After 40 years, Blue Jays finally get Game 7 playoff redemption

Triumphant at last. The Toronto Blue Jays secured their first World Series berth in over three decades on Monday night, beating the Seattle Mariners in an unpredictable and emotional seven games.

As confetti rained down at the Rogers Centre, seasoned Blue Jays fans recalled what this feeling was like with teams of old. The championship runs of 1992 and ‘93 are remembered as some of the most legendary moments in Toronto sporting history, capped off with Joe Carter’s walk-off home run to win it all in ‘93.

There are fewer fans, however, who remember a decade prior when the Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals. Let’s turn back the clock and take a look at the 1985 Toronto Blue Jays, and how this year’s win is a full-circle moment for the franchise.

After 40 years, Blue Jays finally get Game 7 playoff redemption

In Spring Training 1985, there were high expectations for the Toronto Blue Jays. They were a fledgling franchise on the rise, with a young core to boast and one of the most well-rounded rosters in baseball.

Looking at their lineup, one word comes to mind: stacked. They boasted some of the premier hitting talent of the time and their pitching staff, led by Dave Stieb, had just three pitchers on the entire roster with an ERA+ under 100 for the season. By all accounts, it was their turn to represent the AL in the Fall Classic, despite only waiting eight years to accomplish it.

The Blue Jays dominated as expected. Players like Jesse Barfield, George Bell and Jimmy Key propelled the team to a stellar 99-62 record, good for first in the American League and their first AL East division title.

The playoff format at this time was simpler: the top two records in each league would play each other in the League Championship Series (which became a best of seven series or the first time in ‘85), with the winner advancing to the World Series.

The unstoppable Blue Jays were pitted against the Kansas City Royals, who were a more experienced and pitching-inclined ballclub. They did, however, possess a top-three hitter in baseball in George Brett, whose impact on both sides of the ball would be felt all across this series.

As the series got underway, Toronto jumped out to a commanding 3-1 lead in a string of close games. The roster appeared to be firing on all cylinders, with Dave Stieb pitching two stellar one-run outings and 38-year-old bench player Al Oliver making the difference in both Game 2 and Game 4 — delivering a walk-off single in the former and scoring two of the team’s three runs in the latter.

Confidence was at an all-time high in Toronto, and fans were convinced this was finally their year. But as it turned out, you could never count out the more experienced ballclub.

The Royals rallied back while facing down elimination to force a Game 7 in Toronto, a stunning turnaround in a series that looked all but over. Savvy play — including a stellar four-hit game for Brett in Game 3 — led to a rallying moment for a Royals team determined to move past their recent loss in the 1980 World Series. The Blue Jays turned to Dave Stieb for a third time in the series.

The game began with both team’s pitchers settling into an early groove. Kansas City’s Charlie Leibrandt continued his season-long dominance on the mound, allowing one run over 5.1 innings, while Steib let up a couple of runs on a sac fly and a home run.

The crowd at Exhibition Stadium was electric, sensing history in the making, but tension built as Stieb struggled with control early. Going into the sixth, the score suggested things were very much still in reach for Toronto as they trailed 2-1. This small deficit would not last for much longer, however.

Kansas City loaded the bases with two out in the inning for veteran catcher Jim Sundberg, as the Blue Jays kept Stieb in to finish off the inning. Unfortunately, this decision would not pan out for Toronto as Sundberg hit a fly ball that bounced off the top of the outfield fence, ricocheting away from Jesse Barfield and easily scoring all three baserunners for the Royals. The stadium fell silent as the reality of the situation set in: this was not Toronto’s year.

What looked like a potential inning-ending flyout was taken by the vicious winds of Lake Ontario and turned into the series-winning swing. The game wound down with each team adding one more run, but the drama of the sixth inning proved more than enough to propel the Royals to their first-ever World Series appearance.

George Brett took ALCS MVP honours after his heroics at the dish during the series, adding to his long list of career accolades. He went on to lead his team to their first championship in franchise history, once again coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

The 1985 ALCS came down to which team had the clutch factor working for them and who were willing to see it through to the series’ end. You can even draw comparisons from this Kansas City team to the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays, as both teams maintained clutch hitting and persistence to take down formidable foes.

The difference for the 2025 Blue Jays lies in the narratives surrounding the team. A squad who was straight up dismissed at the beginning of the season has fought and clawed their way to just their third World Series in franchise history. There was no winning season to build off, and now no critics left to prove wrong.