Gallagher: Jays almost won the World Series in an improbable, exciting season

An emotional Ernie Clement speaks to reporters after the Toronto Blue Jays’ heartbreaking Game 7 World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

November 2, 2025

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

If revered Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully was still alive, his famous call from Oct. 15, 1988 would likely be used to honour the Toronto Blue Jays' unexpected rise to getting so close to being anointed World Series champions.

When Kirk Gibson hobbled up the plate with bad knees and pinch-hit a made-for Hollywood home run off Dennis Eckersley to help the Dodgers win Game 1 of the ’88 World Series, Scully said, "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.''

Well, Toronto’s rise to the Fall Classic was 'improbable' and unfathomable.

After suffering through an 88-loss season in 2024 and finishing last, the Blue Jays were not expected to do what they pulled off in 2025.

It was just a fantastic season by a bunch of overachievers, plumbers and grinders and a few stars. They beat the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners and almost beat the Dodgers in one of the greatest World Series ever.

For the Blue Jays and their fans, it was heart-breaking lose in Game 7. The Dodgers showed how spunky they were in coming back from a 4-2 deficit to hit three homers.

Earlier in this World Series, unheralded, unfazed Jays infielder Ernie Clement said the club comprised a "group of uncommon men.''

He said some teams would have folded after that 18-inning loss but not the Jays.

Clement personified the "uncommon'' label of the team by persevering and contributing on the stage and glare of the World Series spotlight so often, like he did last night and most of the post-season.

The Jays made fans sit or stand with cheers, fist pumps and clapping. Even me. I‘ve never fist-pumped or hugged so many people in my household since the post-season started. There have been people in my inner circle who don't follow ball until the playoffs. Then they put on their uniform tops and hats and joined in the fun and excitement.

We have been taught by the Jays’ lesser lights to appreciate how life is so hard in the trenches between the white lines. It isn't easy for hitters facing 99 mph fastballs or splitters, sweepers or backdoor sliders.

We got to appreciate the likes of 10-year minor-leaguer Nathan Lukes, who I have grown to habitually nickname Cool Hand Lukes, referencing the movie Cool Hand Luke. Lukes was a multi-faceted hero, who came out of nowhere with his key RBI, contact hitting and solid defence.

There’s Bashin’ Addison Barger with his impossibly good looks, long locks and muscular physique providing gigantic home runs, diving catches and a bomb of an arm from third or the outfield.

Even light-hitting all-star shortstop Andres Gimenez surprised people with much needed offence in the post-season. We needed players like him, Daulton Varsho, Barger, Lukes, Davis Schneider and Clement to compliment the stars in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.), George Springer, Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk.

The Jays’ starting rotation got a glimpse of Trey Yesavage, who is already creating legendary status in very few games.

The underdog Jays almost kept up with the Joneses – the Dodgers with their sky-rocketing payroll.

The Jays grabbed the hearts of a city, a province, a country and parts of North America, pulling off miracle after miracle.

The players, manager John Schneider, the coaches, general manager Ross Atkins, president Mark Shapiro and Rogers ownership representative Edward Rogers deserve congratulations for their efforts in providing a club worthy of so much respect.

The team’s rise out of nowhere resulted in unexpected and appreciated dollars in the millions and millions of dollars and possibly several billion for hotels, bars, restaurants, stores and tourist attractions in the Greater Toronto Area, other parts of Ontario and Canada.

The game Saturday night was Toronto’s 10th home contest of the post-season, a tribute to the ‘improbable’ journey.

Who would have thought they would come this far?

And the shock is now setting in – what are we going to do now with the season over?