“Almost” Never Felt So Canadian: The Blue Jays’ Heartbreaker Season

Last night, Canada was holding its breath. The Toronto Blue Jays came this close to bringing a World Series Championship back to Canada for the first time since I was a baby — and for a few electric hours, the entire country believed.

Every pitch, every swing, every beer-spilling cheer; you could feel it in your bones. It wasn’t just baseball. It was a national moment.

Finally—Something We Can Actually Agree On

To be honest, I feel since the Ottawa convoy, Canadians haven’t agreed on much — but this October had Jays hats in grocery stores, flag decals on pickup trucks and even my mom (who doesn’t even watch sports) yelling “Let’s go, BLUE JAYS!”. For a few beautiful weeks, it felt like the Canada we all miss.

The government’s in shambles, inflation’s a disaster and finally we got the Jays who felt focused and fierce. Uniting a country that desperately needed a win. For once, the only politics that mattered were in the bullpen.

A Red Sox Fan Cheering for Toronto?!

As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I watched Mookie Betts bring Boston a World Series in 2018. I swore nothing could top that — but I was wrong. This time, I was screaming for the Jays because this is home. It had that same goosebump energy we felt when we all watched the Raptors win their ring in 2019. That’s the thing about Canadian pride — sometimes it hits harder than team loyalty.

Watching the Jays chase history wasn’t just exciting, it stung. It was personal. It was pride. This was Canada standing together as a nation again.

Remember When Ohtani Almost Became a Jay?

We talked about this on the show last week, but man — it’s wild how these things always seem to tug at your emotions. We already knew this season would be an emotional rollercoaster, but remember that crazy week when everyone thought Shohei Ohtani was coming to Toronto? Flights tracked, orders analyzed, the internet basically exploded; and then he signed with the Dodgers. The taste of “what if” set the stage for the season. The Jays reminded us how to dream big again. Go big and we "almost" brought it home.

The Art of War, Baseball Edition

What we can learn from this is important. Sun Tzu once said, “The art of war is the art of sport” and this team went to battle. Every inning was a chess match with cleats. Every hit, a statement. Every save, a heartbeat. So, they didn’t just play — they fought. The heroes in blue. They gave us everything and for a few glorious weeks, it felt like we were all part of the team. You couldn’t escape it.

Over 10 million Canadians tuned in during the ALCS — the Jays’ biggest viewership since 2017.

Even Halloween night was pure Blue Jays magic: kids decked out in mini Jays jerseys, parents balancing candy bags with game updates and entire neighborhoods cheering from porches. At every house we visited, we joined in with a hearty, “Let’s go Blue Jays!” — cute for the kids, but also surprisingly empowering. Pumpkins were painted like baseballs with the Jays logo. Canada looked like a Jays-themed Friday night Halloween wonderland.

That’s how deep the fever ran.

The Crash

Then came that sticky Saturday Game 7. After all that trick-or-treating blue energy, after the epic 18-inning game that made history, we still had a real shot. Then the heartbreak. The collective exhale you could feel from coast to coast. It was a gut punch — a stark reminder of just how badly we all needed to feel something good again but what this meant for us was that for one incredible October, we weren’t divided.

We weren’t doom-scrolling or arguing politics. We were just Canadians, screaming for the same reason. That’s the magic of baseball — it doesn’t fix the world, but it sure makes it feel okay for nine innings.

Catch Us Monday on The Pre-Lunch Bunch

We’re breaking down the heartbreak, the hype and the hangover this Monday at 11am on INDI 101.5 FM. Tune in to the Pre-Lunch Bunch with Marty Wolf, Noah X, and me — your friendly neighborhood Red Sox fan who accidentally fell back in love with Toronto this year, (but don’t get too excited — this doesn’t mean I’m jumping on the bandwagon).

We’ll laugh. We’ll yell. We might even play “Fix You” by Coldplay (don’t judge). What the world learned about us this year is that even when we lose; Canada does it with heart, pride and just enough confidence to keep believing.

There's always next year!