Yay Jays

History was unfolding on Saturday evening, November 1, when the Toronto Blue Jays had a chance to win Game 7 of the World Series, something they had not done since 1993. The Jays took an early lead and held it for several innings. A Dodger home run changed the game to a tie which led them to extra innings. A broken bat and two out on one play ended the hopes and dreams of the Blue Jays and our nation to win the World Series. The 32-year drought continues.   

It all began in 1977 when Toronto was going to join the MLB. The team needed a name and the organization opened up a contest and received 30,000 submissions. From those 4,000 were unique and were turned over to a panel of 14 judges. They submitted a list of 10 finalists to the new club's board of directors. "Blue Jays" was selected as the name that Toronto's Ball Club would use.  

One of the most common names submitted was the Toronto "Blues", but it was already being used by the University of Toronto. In total, 154 people submitted the name “Blue Jays” to the naming contest. A draw was held to name the grand prize winner. That honor went to Dr. William Mills, a periodontist from Etobicoke. Mills received two season tickets for the Blue Jays home games in 1977, plus a trip to Dunedin, Florida, for one week of Spring Training. Mills gave some of the credit to his three daughters. He said that several teams used the name of birds. They felt the name should have the color blue in it, so settled on the Blue Jays. 

In true Canadian fashion, we support our own like none other. Even me, I don't even watch baseball, but I did. I had so many take aways from watching. I think I found Yesavage the most interesting player. At only 22-years-old he was the starting pitcher for the Blue Jays at the World Series. His sweet smile and enduring personality stole the hearts of everyone. Game 5 was an incredible showing for Yesavage. He set a world series rookie record with 12 strike outs. One of those was Ohtani. Not only did he strike him out, but Ohtani ended up on his knee as his helmet flew of his head. I was glad to see that Yesavage was given the chance to pitch 2 innings in the seventh game. I was also glad that it was only 2 innings. There is no doubt that baseball fans will see a lot more of this young man.  

What about Ohtani and Yamamoto, the two men from Japan that play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani who is 31 years old, is described as an elite, two-way player who excels as an incredible pitcher and an exceptional batter. Ohtani clearly gave it his all, as he was totally exhausted by game 7. Yamamoto is only 27 years old and is already a decorated pitcher. He pitched the entire Game 2 and was the pitcher on the mound when the Dodgers won the series. 

In a regular season the Blue Jays play 162 games. They have 25 pitchers and 2 catchers. During Game 3, which ended up being an 18-inning game, they used 19 pitchers and both of their catchers. In the 12th inning it was decided to have someone run for Kirk, which meant a second catcher came into the game. Little did they know it would go to 18 innings and last for over 6 hours. Kudos to the Dodger catcher who played the entire game, another record broken.   

Dad loved to watch baseball, and Mom is a devoted fan. The entire country is so proud of the Blue Jays, and it was a sad moment when they just couldn't win the World Series. I am sure it will take some time for the players to get over the loss. The Blue Jays went into the world series, with the prediction that they wouldn't do very well. But they showed up and were there to win it. If you go from last to a seventh game in the World Series, you are a winner in my world. It was an incredible world series to watch.