BWDIK: 1985 Blue Jays, Brash, Gibbons, Guiel, Naylor, Pivetta, Zastryzny

Kevin Glew’s ticket stub from 40 years ago today.

October 5, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week

Forty years ago, the Blue Jays clinched their first AL East title

Perhaps this is a good omen for the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was 40 years ago today that they defeated the New York Yankees 5-1 at Exhibition Stadium to clinch their first American League East title.

I was there with my family, shivering on those gloriously uncomfortable bench seats down the right field line.

It was the day I fell in love with baseball.

Until then, I hadn’t experienced the magic that a single sporting event can have — it’s ability to unite so many people in one place.

When Yankees catcher Ron Hassey flied out to left fielder George Bell for the final out, the fans that didn’t run out on to the field to hoist Doyle Alexander, the Blue Jays starting pitcher, on their shoulders, hugged and high-fived each other. I was a 12-year-old celebrating among complete strangers.

It was pure euphoria.

Fittingly, three franchise icons – Ernie Whitt, Lloyd Moseby and Willie Upshaw – homered in that game and from my $7.50 bench seat, I had a prime view of those homers clearing the right field fence and rolling to nowhere (There were no right field bleachers at Exhibition Stadium).

That day remains my fondest baseball memory. I still have my ticket (posted above), a pennant celebrating the team on my office wall and a t-shirt that I bought that year.

It also explains why when people ask me what my favourite baseball team is, I provide a very specific answer — the 1985 Toronto Blue Jays.

The 1985 Toronto Blue Jays pennant on Kevin Glew’s office wall.

The only t-shirt Kevin Glew has saved from his youth. Yes, the American League champions description was a little premature.

Blue Jays trounce Yankees 10-1 in ALDS opener

The Blue Jays routed the Yankees 10-1 in the first game of their American League Division Series yesterday afternoon in front of 44,655 fans at Rogers Centre.

Here are a few fun facts that I have gathered about the game:

-Former Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The 2024 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee was a key contributor on the Blue Jays’ 2015 and 2016 playoff teams.

-When Montreal-born Vladimir Guerrero Jr. belted a home run for the Blue Jays in the first inning, he became the 14th Canadian to go deep in the MLB postseason, according to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s just the third Canadian to hit a home run for the Blue Jays in the postseason, joining Martin (2016 ALDS) and Michael Saunders (2016 ALCS).

-Catcher Alejandro Kirk clubbed two home runs for the Blue Jays in the win. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Kirk is the fourth Blue Jay to have a multi-home run game in the playoffs:

–According to Sportsnet Stats, the Blue Jays’ 14 hits yesterday matched their highest in a HOME postseason game. They also had 14 hits against the Chicago White Sox at SkyDome in Game 5 of the 1993 American League Championship Series.

–Nathan Lukes came up with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and delivered a two-run double. According to Sportsnet Stats, he is now 6-for-11 (.545 batting average) with 14 RBIs with the bases loaded this season.

-It was the Blue Jays’ first postseason win since October 18, 2016 when they defeated Cleveland 5-1 in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

Windsor vs. Vancouver

When I was watching the morning highlights on Sportsnet Central on Friday, host Tim Micallef described the Detroit Tigers vs. Seattle Mariners American League Division Series as Windsor (Detroit Tigers) versus Vancouver (Seattle Mariners).

I live in London, Ont., close enough to Windsor to know that there are still many Tigers fans in this region. In my experience, most of them are seniors who followed the team before the Blue Jays played their first game or are children of the seniors who have inherited their allegiance.

I wasn’t sure how many Mariners fans there are in Vancouver so I asked this question on X on Saturday and didn’t receive a single response. I don’t have the largest social media following, but to not get a single response makes me think that most British Columbia baseball fans are Blue Jays supporters. This would make sense given that the Blue Jays’ High-A farm team is in Vancouver.

Windsor (the Tigers) defeated Vancouver (the Mariners) 3-2 in 11 innings in Game 1 on Saturday.

Right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) struck out two batters in relief for the Seattle Mariners in Game 1 of their ALDS against the Detroit Tigers.

