Article: Toronto Blue Jays Cult Heroes Bracket: Happy Thanksgiving!

[Mac]

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada, and boy, am I thankful for this baseball team.

With the team from Bronx County dealt with, the Toronto Blue Jays are still playing baseball. Even as my heart palpitated through the first games of the 2025 playoffs, I reminded myself that this experience is the reward for being a fan of a good baseball team.

Game 2 of this year's ALCS takes place on Canadian Thanksgiving, marking only the third time Toronto has played on the holiday; the last was in 2015, when the Blue Jays scored a bunch off Derek Holland to force a fifth and batflip-deciding game against Texas in the ALDS.

Chris Colabello hit one of three Toronto home runs off Holland that afternoon and was so close to being one of the 16 names in this bracket.

Thank you for participating in our bracket so far, as your votes have narrowed the field down to four remaining names for the title of this century’s Blue Jays cult hero. Let's move on to this week’s remaining matchups:

(1) John McDonald vs. (5) John Gibbons

Aaron Hill made a costly error at shortstop in a 5-3 loss to Seattle on July 14, 2006, one that prompted John Gibbons to make a change at the key defensive position. After going between the better-at-second Hill and better-in-Triple-A Russ Adams to that point of the season, Gibbons told John McDonald that he would be the starting shortstop moving forward. “You’re not going to win at this level unless you’re strong defensively,” the manager said. “He is an igniter in a lot of ways. Here’s his chance.”

In his first game as a starter, McDonald collected a pair of hits, including his first ever home run as a Blue Jay. Johnny Mac’s next home run came two weeks later in a return trip to then-Safeco Field; his first career grand slam capped off a 12-3 victory. McDonald had taken the opportunity to play and would outlast his manager, remaining a steady hand in Toronto’s infield until 2011, when he hit his lone career walk-off home run. 

Blue Jays’ fans continue to show love for their two-time ex-manager, but we will see how far that support goes against the Prime Minister of Defence, the bracket's one seed for a reason.

 

(2) Munenori Kawasaki vs. (11) Adam Lind

This is an interesting showdown between two players who had stints with the Mariners on opposite ends of their career-defining seasons in Toronto. Kawasaki spent his first major league season in Seattle before joining Toronto during spring training in 2013. His signing barely made a blip when it happened in March, but when José Reyes went down with injury early on, Kawasaki gave the Blue Jays their first spark in an already disappointing season.

In his third game with the team, Kawasaki tripled and scored the winning run in a 4-3 victory over the White Sox. In the series finale, Chicago starter Jose Quintana dominated Toronto’s first eight hitters but could not get Kawasaki out in the nine hole. After getting the Blue Jays’ first hit in the third inning, Kawasaki grinded an 11-pitch walk in the fifth before chasing Quintana in the seventh with another base knock. The Blue Jays mustered only six hits in the 7-0 shutout, but the Cult of Kawasaki was officially born.

The charming on-and-off-field energy Kawasaki brought to the Blue Jays is the reason for his enduring popularity, but he will be tested in this round. For starters, all of Kawasaki’s various hijinks moved a spot down on the list of unforgettable Blue Jays fun after Vladdy and Papi gave us the live television moment of the year. And with the field narrowed to four, Kawasaki also gets his toughest matchup in a player who is remembered very fondly.

Shortly after being named the MVP of the Eastern League in 2006, Lind joined the Blue Jays to make his major league debut as a September call-up. He was hitting over .400 in his first five games when Toronto headed to Seattle to finish a quick West Coast road trip. Lind went 6-for-11 in the series, the start of a solid career batting against the Mariners. In 46 career games against Seattle, Lind hit 10 home runs and posted an OPS of .883. However, he could not replicate the success he had against Seattle as a member of the Mariners in 2016. 

 

So, while Lind awaits your support in this round, it should be noted that the Jays likely have his in the much more important final four matchup happening against the Mariners. Lind loves Canada and is married to Lakeyshia Bertie-Lind, a Richmond Hill resident he met at a restaurant on Yonge Street near the start of his nine years with the Blue Jays. Lind has spent the last two seasons as a minor league hitting coach in the Phillies’ organization, but with Red October already over, he is free to sing "OK, Blue Jays" for the rest of the fall.

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[Mike LeSage]

I know this is the nature of the bracket, but man, these votes are getting tough!

[Leo Morgenstern]

John McDonald is going all the way!