprise you?
“This team wins in so many different ways, and tonight just proved that as well,” said Louis Varland, who opened the clincher with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. “It’s nothing new to us.”
This Blue Jays team won 74 games a year ago and came into camp preaching “internal improvements,” two words which have never been printed across the back of a jersey. In the early days of Spring Training, the dark cloud of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s contract situation hung over camp, taking the shine off of just about everything. No matter where you looked, every external projection painted the Blue Jays as a .500 team, maybe even a boring one. Those projections had every reason to.
The Blue Jays are the No. 1 seed in the American League, waiting to host Game 1 of the ALCS while Vladdy and his $500 million contract just had a series we’ll be talking about for the rest of his career.
“To me, it’s one pitch at a time, one hit at a time,” he said. “When you believe in your teammates and you believe in God, everything happens. I put this year in God’s hands, and thank God we won this series.”
This was a masterclass from manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker, too, the bullpen day that all future bullpen days will be held to.
The Blue Jays are just four wins away from the World Series now, ground they haven’t stood on since 1993 when Joe Carter touched ‘em all. For decades, the Blue Jays have been chasing that again. Those ‘15 and ‘16 teams were close, but it’s time for more than close.
Why not them? Why not now?
