Are the Blue Jays about to fall victim to the Yankees "postseason magic?"

Yes, we’re as tired as everyone else hearing about “27 rings.” A bunch of which came before integration or before any major expansion. But the reality is that even if you remove those ones the Yankees have still won the World Series seven times since the Toronto Blue Jays first played in 1977.

Seven times in 48 years is a mighty impressive track record considering no other team has won five since then, with the Red Sox, Dodgers and Athletics all sitting at four. The point is, you don’t get to the status level of the Yankees without having a legacy built on memorable moments in the MLB Postseason. 

Whether it’s home runs in big moments like Reggie Jackson’s three home run game in the ‘77 World Series or Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run in Game 7 of the ALCS. Whether it’s spectacular defensive plays like the Derek Jeter flip in the 2001 ALDS against Oakland. Or whether it’s getting a little bit of luck from outside sources like a fan interfering with a baseball in 1996 on a ply that was ruled a home run and catapulted Jeter’s rise to stardom. 

All of these things just have a way of coming together for the Yankees in the playoffs and for the first time ever, the Blue Jays are on the verge of falling victim to that.

Are the Blue Jays about to fall victim to the Yankees "postseason magic?"

The end result isn't always perfect for New York, considering they haven't been champs since 2009. But they are always there, always in the mix, and usually escape from the jaws of defeat at least once every October leaving a trail of heartbroken teams in their waste.

Consider last years ALCS. The underdog Cleveland Guardians felt like a team of destiny. A scrappy group that was being pulled along by one of the most likeable and "underrated" stars of the game in José Ramirez. The Guardians were down 2-0 before they took Game 3 in ten innings. Game 4 was a nail biter that finished 8-6 for the Yankees.

In Game 5, the Guardians had the lead, but then the behemoth's in both stature, personality and skill took the victory right out of the Guardians hands. Giancarlo Stanton tied the game with a home run in the sixth, and Juan Soto hit a three-run home run in the tenth to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

It just seems like these moments were made for the Yankees. As frustrating as it is for almost every other fan base, there is a sort of mystical shift, an unnerving atmosphere that rises up when the Yankees are playing playoff baseball. You can never, count them out and it's not just the fans that feel it, but the players to.

Game 3 between the Blue Jays and the Yankees on Tuesday night had that same aura. A team like the Blue Jays whose shut down defense had been one of their calling cards was suddenly absent. It felt eerily similar to when the Oakland A's decided to kick the ball around instead of fielding it in Game 5 of their 2001 ALDS against New York. Oakland also had an early lead in that game and the errors paved the way for the Yankees to score just enough to win that game 5-3 and eliminate the A's.

The Blue Jays had also gone 71-4 when scoring 5+ runs this season. In postseason history, teams that had a 5+ run lead and had a chance to sweep their opposing team were 38-0. Aaron Judge had not hit a home run off a pitch that was faster than 98 mph in his entire career and until his three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, he had gone 27 straight postseason plate appearances without hitting one over the fence.

Depending on the outcome of this series, that may be the moment that everyone looks back on as the turning point. It will be another notch in Yankees postseason lore of the instances that led their team to glory. On the other side, it may live in infamy in the minds of Blue Jays fans as the moment everything went wrong - and the Blue Jays postseason history is littered with those moments.

In 1985, they blew a 3-1 ALCS series lead to the Kansas City Royals. In 1987, they led the AL East by three games with a week to go and didn't make the playoffs. In 1989 and 1991 their playoff runs were done before you could blink. In 2015 they were on the wrong side of a blatant fan interference call and some questionable balls and strikes calls behind the plate.

Not only do the Blue Jays have to combat all of that but twice in Yankees history, they have overcome a 2-0 series deficit in the ALDS. As mentioned, in the 2001 series against Oakland, and in 2017 against the Guardians. But if it's any consolation, the Blue Jays also have that in their postseason history, overcoming a 2-0 series deficit against the Texas Rangers in the 2015 ALDS.

Hopefully for the Blue Jays, they got the nerves out of their system and do as Manager John Schneider suggested in the last week of the season when the division title was on the line, "play loose". Hopefully, they expelled the bad karma and can just concentrate on playing better baseball in Game 4 and not fall victim to that Yankees postseason magic as so many have before them.