Blue Jays: I’m sick of reliving the “Glory Years”

The Blue Jays marketing department uses the 1992 and ’93 championships all the time, especially lately. Frankly, I’m sick of it.

Call this an early humbug moment from me if you want, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’m sick of reliving the 1992 and 1993 championship seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Before I really get into it, I’ll be the first to admit that the teams of the early 90’s are the reason I’m an avid baseball fan to this day. I was born in 1984, so when the Blue Jays won their first championship I was eight years old and dreaming of being Joe Carter someday, so to watch him leaping with joy after the final out was one of the highlights of my childhood. Watching him hit a walk off home run in 1993 is a feeling I’ll never forget.

And still, I have to admit that I’m getting pretty tired of reliving that footage over and over again. Of course there’s a good reason for that; because the Blue Jays haven’t won a championship since.

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I can’t blame the Blue Jays’ marketing department all that much either, especially after the disastrous 2017 season that left little worth remembering. The Blue Jays finished 76-86, Jose Bautista had his worst season as a Blue Jay on his way out the door, and Aaron Sanchez went from AL ERA leader in 2016, to non-existent the following year. Like I said, it’s a year that we’ll hope to forget sooner than later.

However, when I log on to Twitter lately, I have to admit that I’ve been agitated by the constant replays of Roberto Alomar‘s home run against Oakland in the ’92 ALCS, Mike Timlin‘s final pitch in 1992, Ed Sprague‘s pitch hit home run, and yes, even Carter’s infamous walk off. I’m tired of seeing the same thing over and over again.

In the grand scheme of my Blue Jays’ fandom, it’s been nice to add a few additional moments to the list over the last few years, but I’m already pretty worn out by those too. I still get chills when I watch Bautista’s “bat flip”, Encarnacion’s walk off against Baltimore, and even Donaldson’s head first slide into home against Texas. They were all great moments, but for me they’re nothing more than a reminder of how poor the 2017 campaign was.

Like I said, I know that makes me sound like a crotchety old man, and maybe there’s some truth to that, but I know I’m not alone. The MLB offseason feels like an eternity most years, but when we as Jays fans miss out on the playoff excitement we’ve grown temporarily accustomed too, it feels that much longer. And for me anyway, being reminded of former glory just magnifies it a little more. Spring training can’t get here soon enough.

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