Maritime baseball fans set to cheer on the Toronto Blue Jays in postseason
SYDNEY -
The Toronto Blue Jays sneaked into a best of three wild card series in Minnesota, after an up and down season, but true blue fans are dreaming of World Series glory.
“Punch that ticket into the post season and you never know what can happen and right now they're playing Minnesota, which is what they wanted. It's the best matchup for them,” said Donnie Vaters, a Glace Bay, N.S. resident.
Vaters has been a Toronto Blue Jays fan ever since the Montreal Expos left town, but cheering for the only Canadian team this season has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
“It's a heart attack team. The cardiac kids we should call them, that's the blue jays, the cardiac kids,” said Vaters.
The Blue Jays had high expectations starting the season. They have one of the best starting rotations and bullpen in the major leagues, but their big bats have been quiet for most of the season.
The Jays and Twins split their regular-season matchups, three wins apiece. All games were decided by three runs, except for a 9-4 blowout in favour of Minnesota in June.
“I think the underlying attitude with everybody was we have what we’re capable of to win,” said Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher.
This will be the third time in three years the jays are in the wild-card round, but they haven't won a playoff game since 2016.
“They always say in the playoffs its defense and pitching is what will win it for you, so this team is probably built for the playoffs and hopefully they get the timely hitting when they need it,” said Brandon Guenette, Executive Director of Baseball Nova Scotia.
Success on the field for the jays has a domino effect for the sport here at home.
“I know for us whenever the blue jays do well we always see a little bit of a bump in registration,” said Guenette.
All games in the best two out of three will be played in Minnesota, so like Vaters, most fans will be watching from their living rooms hoping the jays can bring post season baseball north of the border.
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