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The Toronto Blue Jays took down the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) – a result that comes a little bittersweet to Andrew Albers.
The North Battleford native pitched in the major leagues for both the Blue Jays and the Mariners, so choosing who to cheer for wasn’t easy.
Jane Shury, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, has been dedicated to preserving the province’s baseball legacy for over four decades. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)
“I had a really good experience with the Mariners, not quite as good of an experience with the Blue Jays. I was really torn on who to cheer for there. Again, I don’t think I was going to be upset with whoever won that one. If I had to be honest, I’d say I was probably leading more for Seattle just because I played a little bit longer there, but certainly excited to see the Jays go through to the World Series as well.”
Toronto will now take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Albers believes the team is heading into the World Series doing some things really well.
“I think it’s nice to see a team that’s kind of gone back to some of the fundamental principles of just putting the ball in play. And they do a lot of the little things really well. They run the bases really well, they play really good defence, and it’s nice to see a team like that get rewarded with a lot of guys that have kind of grinded it out for a long time, being big contributors.”
The last time the Blue Jays won the World Series was in 1992 and 1993, and Jane Shury remembers that time very well. She runs the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
“Oh yeah, that was absolutely wonderful…and two years in a row. We do have the pictures of the ’92 and ’93 team displayed at the museum in Battleford.”
Now in her 90’s, Shury is thrilled to be able to see the team go for the glory once again.
“I’m quite confident that the team has the skills, and they have the desire and the motivation. They’ve got a little taste of that winning, and I’m sure that they’re going to go all the way,” Shury said.
Also celebrating the dramatic comeback win over the Mariners was Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said he’s “super pumped” about the Jays.
“It’s fantastic. I mean, Springer coming through on one knee — it was an absolutely amazing game,” Carney told reporters Tuesday morning. “I’m super pumped for the World Series.”
Carney noted he’d told U.S. President Donald Trump during their Oval Office meeting earlier this month that the Jays would reach the World Series — a prediction that proved right.
The prime minister said Monday’s moment reminded him of Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run in 1993.
“Oh God … just the elation of a similar home run,” he said with a smile.
The Blue Jays will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting Friday at Rogers Centre. The first two games of the seven-game series will be played in Toronto, followed by three in Los Angeles, before returning north for the final two matches, if necessary.
World Series single game tickets went on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. and sold out in about an hour.
-with files from The Canadian Press
