World title or otherwise, Blue Jays season one for the ages

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What now? What the hell happens next?

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It's a trivial but serious question that many of us will face after watching 180 Blue Jays baseball games of hope, despair and pure magic in 2025.

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One hundred and sixty-two regular season contests that coincided with the crisp spring air followed by the heat of summer – some of these games served as a backdrop, others much more so.

And then 18 mesmerizing postseason games, full of drama and intrigue, and reminding us of what makes baseball so special.

It was an absolutely incredible ride for the fans, every inning was heartwarming.

When the home team succeeds, as the Blue Jays did in A-plus in 2025, it doesn't matter. Saturday results – that electricity can give us ordinary people a kind of vital boost.

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Suddenly, baseball became our everything, distracting us from real life, controlling most conversations between spouses, friends and strangers, and holding our emotions hostage 24/7.

The team has become a connection point

These Blue Jays were our constant point of connection, a common bond stronger than Trey Yesavage's splitter.

It culminated with cool Saturday evening in November it was never anything like the Braves' Otis Nixon laying down that fateful final bunt in Atlanta in 1992, nor was it the “Touch All the Joes” moment a year later.

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He could never replicate those moments for any of us, the way sporting moments should always be: fresh, different and unique.

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This deepest of postseason runs was a whole new experience for the Blue Jays, filled with new memories that we'll be talking about as long as we talk about Wild Thing and Joe Carter. Perhaps because of the incredible nature of what has been happening all this time, we will never stop talking about it.

A season filled with unforgettable moments

Every moment was beautiful in its own way. From Vladdy's “Yaaaah the Yankees are going to lose” to George Springer's home run in Game 7 of the ALCS, Addison Barger's grand slam, Brendon Little's question marks and rookie Yesavage making history, it all captivated Canadians – Jays fans or otherwise.

Personally, I'm an “A” – which means I rarely get too short or too tall in appearance. And yet, a few weeks ago, the sound of Springer in the seventh inning had me jumping with uncontrollable excitement in the 500 Level seats. I've never done this kind of applause before and I don't intend to do it again.

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For many of us, these are perhaps the defining features of this Blue Jays season: the unthinkable became very real, everything actually happened and was possible, and we were all caught up in it with next-level excitement.

Faster than a swing of a bat, now it all comes to an end, at least for another year.

A team worthy of respect

For now we can take a little time to celebrate all of our beloved Jay's accomplishments and enjoy what did it mean to all of us who didn't actually have any real involvement in the game at the end of the day – it's just a sport – but nevertheless felt deeply part of it.

These were our Blue Jays. Our team. Our city.

And they will be worthy of shouting from the rooftops long after today, tomorrow or the day after.

As John Schneider said (give or take a couple of profanities) after his team beat the hated Yankees and began their postseason celebrations: Start spreading the word.

The Blue Jays' 2025 season was pure gold.

We wanted it all. We wanted it now. And we got it.

And with that, for most of us, the time has come to return to everyday depressive situations. But hey, it won't be long before pitchers and catchers return to spring training.

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On X: @IanShantz

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