Which playoff series from this century still hurts the most for Blue Jays fans?

The Toronto Blue Jays have not won it all since 1993. For those counting, that means they are one of eight teams in the 2025 playoff race who haven’t won a World Series championship this century. But the Blue Jays, and those other teams, have come close a few times.

Getting close to the prize but not bringing it home can leave a lasting, dissatisfying feeling in the hearts of fans, one that may only be cured with a playoff run that ends in championship celebrations. MLB.com recently revealed the playoff series that still stings the most for those teams in this years playoff chase and for Toronto, they say it’s the 2015 ALCS that Blue Jays fans still have a hard time getting over.

Which playoff series from this century still hurts the most for Blue Jays fans?

It was Toronto's first trip to the postseason since 1993 and the Blue Jays looked like they were ready to roll right through everyone to claim their third championship in franchise history. It started in the offseason when then General Manager Alex Anthopoulos began his makeover of the team. He signed Canadian-born catcher Russell Martin, and traded for third baseman and eventual MVP Josh Donaldson.

The Blue Jays were a game under .500, and eight games back of the division lead three days before the trade deadline. That's when Anthopoulos pulled off a master class of wheeling and dealing and first, landed Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins from Colorado. On July 30th he brought in the best pitcher on the market in David Price. On the actual day of the deadline he acquired reliever Mark Lowe from Seattle and outfielder Ben Revere from the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Blue Jays went on an absolute tear the rest of the season, overtaking the Yankees for the top spot in the division and finishing as AL East champions with a 92-66 record. Toronto went 42-15 the rest of the way and looked like they were going to be unstoppable going into the postseason.

However, they met some adversity in their ALDS showdown against the Rangers. Toronto dropped the first two games, won the next two in Texas and then came home for one of the wildest playoff games in MLB history, capped off by Jose Bautista's three run go-ahead home run, aka "the Bat Flip heard round the World."

With all of that momentum behind them, Blue Jays fans were positive that taking down the Kansas City Royals would be within their wheelhous. But alas, it was not meant to be, although it was a series that Toronto very much had opportune chances to pull ahead and possibly win the whole thing.

Will Leitch for MLB.com writes, "They reached the ALCS in both 2015 and ’16, but that 2015 loss to the Royals in six games definitely still sticks in the craw the most. The Jays were fighting to stave off elimination in Game 6, and after falling behind, they tied it in the eighth on a dramatic two-run homer from Bautista. But in the bottom of the eighth, Eric Hosmer lined a base hit down the right-field line and Lorenzo Cain scored all the way from first to take the lead. The Jays put runners on first and third with no out in the ninth, but then went down 1-2-3 after that, leaving pinch-runner Dalton Pompey stranded at third."

Just reading it is tough to digest as it brings up painful memories of what could have been. While they made it back to the ALCS in 2016, and have had subsequent playoff runs in 2020, 2022, and 2023 - the 2015 ALCS was the closest the Jays have come to being AL pennant winners since 1993.