A Blue Jays Obituary: Laying 2016 to Rest

Remembering a Blue Jays’ season gone too soon

2016 Toronto Blue Jays: April 3 – October 19

The Toronto Blue Jays’ 2016 season passed on peacefully, surrounded by faithful fans, at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday, October 18, 2016 at the age of 200 days.

The 2016 season was beloved by a nation and will be missed by millions.

2016 began with great expectations on the heels of its highly successful predecessor, 2015. 2015 did not end with the ultimate prize in hand but fans were pleased to see an end to the club’s miserable playoff drought and were thrilled by several epic moments in that postseason.

Loved ones hoped that 2016 would result in the Blue Jays reaching a new level. Yet it ended much as 2015 had—with the ALCS as their final destination.

Friends and family are taking solace in the fact that the Orioles’, Red Sox’ and, especially, the Rangers’ 2016s expired prior to Toronto’s. In particular, they fondly recall Rougned Odor’s shocked and devastated face at the conclusion of the ALDS.

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The baseball gods, in their esoteric omniscience, saw fit not to bestow on the2016 Blue Jays a League Championship or a World Series title but, according to their divine justice, allowed the Blue Jays to witness the punishment of the Texas Rangers for their wickedness. The baseball deities befittingly bring low the haughty, the violent and the schemer.

No doubt the 2016 Jays’ loved ones are having mixed feelings about this past season. On the one hand, they saw plenty of meaningful baseball for the second straight year but they also know that the Jays did not perform anywhere near their potential in the ALCS.

The Blue Jays and Cleveland should have been an evenly matched series. In the regular season, the Blue Jays had a comparable but very different offence, a superior rotation while Cleveland had bullpen and fielding advantages. However, Cleveland was better in every aspect during the ALCS. The Jays pitching was excellent but their offence totally evaporated after an outburst in the ALDS. The Jays’ hitters failed to touch up Cleveland’s starters (despite their rotation facing severe setbacks) and were decimated by their relievers.

2016’s loved ones can’t hang their heads too low. After all, the Jays were one of the league’s better teams and it did felt like they were playing with house money in October after a near-Leafs style collapse in September.

Though 2016 has been laid to rest, 2017 will soon arrive with new hope and a still bright future.

A mourning period will be observed over the bleak winter months until pitchers and catchers report in mid-February 2017. If desired, a donation can be made to the JaysCare Foundation in lieu of flowers.