Toronto Blue Jays right fielder George Springer brought some joy to fans on Monday when he crossed home plate in the first inning against the visiting L.A. Dodgers.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
As they opened the gates ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers return to Toronto on Monday night, the stampede was back.
It starts out at ground level. From a distance, it’s got the same feel as the opening few minutes of a zombie film. Some people running full tilt, some half tilt and some you fear don’t ever run, but are now. The small bleacher behind the visitors’ bullpen fills in first. Then the bar area alongside it. The fittest and most ambitious chug their way up to the open bar rails in the 500 levels.
During the World Series, this process took less than three or four minutes to complete. On Monday, it was more languorous. But say this for the Dodgers – they’re the only team Toronto runs for.
They are also the only team Toronto really boos. They boo the Yankees. Occasionally, they boo the Red Sox. But they really boo the Dodgers.
Though it only burnishes his reputation, Shohei Ohtani got most of the pregame booing, followed closely by free-agent flirt Kyle Tucker. Toronto hates losing, but it really hates when it’s turned down.
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In his first at-bat, Ohtani stroked one into centre field that Daulton Varsho caught on the slide. The crowd reacted like it was the last out of the game.
Three batters later, former Jay Teoscar Hernández hit a two-run home run, and you got the silence-lite version of Game 7. All the air went out of the building for a few moments. Total desolation.
“A few short months ago, it was mayhem in here,” Jays manager John Schneider said before the game.
I’m not sure how short they were. Not for this crowd.
Former Blue Jay and current Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández, right, enjoys his two-run homer on Monday against the Jays at Rogers Centre.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Nothing important will be decided in this series. Either team could sweep it, and it wouldn’t say much for either of their chances. Whatever you are in April is not what you’ll be in September.
The Jays came home limping, with their excuses built in. After only 10 games, they are a travelling MASH unit. They’re lining up in front of the offices of whoever is the en vogue baseball surgeon these days.
You know what’s important for them now? Alejandro Kirk’s thumb. He broke it on the weekend, and will have it operated on on Tuesday.
Thumbs are tricky, which you know because (I hope) you have two of them. Ever slice open the top of your thumb? That’s weeks of bother. I can’t imagine having to swing a long stick with one that’s just been pinned together.
If Kirk is out for months, the Jays have a problem. Everything else is manageable.
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Win the series, lose the series, that doesn’t matter. The only thing that can truly be accomplished in the next three games is an exorcism. This is where the Jays put 2025 behind them.
You could see the problem in the crowd. Every time the ball was put in play, they’d begin keening in a way you just don’t hear on a random Monday night at the ballpark.
Most of them were here looking for a little of that October flavour. More than a few were probably priced out the first time around. You can’t blame them for wanting in on that history. It’s hard to get worked up for regular season baseball. You take your pleasures where you can.
But unless the Jays meet the Dodgers again in the postseason, let this be the last time this year that the World Series is spoken of.
The Jays will have to be the ones to put an end to it. None of them have yet. Every time they’re asked, they are more than happy to invite you to come sit on a knee.
You can’t blame them either. If I’d been in the middle of that, I’d want to talk about it too. Talking helps work out your feelings.
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It might not have been a problem if the team had come storming into the 2026 season, but they haven’t. The Jays have staggered sideways into the season. They look like a band coming off a hit debut album that’s thinking of following it up with a free jazz concept record.
After Max Scherzer left early, his replacement, Josh Fleming, chucked an Ohtani dribbler into right field. That’s the sort of thing we’re talking about. A couple of more injuries and this could get ugly.
What might help is for the Jays to once again think of themselves as the team whose chances no one really rates. Because they are rapidly becoming that team.
By all means, have your fun with the Dodgers this week. Relive the greatest hits. Sing all the old songs. Pretend this is revenge for something. And then let it go.
Schneider described the arrival of the Dodgers as creating “a heightened sense of awareness” for the team. His implication seemed to be that his club was sleepwalking into the campaign, and that the Dodgers’ mere proximity might wake them up. Whatever it takes, I suppose.
If the Jays and their fans want to obsess about a visitor, start thinking about all the times they will play the Yankees and Red Sox in Toronto. That’s where the American League East will be won or lost, not here.
Having rolled through town like the circus, the Dodgers can go back to California and do Dodgers type things.
Let the Jays stay in Toronto and do Jays type things. Start throwing the ball directly at the person who you intend to catch it. Don’t let it go between your legs. Play a solid all-around game. Let the standings take care of themselves.
If the Jays do that, maybe history will repeat itself. But for now, that’s history’s business.