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The party isn’t finished yet: Blue Jays enjoy first World Series appearance since 1993
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Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Oct 21, 2025, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 21, 2025, 01:54 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t ready for the ride to end yet. They’ve got one last goal in mind: winning the World Series.
For the first time in 32 years, this franchise finally has a shot to be the final team standing — something that hasn’t been accomplished since they won back-to-back championships in 1992 and ’93. That was an entire generation ago for many. But now, those born after those unforgettable runs will be able to experience the Fall Classic for themselves.
It took another unbelieveable comeback to get here, and it’s been a season been filled with countless come-from-behind victories, with Toronto’s 49 leading the majors this season. So, in a way, it’s fitting that the Blue Jays knocked out the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS with a comeback victory in Game 7, fuelled by George Springer’s clutch three-run home run in the eventual 4-3 win.
Before that bottom of the seventh even unfolded, though, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — the winner of this year’s ALCS most valuable player award — ran down the tunnel in the Blue Jays’ dugout, got down on both knees and prayed for the heavens to provide another late-game comeback — and his prayers were quickly answered.
“I asked God for the win, to bless us, and he did, and then George hit the homer. So it was great,” Guerrero said.
The 26-year-old first baseman has yet to share those details with Springer but said he plans to do so once the partying ends, whenever that happens.
Guerrero, who leads all hitters this post-season in hits (19), home runs (six), RBIs (12) and OPS (1.440) after going 1-for-4 in Monday’s winner-take-all Game 7, said he feels honoured and “very proud” to be named the ALCS MVP. But it feels extra special knowing that his team is World Series-bound, too.
It’s a huge grind just to get through 162 games. Add in four ALDS games and seven ALCS ones, the toll for players, coaches and club personnel becomes unimaginable. That’s why, even with another massive series against the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers on deck, they’re planning to take the rest of Monday night and Tuesday to enjoy this win.
After all, the last time this organization was this close to winning a World Series was 32 years ago.
“Pretty cool. Pretty humble to be part of it,” a booze-drenched John Schneider said following the Blue Jays’ American League pennant-winning celebration. “I’ve said it before. Besides my wife and kids, this is what I pour my life into, so to be leading the team that’s going back to the World Series for the first time in 32 years, kind of hits me a little bit. I couldn’t be happier for every single guy on the team and in the clubhouse, not just the players, but the staff too.
“So we’re going to enjoy tonight big-time and realize how hard it is to get here, and then get back to work and get ready for the Dodgers.”
When the Blue Jays take the field for Game 1 of the World Series at Rogers Centre on Friday — they hold home-field advantage by winning one more game than the Dodgers during the regular season — they’ll have an entire country behind them.
We saw what kind of support Canadian sports fans can bring during the Raptors’ 2019 championship run. Now, it’s the Blue Jays’ turn to feel that love on the biggest stage.
“We’re the only team that gets to experience that, and we’re the only team that has the following that we do and the viewership that we do,” Schneider added. “I think guys don’t realize that sometimes. But from coast to coast to have this team to grasp on to is really cool. It’s easy for me to say that because I’ve been part of it for a long time. I felt the connection when I was managing in Vancouver as a minor league affiliate as a Canadian big league team, too. So it’s special for everyone that’s involved with our organization.”
Guerrero, of course, was born here. He grew up watching his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., play for the Montreal Expos. So, he knows more than any other player on Toronto’s roster the significance of having an entire nation rooting for you.
“I was born here. I grew up in the Dominican, and then from the moment that I signed here, that I knew I was going to be here my entire career, I knew I had to make — somehow to make all the fans, the entire country, proud of me, of my team. And like I always say, my challenge is to bring the World Series here back to Canada,” Guerrero said.
It took 10 long years, dating back to the day he signed with the Blue Jays, but Guerrero now has his best chance to do just that. To make Canada’s team a winner once again. That seemed eons away after this franchise missed the playoffs last season, failing to win more than 74 games as they finished last in the AL East.
One year later, they can now officially declare themselves the best that the American League has to offer right now. They won the AL East. Then, they slayed the New York Yankees in the LDS. While it went the distance versus the Mariners in the LCS, they ended up checking off that box, too.
There’s just one box left to check.
“I think to get to where you want to go, you got to beat the best. Whether it’s talent, payroll, whatever you want to call it, man, they’re a damn good team,” said Schneider on the challenge of facing a stacked Dodgers’ roster.
“I truly think that the best two teams are left standing for a variety of different reasons, and I’ll never count my guys out of any series. It’s going to be fun. They’re going to be up for it. There’s going to be some big swings and ebbs and flows in it, I’m sure, but I’m just thrilled for the guys that they get the opportunity.”
Facing the Dodgers is no joke. Their roster is littered with superstar talent, and features the game’s best player, Shohei Ohtani, who eliminated the Milwaukee Brewers by himself in Game 4, punching out 10 over six shutout innings as a pitcher, then clubbing three home runs as a hitter.
Los Angeles’ starting rotation has been fantastic in October, headlined by Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani. The bullpen is their biggest weakness, though. But forcing an early exit from one of those starters will be easier said than done.
Still, these Blue Jays, once recovered from their hangovers, will be ready for the challenge. It’s how they’ve operated all season. They’ll be the underdogs in this heavyweight showdown. But they’ve been counted out before. That shouldn’t stop them now, not when they’re so close to tasting playoff immortality.

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