Blue Jays in ALCS

The Blue Jays played the Yankees in the ALDS and it almost killed me. Despite the often-lopsided scores, the games always felt close. Blame the Yankees' offense, homer-heavy and always dangerous. They didn't manage to score a ton of homers in the series, except for Aaron Judge, and his magnificent (and crushing) three-run shot in game 3 to tie it 6-6. But the Jays won. They clinched in New York, and now, after the Mariners' marathon 15-inning win against the Tigers last night, are due to play Seattle in Toronto on Sunday.

My heart can't take this. My stomach can't take this. It's been so long since the Jays have been playing, and winning, into October. In the mid-2010s they played Kansas City (in 2015) and Cleveland (in 2016) in the ALCS. They lost both. That 2015 team is the biggest what if, a disgustingly powerful team (prime Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson) with great pitching. But they couldn't get it done. There was the infamous fan interference that was ruled kosher. There was Dalton Pompey on 3rd, with nobody out, who failed to score.

The 2025 Blue Jays aren't nearly as power-heavy, but in a sense, that's good. They make contact much, much better. 1st in AVG and OPS. They're relentless. Power goes cold quicker than contact. I like their chances against anyone.

And that anyone is the Seattle Mariners, surprising everyone with a scorching final two weeks of the season to pass the Rangers and the Astros and improbably claim the AL West. They're a reasonably balanced team. Much of their power comes from Cal Raleigh, a switch-hitting catcher who hit 60 this year. He won a gold glove last year, and he'll win the silver slugger at catcher this year. "Big Dumper", as he's nicknamed (for his large posterior) is a huge threat - not as much as Aaron Judge, who hit 53 with a .330 batting average (Bonds-ian numbers), but I expect he'll be intentionally walked a lot.

It'll be a good series. Two balanced lineups going at it, with the Jays having the edge on offense, Mariners with their pitching, Jays with their bench players. I'm not going to make a prediction. Either the Jays make it back to the World Series for the first time since they last won it all in 1993, or the Mariners book their ticket for the first time in their history. The Blue Jays and Mariners are expansion brothers, both joining the American League in 1977. T-Mobile Park, where the Mariners play, regularly gets overrun by Jays fans from Vancouver whenever their team is in town. This series should be a wild one. I can't wait.