This October saw a historic moment: for the first time in 32 years, the World Series ventured beyond U.S. borders. But as the clock struck midnight, the Commissioner’s Trophy was already on its way back home with the Los Angeles Dodgers, leaving a nation to ponder what might have been.
In a nail-biting, 11-inning Game 7, the Dodgers clinched the World Series with a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. This heartbreaking loss shattered the hopes of an entire country that had passionately rallied behind its team through a season marked by simmering tensions with the United States, its traditional close ally.
What many Americans expected to be a swift four-game sweep — Canada’s sole Major League Baseball franchise facing the powerhouse Dodgers, boasting a colossal $520 million payroll and the sport’s biggest star, Shohei Ohtani — instead became a captivating saga. The Blue Jays delivered everything imaginable, except for the ultimate championship.
Through their remarkable postseason journey, these underdogs earned the moniker ‘Glue Jays,’ celebrated for their incredible team spirit and their ability to unite fans from coast to coast. They electrified the nation as they bested formidable opponents like the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.
Shawna Richer reported this article from Toronto. She was among the crowd when Joe Carter hit a walk-off home run to win the Blue Jays their last World Series in 1993.
On that fateful Saturday, the Rogers Centre in Toronto, packed with nearly 45,000 passionate fans, pulsed with an almost unbearable energy throughout the night.
The Blue Jays launched an early assault, driving starting pitcher Ohtani from the mound after Bo Bichette blasted a crucial three-run homer. Defensive heroics followed, with Daulton Varsho making a spectacular diving catch in center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. executing another incredible play at first, together saving at least two runs. Tensions flared when Toronto’s Andrés Giménez was hit by a pitch, leading to dugouts and bullpens emptying for a brief shoving match. Guerrero then pulled off a flawless, high-risk double play. The Dodgers, however, refused to yield, as Miguel Rojas tied the game 4-4 with a ninth-inning home run. The ultimate blow came in the 11th, when Will Smith’s solo shot stunned the home crowd, a lead the valiant Blue Jays simply couldn’t overcome.
As a clear, crisp November night settled over Canada’s largest city, Jays fans, their hearts heavy, poured out of the jammed downtown bars and onto the streets. Inside the Rogers Centre, a stunned silence eventually gave way to heartfelt applause for their team as they exited the field, a painful contrast to the jubilant Dodgers celebrating their victory.
“As tough as this feels right now, I’m thinking of our entire country and how they embraced this group, hanging on every single pitch just like we did and there’s going to be so many cherished memories for generations of Blue Jays fans who waited so long to reach this point,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “To the fans, I offer my thanks, and my sincerest apologies.”
Geddy Lee, the iconic lead vocalist and bassist for the rock band Rush and a loyal season-ticket holder since 1979, observed that the team’s unique composition — a blend of established stars like Guerrero and George Springer, alongside over a dozen recent minor league call-ups and promising prospects — captivated Toronto’s baseball faithful and ignited a spark across Canada.
After finishing last in the American League East in 2024, expectations for the current season had been notably low.
“This is the most surprising team I can recall in all my years of following them,” Lee shared in an interview prior to Game 7. “They found their rhythm, and it made you wonder, ‘Is this truly happening?’ It became a snowball effect, transforming all those initial negative predictions into a genuine love affair.”
The Blue Jays proudly feature one Canadian player: the charismatic, hard-hitting first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Born in Montreal during his father’s tenure with the Expos, Guerrero arrived at the stadium for Game 7 wearing the jersey of Canada’s women’s hockey team captain, Marie-Philip Poulin, a jersey he donned once more after the devastating loss.
Despite most Blue Jays players hailing from the United States or Latin America, the team collectively exudes a distinctly Canadian ethos. They are widely liked, maintaining a relaxed yet cohesive dynamic, playing with an undeniable joy. They approach winning with utmost seriousness, but never take themselves too seriously.
“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of arrogance, and Canadians resonate with that. We’re proudly quiet and self-effacing. Perhaps that’s our connection to them,” Lee mused. “They’re understated yet persistent, and they truly seem to never give up, which is a quality Canadians admire in themselves.”
He emphatically dubbed the Blue Jays “a unifier,” a team that brought everyone together.
Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement expressed immense gratitude, calling it “a privilege” to be part of such a unifying force.
“I have experienced zero negative interactions with anyone in this entire country since I’ve been here, which is truly astounding,” said Clement, a native of Rochester, N.Y. “Everyone has been incredibly kind, welcoming, and supportive. It’s a genuine honor to play for this nation.”
Since the spring, the Blue Jays have served as a collective balm for a nation reluctantly drawn into strained relations with the United States, marked by tariffs and President Trump’s challenges to Canadian sovereignty. Just before Game 1, Trump publicly stated he was ending trade talks with Canada over an Ontario government ad he claimed misconstrued Ronald Reagan’s 1987 remarks on tariffs. In response, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada issued an apology to Trump for the advertisement.
Yet, in stark contrast to the initial tariff announcements, national anthems were met with reverence and enthusiastic cheers throughout the World Series. There was one awkward, potentially political moment during Game 6 when a man with a crumpled American flag scaled the outfield wall, only to be swiftly apprehended by security. For the most part, however, all Canadians wanted to discuss was the Blue Jays. Geopolitical tensions, for a precious few weeks, remained confined to the baseball field.
In a truly unprecedented season for Major League Baseball, the calendar began and concluded with international games — first in Tokyo, and finally in Toronto. Appropriately, a massive global audience tuned in; the opening game alone drew a combined viewership of 32.6 million across Canada, Japan, and the United States, marking the largest audience since the Chicago Cubs’ historic 2016 championship, which broke their 108-year drought.
Lee mentioned that several American friends had confided in him that they were secretly rooting for the Blue Jays.
“The viewership numbers this World Series is generating, not just in Canada but globally, are absolutely incredible,” remarked Bichette, the Jays’ infielder. “I even had to pause and think, ‘Wow, this is truly special.’”
Among the standout moments of the series were Addison Barger’s pinch-hit grand slam in Game 1, a World Series first; Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s dominant complete Game 2; an epic 18-inning Game 3, the second-longest in World Series history; Toronto’s masterful containment of Ohtani, both pitching and batting, in Game 4; Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage’s seven-inning pitching gem, achieving a World Series rookie record of 12 strikeouts in Game 5; a chaotic ninth inning in Game 6 where a trapped ball likely sealed the Jays’ fate; and finally, in Game 7, utter heartbreak.
Joe Carter, the legendary player whose walk-off home run secured the Blue Jays’ last World Series title in 1993, understands the profound impact this team can have on a country.
“If you just close your eyes, swing hard, and hit a home run, they will adore you for the rest of your life—not just here in Toronto,” Carter reflected. “You could travel from Nova Scotia in the east to Vancouver in the west, and the conversation was all about the Blue Jays. It was all about Canada.”