After 32 long years, Toronto’s baseball dream is alive again.
On Monday night, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Seattle Mariners 4–3 in a dramatic Game 7 at Rogers Centre, clinching the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and booking their first World Series berth since 1993.
As the final out was recorded, thousands of fans stayed in their seats to watch players celebrate on the field — before flooding into downtown streets to continue the party.
“We’re back, baby!” shouted Leo Bursui, who joined hundreds dancing and chanting outside Rogers Centre just before midnight. Wearing his parents’ vintage 1992 championship sweatshirt, he said he teared up when George Springer’s three-run homer gave the Jays the decisive lead. “It was electric. That was the moment,” he said.
It was the franchise’s first Game 7 victory in ALCS history, and the win sets up a World Series clash with the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning Friday night in Toronto.
For fans like Sonya Fervaha of Vaughan, the celebration was years in the making. “I’m on cloud nine right now,” she said. “These boys deserve this — they’ve grinded all season long.”
The Blue Jays’ journey to the pennant has been improbable. Written off early in the season, the team fought back to win their division, swept the Yankees in the postseason, and outlasted the Mariners in a back-and-forth thriller that came down to the final innings.
“I think I was three years old the last time they went to the Series,” said Raja Oosiar of Scarborough. “Now I’m walking down the same halls with my dad again — it’s like the Raptors’ run in 2019.”
Even 1993 legend Joe Carter admitted the nerves hit differently this time. “It’s more nerve-racking watching than playing,” he said. “But I can finally breathe — the Jays are back.”
By midnight, Front Street was packed with cars, horns, and waving flags. But no one seemed to mind the gridlock. From sunroofs and sidewalks came a single chorus of joy echoing through downtown Toronto:
“Blue Jays to the World Series, baby! Let’s get it!”
