Copyright Forbes
Crushing playoff losses come in all shapes and forms regardless of the round. Afterwards players and other personnel lament falling short and not executing at the biggest moment. For the Toronto Blue Jays, the moment to lament those things occurred after coming within two outs of winning the World Series and eventually losing their grip on a title in the 11th inning. It was the kind of title that captivated an entire nation and large segments of American baseball fans, who rooted with different interests in mind from hoping Don Mattingly could win it all, or another team could win. The Blue Jays played 18 postseason games, starting with two blowouts of the Yankees in the Division Series and followed by a captivating win in Game 7 of the ALCS over the Seattle Mariners, another team, who played 12 captivating postseason games in getting to the verge of their first World Series appearance. The more the Blue Jays played, the more apparent it became to the national audience of the closeness of the teams. While talent can overcome a lack of cohesion with the personalities, very teams who advance this far do not have the cohesion. It shows up in various ways but for the Blue Jays, it was readily apparent and more so in the aftermath of Jeff Hoffman allowing an unlikely two-strike, tying homer to ninth place hitter Miguel Rojas and Shane Bieber allowing a tiebreaking homer to Will Smith in the 11th. In the comments that were relayed and published by those who were there, it was rather obvious how close of a team these Blue Jays were in 2025 and will always be remembered for. Case in point is how Ernie Clement struggled to hold back tears when he said the following: “I’ve been crying, for like probably for an hour. I thought I was done with the tears, but I just love these guys so much. “I was having so much fun coming to work every day and battling with these guys. We have so much to be proud of, even though it didn’t go our way. All I care about is hanging with these guys for another couple hours.” A few days later, the Blue Jays learned Bieber would hang with the team for at least another year by picking up his $16 million option. Bieber easily could have decided to test the open marker and probably would have a number of suitors after a 3.57 ERA in seven starts following a return from Tommy John surgery and a 3.86 ERA in his five postseason appearances. It also was apparent Bieber and others felt the closeness of a team with unfinished business when he spoke after Game 7. A lot of intangibles. Some things that are difficult to describe,” Bieber told reporters then. “The grit. The perseverance. The togetherness. They’re pulling for one another. It’s not just one guy, that’s the whole clubhouse.” And it was not only players but their families. Bieber’s wife wrote a message on Instagram about falling in love with baseball again and it seemed to reflect what the players displayed in their postgame remarks. It was also a subtle difference to the losing clubhouse from last season after the Dodgers claimed Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were certainly a cohesive enough group as they won their first pennant since 2009 but the biggest storyline following their crushing 7-6 loss concerned Juan Soto, who held the title of the most discussed pending free agent throughout 2024. Soto’s comments reflected disappointment in not winning his second World Series and the Yankees first since 2009. There also seemed to be a vibe of someone on the way out the door while he answered in a carefully guarded tone. The tone featured comments about everyone wanting to be on a winning team and how he was going to be available for all 30 teams and examining whatever offers would get presented. The Blue Jays wound up being one of those teams offering a contract before Soto took the 15-year, $765 million to join the Mets. Once Soto decided on the Mets, the Blue Jays eventually figured out how to retain Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who constantly said and showed he was born ready for these big moments of the postseason. Guerrero would have playing this postseason on his penultimate season before free agency but signed a $500 million contract in the opening weeks and it seemed to set the stage for the cohesion of the Blue Jays, who took about two months to really get going, caught the Yankees in July and played a massive role in one of the most captivating World Series matchups in recent memory and likely a contributing factor to Bieber decided he wanted to return.
