George Springer’s three-run homer in Game 7 of the ALCS sent the Blue Jays to the World Series.
Springer’s home run was his 23rd in the postseason, third on the all-time list.
The 36-year-old signed a $150 million deal with the Blue Jays before the 2021 season.
TORONTO – The sea of humanity was closing in on Jeff Hoffman, a dizzying flood of white jerseys converging near the Rogers Centre mound, but one Toronto Blue Jay kicked it into high gear and broke from the pack.
George Springer, bad right knee and all, 36 years old, been there, won that, made a beeline from the dugout to his closer in the seconds after the Toronto Blue Jays returned to the World Series for the first time since 1993 with a pulsating 4-3 comeback win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
“I probably ran as fast as I could in the moment,” says Springer.
“I wanted to be out there with the boys.”
Yet every Blue Jay on that field knows their season would be over without Springer.
His three-run home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning turned a 3-1 deficit into Great White North nirvana, another stunning bullet point in one of the greatest postseason résumés in baseball history.
It was Springer’s 23rd career playoff homer, now tied with Kyle Schwarber for third on the all-time list, and it was a paradox:
Stunning, but also what the game has come to expect from a guy playing in his fifth Game 7, who could convince the most cold-hearted quant that the clutch gene exists.
“This is the George Springer I’ve always known,” says Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt, who pitched a perfect eighth inning after Springer’s shot off Eduard Bazardo staked them to their first lead of the night. “Who I’ve played against. He’s an MVP-caliber player and a lot of people wrote him off.
“We didn’t write him off. We trusted him. And damn, it feels good.”
It is a feeling that will endure at least until Friday, Oct. 24, when the Blue Jays welcome the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to Rogers Centre for their first Fall Classic appearance since Joe Carter touched ‘em all and completed back-to-back titles in 1992 and ’93.
Oh, the Dodgers know Springer.
He bombarded them in the 2017 World Series, hitting five home runs – including two in a crazy Game 2 win at Dodger Stadium – and banging out 11 hits to win MVP honors.
Yet that seems like a baseball lifetime ago. Springer’s good name was sullied when those Astros champions’ sign-stealing scheme was unearthed. Springer and Co. were booed mercilessly at every road stop, even as they dispersed to different teams.
Fans’ memories are long. Yet Springer’s October greatness has outlasted them all.
So long that Blue Jays postseason hero Trey Yesavage was an eighth-grader when Springer won World Series MVP honors.
Now, Yesavage is the Blue Jays’ No. 2 playoff starter who counts Springer as both teammate and inspiration.
“I’ve learned to never give up,” says Yesavage. “People hate him, people cheer when he gets hurt, he’s been banged up, able to come out here and do everything for this team.
“He’s a special player and I’m so blessed to be his teammate.”
Doing it for the culture
In a sense, he has been the glue that fuses these Blue Jays together. Legacy superstars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – the ALCS MVP – and Bo Bichette were seen as the cornerstones of the club when they debuted in 2019.
Yet it wasn’t until Springer signed a six-year, $150 million contract before the 2021 season that the Blue Jays truly began to cook. They made the playoffs in ’22 and ’23 but missed them in ’24 as Springer had the worst season of his career.
And then what?
He bounced back with 32 home runs and a .959 OPS.
After Game 7, three generations of Springers were bouncing about the Rogers Centre turf. Springer’s children are four and two years old now, seasoned enough to appreciate their dad is doing something special.
This home run came three days after he took a 95-mph pitch off the knee, driving him from Game 5 early. He was back for Game 6 but looked greatly compromised and in pain in his fifth plate appearance.
In Game 7, he walked and scored a run in the first but then bounced to third and struck out. The Mariners seized a 3-1 lead. The Mariners’ win probability looked as likely as January snow in Ontario.
Yet the Mariners cracked the door open with questionable managerial solutions and there was Springer, second and third, one out, seventh inning, down 3-1.
In the Blue Jays dugout, manager John Schneider and hitting coach David Popkins engaged in their usual rally ritual – Schneider would take a seat, rather than hang on the rail, a practice that goes back to Opening Day and continued as the Blue Jays posted the most comeback wins in the majors.
“I was sitting next to Pop and he said, ‘It’s really good we have a lot of practice at this.’”
In the clubhouse, Kevin Gausman was done with his one-inning relief stint when a teammate looked at the TV and said, ‘Here’s your moment, George.”
And then, history. Again.
‘Had to get myself in check’
Springer swung and sent the ball on a high arc to left field. Rogers Centre rumbled, and the ball sailed over left fielder Randy Arozarena’s head. In the bullpen, Hoffman was milling about, assuming that if he’d get in the game, it’d be in a losing situation.
And the ball traveled right over his head, into the first row of seats.
Above the playing surface, Springer’s father, George Springer Jr., had to sprint up the aisle and out of the seating bowl to get his breathing right.
“I had to take a moment and leave and go up to the concourse and get myself in check,” he says. “Because I was very emotional to see that happen and understand in that moment what it meant.
“You never get used to this. It’s nuts. It’s wild. It’s incredible. He’s 36 years old. A lot of players at this stage of their careers are done playing. Not only is he playing, he had the best regular season of his entire career.
“Now he has the opportunity in the postseason to experience this once again? I’m just so happy for him. He’s so deserving of this honor.
“And that’s what it is: A privilege and an honor.”
It was the first Game 7 go-ahead homer when a team was trailing by multiple runs, according to Major League Baseball. Schneider saw it was a mismatch.
“Georgie has an uncanny ability to navigate situations that not many people have been in,” he says, “to slow down the moment and understand. I think when there’s a guy that hasn’t been in that situation going up against a guy that has been, I’m always gonna take the over on the guy that has been there.
“I’ve heard Georgie articulate how he navigates at-bats and can back guys into corners based on what he swings at and what he doesn’t. Pretty cool.”
And now, Springer has a chance at a second World Series title. He’ll bring with him an .883 career postseason OPS and a knack for showing his teammates the way.
“He’s showing it again now, in a different city, a different market, and he’s the same guy,” says Hoffman. “To me, it tells me he’s one of the best to do it in the postseason all time.
“And I’m glad he’s on our side.”
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