Two Canadians on Mariners’ ALDS roster

The Mariners are the only team remaining that has two Canadian-born players – slugger Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and set-up man Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) – on their division series roster.

The 5-foot-10, 235-pound Naylor has become one of the Mariners’ most popular players since he was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 24. Not only has he been pounding the ball – .299 with nine home runs, 10 doubles and an .831 OPS in 54 regular season games – with the M’s, but he has also been tearing up the base paths. He had 18 stolen bases with the M’s and a surprising 30 on the season. He missed the M’s final two regular season games due to groin tightness, but he was back in the M’s lineup – and hitting cleanup – against the Tigers on Saturday. He went 0-for-4 with a walk.

Brash has served as a solid setup man for the M’s since his return from Tommy John surgery in early May. In 53 regular season relief appearances, the 6-foot-1 right-hander had a 2.47 ERA, 21 holds and four saves. He fanned 58 batters in 47 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters in the eighth inning in a scoreless relief appearance for the M’s yesterday.

Zastryzny left off Brewers’ NLDS roster

I was surprised that the Milwaukee Brewers, who defeated the Chicago Cubs 9-3 in their NLDS opener on Saturday, didn’t include left-hander Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.) on their postseason roster. The Canuck lefty had only allowed earned runs in one of 11 relief appearances for the Brewers after being activated from the injured list on August 29. He had been sidelined with a rib injury.

In total in 26 appearances with the Brewers this season, he went 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and struck out 20 in 22 innings.

The 33-year-old southpaw has pitched in parts of seven major league seasons with the Cubs, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates and Brewers. He earned a World Series ring with the Cubs in 2016.

San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) set multiple Canadian postseason pitching records.

Pivetta sets Canadian postseason records

San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) started Game 1 of the Wild-Card Series against the Cubs and tied a Canadian postseason record (set by James Paxton with the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2019 ALCS against the Houston Astros) by striking out nine batters in one game. He would allow just two runs on three hits in five innings but was saddled with a tough-luck loss in the Cubs’ 3-1 victory.

With that start, Pivetta, according to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, also set new Canadian postseason records for most career innings pitched (18 2/3) and strikeouts (23).

Pivetta had made three previous postseason appearances (one start) for the Boston Red Sox in 2021.

Happy Birthday Aaron Guiel!

Happy 53rd Birthday to Aaron Guiel (Vancouver, B.C)l! Originally selected by the Angels in the 21st round of the 1992 MLB draft, Guiel played parts of 10 seasons in the minors before making his big league debut with the Kansas City Royals on June 22, 2002. Over the next five seasons with the Royals and the Yankees, he belted 35 home runs in 307 games.

Following his tenure in the major leagues, Guiel became of the most successful Canadians to play in Japan. The 5-foot-10 Canuck socked 35 homers for the Yakult Swallows in 2007 and added 27 more in 2009.

In total, he belted 334 home runs in professional baseball.

Stottlemyre wishes Jays luck in playoffs

Todd Stottlemyre, who was a key right-hander on the Blue Jays’ World Series-winning teams in 1992 and 1993, wished his former team good luck on X on Saturday

Gibbons departs bench coach job with Mets

On Friday, John Gibbons announced he was leaving his job as bench coach with the Mets.

Two days earlier, the Atlanta Braves announced that Brian Snitker would not be returning as their field manager.

Alex Anthopoulos (Montreal, Que.), who was involved with hiring Gibbons as the Blue Jays manager twice, is the Braves general manager.

Just making an observation.

Remembering Joan MacPherson

My condolences to Dick MacPherson, who was instrumental in landing the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for the town of St. Marys, on the passing of his wife Joan. My sympathies also go out to his son, David, and the rest of the MacPherson family.

Joan quietly assisted at many of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame meetings in its early days in St. Marys. She was also always kind and helpful at M&M Variety in St. Marys when I went there on Canadian ball hall business. I also have many fond memories of seeing Joan at spring training in Dunedin.

She was a wonderful woman and will be deeply missed.