Sarah Warsi

So it finally happened – 32 years in the making.

Toronto is finally headed back to the World Series! It still feels a bit surreal.

The Blue Jays are not hanging up their uniforms for the season. Instead, they are getting geared up to play on the biggest stage in over three decades.

After a rollercoaster of a series, the Jays went on to win the American League Championship Series on Monday, clinching their spot in the World Series against the LA Dodgers – a powerful team and the reigning World Series champions.

Talk about a showdown for the ages.

The fact that we went through so many ups and downs in this ALCS series – from the initial two-game loss, to the so-called ‘coaching blunder’ in game 5 (making us question if we’d really recover and be able to take it all), to the present outcome – it’s all a true testament to how quickly things can truly change for the better.

Toronto will host Game 1 this Friday – and I’m sure it will be epic.

Of course, it becomes virtually impossible to actually get tickets to premium games like this. I humored myself earlier in the week by joining the Ticketmaster queue, and lo and behold, the cheapest tickets for the 500-level seats at the Rogers Centre were going for around $2000 a ticket! Absolute insanity, but not surprising either.

In my last post, I shared the iconic moment in 1993 when Joe Carter hit the home run that sealed our last championship. According to the MLB, former Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston will deliver the ceremonial first pitch at Game 1, with Carter doing the honors for Game 2 on Saturday.

Monday night’s game 7 was a nerve-wracking first 7 innings as we trailed by 2 points. However, as soon as George Springer hit that beautiful 3-run homer, or as many would call it the ‘Springer Dinger’, it was literally a game-changer.

It definitely felt like a modern-day ‘Joe Carter’ moment for us – especially as Springer leaped up and down in glee as he watched the ball sail into the crowd.

What made Springer’s home run even more memorable was the fact that he had been nursing an injured knee since Game 5 after getting hit with a fastball. You could tell he was still dealing with the discomfort of that hit in Game 6, but talk about coming back full swing (no pun intended, but hey, it works) and delivering!

The second great moment of the night from game 7, of course, was when Jeff Hoffman struck out Seattle Mariner, Julio Rodriguez making it all official.

You can catch that moment below.

The pandemonium that erupted in the stadium was nothing short of exuberant. The emotions were felt throughout. The camaraderie on the field, with the colossal group hugs, tears of joy, and sheer jubilation, is what it’s all about.

Imagine all of that amplified by 10 if we win the World Series. It can happen. It’s within our reach.

Let’s do this! GO JAYS GO!