Max Scherzer was pacing the mound when he noticed Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider coming towards him, presumably to pull him out of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.
Scherzer shouted, “No way!” and after a short but animated exchange, Schneider left the mound with the 41-year-old pitcher still in the game.
To the average Blue Jays fan, Scherzer's behavior may seem disrespectful or even crazy. But for his teammates and avid baseball fans, it was classic Mad Max.
“I've been waiting for this all year, for Max to yell at me on the mound,” Schneider said at the postgame press conference. “I think at that time there are numbers, there are projections, there is a strategy and there are people. So I trusted the people.
“I think at this point you relive every conversation I had with him for a year, and I trusted him to make presentations.”
Scherzer responded to Schneider's visit by hitting Seattle Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena. Schneider said he and Scherzer had several more heated arguments in the clubhouse after the manager asked if he could pitch in the sixth inning.
“Talking about how we don't talk to him when he starts, I definitely talked to him and it was another fun conversation in the tunnel,” Schneider said. “When a guy is involved in that, when a guy is in the arena and doing well, I’m going to trust him to continue to do it.”
MLB.com's Keegan Matheson reported that when Schneider left the interview room Thursday, Scherzer was already on his way there. The Blue Jays manager gave the veteran pitcher a hard slap on the back.
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“Okay, you (expletive) psycho, get over there.”
Scherzer brushed off the mound visit after the game.
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“I think I'm putting it together out of the bullpen and everything that he didn't really plan on getting me out,” Scherzer said. “He just came in to check on me. So I don't think I was really fighting to stay home.”
“I think it was a bit of a mind game to get me going. So who knows.”
The right-hander has a 221-117 record in 18 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Toronto. His career earned run average is 3.22 with 3,489 strikeouts.
He won the Cy Young Award three times, being named the best pitcher in the American League in 2013 with Detroit and then in the National League in 2016 and 2017 with Washington. He is an eight-time All-Star and has won the World Series twice, at the Nationals and at Texas.
While those gaudy numbers ensure Scherzer ends up in Cooperstown, it's his vibrant personality that makes him memorable.
Second baseman Isaiah Kiner-Falefa said Thursday's trade between Scherzer and Schneider was something he was preparing for when Toronto claimed him off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 31.
“I always get nervous for Max when he serves,” Kiner-Falefa said after the game. “I was told not to touch him or talk to him.
“For me to see that fire and for him to finish the inning, I think that was the coolest part. A lot of guys try that and end up not finishing the inning, but Max was able to finish the inning. That's why he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
On June 11, 2013, before winning his first Cy Young, Scherzer pitched with his team against the Kansas City Royals. Tigers catcher Alex Avila wanted to motivate Scherzer, so he offered him an intentionally bad fantasy football trade. Scherzer yelled at Avila for the insulting pitch, but pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits with six strikeouts as Detroit won 3–2 and its record improved to 9–0 this season.
Two years later, Scherzer competed at the National Championships in a scene similar to Thursday's confrontation with Schneider. Manager Matt Williams arrived on the mound in the seventh inning to pull Scherzer out of the game against the Miami Marlins. As Williams approached, Scherzer refused to leave, shouting, “I want it! I (really) want it! I (really) want it!” Williams returned to the bench and Scherzer called for a ground ball in the bottom of the inning from Dee Gordon.
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Michael Saunders of Victoria hit a 100 mph comebacker off Scherzer's knee on May 14, 2017. The line knocked Scherzer down, but in the next inning he struck out three straight hitters on nine pitches as Washington won 6–5.
Scherzer broke his nose during batting practice on June 18, 2019, when he accidentally hit his sunglasses with a ball. Despite the black eye, Scherzer pitched the next day, striking out 10 in seven scoreless innings as Washington beat Philadelphia 2–0.
In October 2019, Scherzer experienced such debilitating shoulder pain that his wife had to help him undress. A cortisone shot and a chiropractor helped him recover enough to play, pitching five innings as the Nationals beat the Houston Astros 6-2 to win the franchise's first championship.
“This is what you play the game for. You're in the biggest moment of the season right now,” Scherzer said Thursday. “These games have to be won, every single one of them, and when you succeed it’s great.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
