The Toronto Blue Jays bandwagon has been overflowing for months now and it appears many people in the Lakeland are getting on board.
The Toronto Blue Jays bandwagon has been overflowing for months now and it appears many people in the Lakeland are getting on board.
Ever since July 28 the Blue Jays have been playing at a torrid pace tearing up the American League going 43-18 in their final 61 games.
During this stretch I have started to wear my Blue Jays shirts, hats and jerseys a lot more often around town; this has sparked a ton of conversations with random people I meet around Bonnyville.
Whether it is in Tim Hortons, the long line at Subway or at the hockey rink, people all over Bonnyville notice the Jays logo and immediately start talking to me about the latest game.
While most of these people have been complete strangers, I am more than willing to chat baseball and engage with anyone who is excited as I am about the Blue Jays current run.
I have been a Blue Jays fan for the majority of the 25 years I have been alive. Coming from a small town in Ontario that was just a few hours outside of Toronto I spent many summer nights at the Rogers Centre (SkyDome) watching the mediocre Blue Jays teams of the late 90's and 2000's.
For my entire life I have been longing to see the Blue Jays play meaningful games in September and to bare witness to a pennant race.
In 2012 when the Blue Jays made trades for R.A Dickey, Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle and many people were dreaming of a World Series, I was just hoping to see the team not 10 games back of the AL East pennant in August. I wanted a reason to watch games into September and hopefully on into October.
Again in July when the Blue Jays landed David Price, Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Revere, all I was hoping for was a race. I wanted to see a team from Toronto actually competing for something at the end of the season.
Last Wednesday when the Blue Jays clinched their first AL East title since 1993 I was blown away. I still am struggling with the fact that it actually happened. For the first time in my life the Jays are going to be playing playoff baseball.
It has been 22 long years.
In 1993, the last time there was playoff baseball in Toronto, I was three-years-old.
On Thursday the Blue Jays will take the field at Rogers Centre and play their first postseason game in over two decades. The crowd is going to be loud, the team is going to be pumped and the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports will come to an end.
I'll be watching this game, glued to my TV like I have been for the majority of August and Sept. While I hope the Blue Jays team is able to go on a lengthy run and play in the World Series, I am already pleased.
This team has accomplished what I have been waiting years to see. I have thoroughly enjoyed the pennant race, the A.L. East Championship and fun ride this season has been.
To me anything else from this point on is going to be a bonus.
