BALTIMORE -- For the first time in 22 years, the Toronto Blue Jays are champions of the American League East. Even though they clinched on the road, it sure didn’t feel like it.
Thanks to a faltering Baltimore Orioles team that had already been eliminated from playoff contention and an unexpectedly early start time -- Tuesday's rainout forced a Wednesday doubleheader that kicked off at 4:05 p.m. -- the crowd on hand at Camden Yards was painfully small. Like a-few-of-our-closest-friends small. And the majority of them seemed to be Blue Jays fans.
Clad in royal blue and clustered in several sections along the third base line directly behind the visitors' dugout, the Jays supporters -- many of them who made the 460-mile trek from Toronto to Baltimore for the express purpose of seeing their team win its first division title since 1993 -- were boisterous from the beginning.
When Josh Donaldson stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning, cheers of "M-V-P" arose from the sea of blue. In the ninth, when Donaldson made a nifty charging play to retire Junior Lake, the same chant resurfaced for what was unofficially the umpteenth time during the game. In between, after every half-inning, the Jays received a standing ovation from their posse, even after an uneventful first in which the Jays hitters were retired in order in the top half, and starter Marcus Stroman allowed two baserunners in the bottom. It was court-admissible evidence of just how starved for postseason baseball the Toronto fan base really is.
“It’s been a really long time since this city has been to the playoffs,” said Stroman, who pitched eight strong innings to improve to 4-0 since returning from a torn ACL that cost him the first five and a half months of the season. “To do it for the city of Toronto and to do it with this group of guys, it’s been a dream come true.”
Just how long has it been?
The last time the Blue Jays made the playoffs, Stroman was 2 years old. Roberto Osuna, Toronto’s 20-year-old closer, wasn’t even born yet.
As long as the Jays’ drought has been, it’s felt even longer thanks to the success of their division rivals: In the 20 World Series that have taken place since 1993, teams from the AL East have made it 11 times.
Suffice it to say, Blue Jays fans were hungry.
Chief among them was Alex Anthopoulos, the general manager and Canada native who watched the clincher from a seat in the front row, right behind the Toronto dugout. In the top of the ninth inning, while the visitors were busy scoring five more times en route to a 15-2 thrashing, the Jays fans rose to their feet and started serenading the GM with repeated chants of, "Thank you, Alex."
“I don’t normally sit in the stands,” said Anthopolous, who engineered the deals that brought Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, and David Price to Toronto. “But you figure you can sit in the stands on the road.”
Only this felt so unlike a road game that you half-expected the beer vendors to be peddling ice cold Labatt Blue instead of Natty Boh. Not that Anthopolous minded the attention.
“Just to see the pride and emotion,” said the Jays' GM. “It was a lot of fun.”
If Toronto can continue playing in the postseason like it has been over the last two months, the fun will only continue for Anthopoulos. And the rest of the Blue Jays fans.