FanSided

The Toronto Blue Jays throw better parties than you do

By Keegan Matheson |

After mathematically clinching a playoff spot overnight in the least dramatic of fashions, the Toronto Blue Jays had reportedly planned a “champagne toast” following Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. That plan went out the door fast. Blame Edwin Encarnacion, but first, invite him to your next party.

There are bigger victories to celebrate in the Blue Jays future, hopefully several more, but after 22 years of stumbling through the desert, it’s OK to drink the water. Heck, chug it if you need to! The moment is especially unique for longtime Jays like Encarnacion, Jose Bautista or Brett Cecil, who have endured the hardest of times in Toronto. 

After Gibbons toasted the clubhouse, no man was safe. Everyone from Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame writer Bob Elliot to Sportsnet insider Shi Davidi was showered in champagne and beer. It wasn’t the cheap stuff they’d planned on, either!


Moment of the party, however, goes to Munenori Kawasaki. Which isn’t surprising, when you think of it. In what appears to be Muni’s first run-in with a cigar, he quickly finds himself in an 0-2 count. He later gave an all-time classic interview to Sportsnet’s Barry Davis, even by Kawasaki’s standards.

Speaking of people you need to invite to your next party, Marcus Stroman was dead centre in the celebrations, and he’ll play a huge role in determining whether or not the Blue Jays are able to pop champagne in October. 

You’ve also got to feel for players like Ben Revere, whose 2015 season was spent mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies careening towards the basement of the MLB. David Price, whose ace talent was going wasted in Detroit. Josh Donaldson, who would surely be on the outside looking in with the Oakland Athletics this year. LaTroy Hawkins and Troy Tulowitzki, whose Rockies were headed for dead last in the NL West. Mark Lowe, whose Mariners have fallen well short. Or Cliff Pennington, whose Diamondbacks have been out of the playoff picture for a long time.

The Blue Jays saved these players from worse fates in 2015, but at the same time, they’ve saved the Blue Jays. Now, they celebrate together for the first time, but hopefully not the last.

Next: Looking at 1993: The world when Toronto last clinched

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