Sport

The Conversation: Blue Jays fever sets in as Canada takes in the World Series for the first time in 32 years

Blue Jays player hitting the ball
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Toronto Blue Jays’ Addison Barger connects for a grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball’s World Series on Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. The homer was in keeping with the Jays’ history of hitting big at critical post-season moments. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Toronto Blue Jays’ Addison Barger connects for a grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball’s World Series on Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. The homer was in keeping with the Jays’ history of hitting big at critical post-season moments. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Estimated Read Time:
1 minute

As written in The Conversation by Russell Field, associate professor in Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management. 

Late on an October Monday night, George Springer smashed a three-run homer to send nearly 45,000 fans in Toronto’s Rogers Centre — and a record national television audience — into a frenzy.

Six outs later, the Blue Jays had qualified for the 2025 World Series against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

It had the feeling of a denouement. Yet, like other famed home runs in Blue Jays history, Springer’s blast was just one step in the long journey through baseball’s three playoff rounds.

Edwin Encarnacion’s extra-inning walk-off homer against the Baltimore Orioles in 2016 only won an elimination wildcard game.

A year earlier, Jose Bautista’s then-audacious bat flip followed a dramatic home run — also like Springer’s hit in the seventh inning — that moved the Blue Jays onto the same championship series round that they had not won since 1993. Until this year.

Read the full story at The Conversation.