Around these parts, we haven&#8217;t witnessed scenes like Sunday&#8217;s division-clinching celebration since the Toronto Blue Jays&#8217; unforgettable playoff moments of 2015-16. 
Soon after this team doused the Tampa Bay Rays on the final day of the regular season, securing <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/09/28/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-smash-rays-13-4-become-division-champions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a much-needed 13-4 victory to clinch the AL East</a>, Rogers Centre quickly became a spectacle &#8212; in all the best ways. They&#8217;re still likely cleaning up the empty champagne bottles and beer cans one day after the franchise captured its first division crown in a decade.
Of course, if the Blue Jays have their way, there&#8217;ll be at least a few more booze-filled celebrations to come. But for now, as most, if not all, recover from a well-deserved post-regular-season party, we can officially shift our focus toward the post-season.
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Team Photo Number Two 🍾 <a href="https://t.co/AOBIfkSpg4">pic.twitter.com/AOBIfkSpg4</a>
&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1972453862750736829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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This is a special group, now poised to embark on what they hope is a deep playoff run amid a special 2025 season &#8212; one that has a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as the infamous &#8217;15 and &#8217;16 runs.
&nbsp;
Ask any Blue Jays fan you know, and they&#8217;ll likely tell you the same. Nothing has come close to replicating the excitement and buy-in from those teams led by José Bautista, Edwin Encarnación and Josh Donaldson. Remember, this franchise still hasn&#8217;t won a post-season game since that core advanced to the ALCS nine years ago.
Following three straight 0-2 sweeps in the wild-card round, Toronto, at long last, no longer has to stress over an unpredictable best-of-three series. It may have taken until Game 162 and their MLB-leading 49th comeback victory of the season, but they <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/09/26/would-losing-al-east-undo-toronto-blue-jays-magical-season/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">punched their ticket straight to the division series</a> &#8212; where they&#8217;ll now await the winner of the Red Sox-Yankees showdown.
These &#8217;25 Blue Jays have a golden opportunity to craft the next chapter in franchise lore. After repeated heartbreak in October, perhaps this is the time they finally break through with a series victory, introducing a new era of post-season success.
<blockquote>“I do a lot in Toronto. I don’t stay in my house. I like to get out and I like to meet and talk to people from Canada, so I understand how much people still talk about the 2015 team,” Kevin Gausman told reporters during the club&#8217;s post-game celebration, including <a href="https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/blue-jays-win-2025-al-east-division-title" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MLB.com&#8217;s Keegan Matheson</a>. “Winning the division means a little bit more here. One team for an entire country is something that I didn’t really know when I signed up to come here, but man, it’s exciting.
&#8220;You can feel the love they have for the Blue Jays. Hopefully, we can make a run at this and they talk about our team even more than the 2015 team.”</blockquote>
Whether it&#8217;s against New York or Boston, Toronto&#8217;s best hope of advancing past the division series is by playing the brand of baseball that skyrocketed this club from a playoff hopeful to the American League&#8217;s No. 1 seed.
When the Blue Jays are rolling, they&#8217;re executing on all three facets of the game &#8212; pitching, hitting and defence. It&#8217;s a balanced attack through nine innings. However, the bond they share extends far beyond baseball. Everything starts in the clubhouse. If there were rankings for team chemistry, this group would rank in the 100th percentile.
<blockquote>“This is a special group of guys,” Bo Bichette said. “They come to the field every single day to win, and a lot of guys in there make it fun to come in and go to war with each other, but also chill sometimes. This is a special moment.”</blockquote>
The long, gruelling road of a 162-game regular season deserves to be celebrated, especially when it ends with a division title. As we&#8217;ve seen in this city, those don&#8217;t come around often, particularly when your team resides in one of the sport&#8217;s toughest divisions.
But it&#8217;s all about the playoffs now. All year, ever since the Blue Jays took off in late May, this season has felt extra special in countless ways &#8212; from the comeback wins, unexpected surprises and heartfelt moments. Only one team can win it all in the end. Few, however, feature as much charisma and resilience as this one.
All they can hope is that it pays off this fall.

Around these parts, we haven't witnessed scenes like Sunday's division-clinching celebration since the Toronto Blue Jays' unforgettable playoff moments of 2015-16. 

Soon after this team doused the Tampa Bay Rays on the final day of the regular season, securing <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/09/28/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-smash-rays-13-4-become-division-champions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a much-needed 13-4 victory to clinch the AL East</a>, Rogers Centre quickly became a spectacle -- in all the best ways. They're still likely cleaning up the empty champagne bottles and beer cans one day after the franchise captured its first division crown in a decade.

Of course, if the Blue Jays have their way, there'll be at least a few more booze-filled celebrations to come. But for now, as most, if not all, recover from a well-deserved post-regular-season party, we can officially shift our focus toward the post-season.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1972453862750736829

This is a special group, now poised to embark on what they hope is a deep playoff run amid a special 2025 season -- one that has a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as the infamous '15 and '16 runs.

&nbsp;

Ask any Blue Jays fan you know, and they'll likely tell you the same. Nothing has come close to replicating the excitement and buy-in from those teams led by José Bautista, Edwin Encarnación and Josh Donaldson. Remember, this franchise still hasn't won a post-season game since that core advanced to the ALCS nine years ago.

Following three straight 0-2 sweeps in the wild-card round, Toronto, at long last, no longer has to stress over an unpredictable best-of-three series. It may have taken until Game 162 and their MLB-leading 49th comeback victory of the season, but they <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/09/26/would-losing-al-east-undo-toronto-blue-jays-magical-season/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">punched their ticket straight to the division series</a> -- where they'll now await the winner of the Red Sox-Yankees showdown.

These '25 Blue Jays have a golden opportunity to craft the next chapter in franchise lore. After repeated heartbreak in October, perhaps this is the time they finally break through with a series victory, introducing a new era of post-season success.
<blockquote>“I do a lot in Toronto. I don’t stay in my house. I like to get out and I like to meet and talk to people from Canada, so I understand how much people still talk about the 2015 team,” Kevin Gausman told reporters during the club's post-game celebration, including <a href="https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/blue-jays-win-2025-al-east-division-title" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MLB.com's Keegan Matheson</a>. “Winning the division means a little bit more here. One team for an entire country is something that I didn’t really know when I signed up to come here, but man, it’s exciting.

"You can feel the love they have for the Blue Jays. Hopefully, we can make a run at this and they talk about our team even more than the 2015 team.”</blockquote>
Whether it's against New York or Boston, Toronto's best hope of advancing past the division series is by playing the brand of baseball that skyrocketed this club from a playoff hopeful to the American League's No. 1 seed.

When the Blue Jays are rolling, they're executing on all three facets of the game -- pitching, hitting and defence. It's a balanced attack through nine innings. However, the bond they share extends far beyond baseball. Everything starts in the clubhouse. If there were rankings for team chemistry, this group would rank in the 100th percentile.
<blockquote>“This is a special group of guys,” Bo Bichette said. “They come to the field every single day to win, and a lot of guys in there make it fun to come in and go to war with each other, but also chill sometimes. This is a special moment.”</blockquote>
The long, gruelling road of a 162-game regular season deserves to be celebrated, especially when it ends with a division title. As we've seen in this city, those don't come around often, particularly when your team resides in one of the sport's toughest divisions.

But it's all about the playoffs now. All year, ever since the Blue Jays took off in late May, this season has felt extra special in countless ways -- from the comeback wins, unexpected surprises and heartfelt moments. Only one team can win it all in the end. Few, however, feature as much charisma and resilience as this one.

All they can hope is that it pays off this fall.

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