That Night in Toronto...

I was fortunate to be gifted a pair of tickets to the Jays game last Thursday evening. On the train in, there were a lot of fans in jerseys, but for every Guerrero Jr. or Bichette in the crowd, twice as many said Matthews or Marner. You see, while the Red Sox were in town to take on the Jays, the main focus of the city was on a game 450 km away in Ottawa, where the Leafs had a(nother) chance to close out their series with the Senators. The Jays are still in the early days of the season (how long do we get to say “there’s a lot of season left”?) while the NHL is into the playoffs, so the imbalance in importance and focus is understandable. If we’re being honest, though, this is a hockey-first city 365 days a year. For those in the Rogers Centre (announced attendance of 24,198), I would estimate about 1-in-5 had a phone out, keeping tabs on what was happening in Ottawa – myself included. Between innings, there was a lot of “any updates?” chatter in the seats and on the concourse. There was a divided focus I’ve never witnessed before at a live sporting event.

Confession time. I was born in Toronto, grew up in Toronto, and currently live in Toronto, but I have never been a Leafs fan. The closest I’ve come to supporting the Leafs was in 2003 when they signed Joe Nieuwendyk. I was a big fan of the Oshawa-native and had hoped he would sign in Detroit, but we’ll come back to him. Nikolai Borschevsky in ‘93 still shows up occasionally in my nightmares and was probably the peak of my hatred for the Blue and White. After that crushing loss, the Red Wings moved to the Western Conference, and their rivalry with the Leafs faded. For the two decades that followed, I was mostly happy to see the Leafs succeed. When a Toronto team is winning, there’s a better energy in the city. I’m not a huge basketball fan, but when the Raptors won the championship in 2019, Toronto was electric.

Back to the Thursday night Jays. It was a quiet night early on in the Dome. Through six innings, the Jays had mustered three hits, and it looked like they were cruising towards another no-offense, disappointing evening. Daulton Varsho made a signature catch that got a few people out of their seats and making some noise after he crashed into the outfield wall. Addison Barger had a pair of defensive highlights that elicited some oohs and aahs from the crowd. But by far, the loudest reaction in the stadium came from some simple text flashed up on the jumbotron: “Leafs 2 : Sens 0 - 2nd period.” 

Daulton Varsho’s home run in the bottom of the seventh started the comeback. Around the same time, David Perron was scoring the tying goal in Ottawa to knot that game at two. Thankfully, a Nathan Lukes single, followed by a Bo Bichette double, brought Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the plate with the tying run 90 feet away in the bottom of the eighth. I have to imagine that far fewer people were checking their phones at this point. Working his way to a full count, Guerrero hammered (111.8 mph exit velocity) a Justin Slaten fastball over the wall in left-center to give the Jays a 4-2 lead. Yimi García would come in for the top of the ninth to earn the save and lock up the Toronto win.

By the time the players had celebrated on the field and the ceremonial Gatorade had been dumped on Vladdy, the attention had shifted back to Ottawa – the game there was still tied. Before we were clear of the concourse, Max Pacioretty had scored to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead with about six minutes left in the game. By the time we hit the SkyWalk on the way to Union Station, William Nylander was putting his second of the game into an empty net to lock up another Toronto win. The “Go, Leafs, Go!” chants, which had been sporadic before, kicked up another gear and continued in every direction (and I assume, well into the night).

This time it was Nylander with a pair. Back in 2004, it was Joe Nieuwendyk with a pair, leading the Leafs over the Sens in an elimination game to advance beyond the first round. At the same time, it was Roy Halladay and Pedro Martinez dueling in a 4-2 game, this time with Boston taking the win. Some things change, some things stay the same. That year, the Leafs only went as far as the second round, falling to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Jays would go on to finish fifth in the AL East. What might change this year? What might stay the same? The longer the Leafs can extend their run and the more runs the Jays can put up, the more exciting the city will be.