NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Wanting to cap Toronto\u2019s season with a title, Jeff Hoffman suggested changing hats.<\/p>\n
Six losses in seven games had dropped the Blue Jays into a tie with the New York Yankees for the AL East lead. That prompted the 32-year-old reliever to send Scott Blinn, Toronto\u2019s director of major league clubhouse operations, scrambling to find those retro caps with white panels in the style the Blue Jays wore when they won the 1992 World Series.<\/p>\n
Toronto is 5-0 in the historical headgear over the past two weeks as it takes a 2-0 lead into Tuesday night\u2019s Game 3 of the best-of-five AL Division Series against the Yankees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t pack another hat,\u201d manager John Schneider said with a smile Monday.<\/p>\n
Following a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox<\/a> at Rogers Centre on Sept. 24, Hoffman suggested to Binn a switch to the 1992 headgear, which was used during Major League Baseball\u2019s Hall of Fame weekend promotion from July 25-27 \u2014 not because he\u2019s superstitious, but because he liked the look. Wearing the white panels, the Blue Jays had taken two of three at Detroit to finish a four-game series.<\/p>\n \u201c`We need a new combo. What should we wear?\u2019\u201d Hoffman said, recounting the player discussion. \u201cAnd I said, `I know what we should wear. We should wear the blues, the blue jerseys with the white-panel hat.\u2019 And they all kind of like perked up because they didn\u2019t know I knew about them.\u201d<\/p>\n Blinn found the caps in a Rogers Centre storage room. Toronto beat Boston 6-1<\/a> on Sept. 25, wearing blue alternate jerseys and the white-panel chapeaus. The next night, a Friday, the Blue Jays were required to wear Nike Connect uniforms topped by pitch-blue caps, suggested by Lake Ontario at night. They beat Tampa Bay 4-2<\/a> to remain tied with the Yankees.<\/p>\n On most days, players get to decide which uniforms to wear. Given that option for the final weekend of the regular season, the Jays stuck with the blue jerseys and white-panel hats. They closed with 5-1<\/a> and 13-4<\/a> wins over the Rays to win the division on a tiebreaker over New York.<\/p>\n Toronto finished the season 58-45 in blue caps, 20-17 in the two-tone hats with powder blue visors and navy crowns that were launched with the return of powder blue alternate jerseys in 2020, 8-3 in Nike Connect games and 5-1 in the white-panel throwbacks. They were also 1-2 in Armed Forces caps with beige camouflage crowns and olive visors from May 16-18, 1-0 in red for Canada Day on July 1 and 1-0 in light blue crowns and red visors for July 4.<\/p>\n The Blue Jays stayed with the white-panel caps and blue jerseys in the first two games of the Division Series, romping over the Yankees 10-1<\/a> and 13-7<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI just wear what\u2019s in my locker. I just will wear what we\u2019re told to wear,\u201d four-time All-Star outfielder George Springer said, spurning superstitions.<\/p>\n Toronto wore caps with white panels for all games from its inception in 1977 through 1990 \u2014 with white jerseys at home \u2014 then switched to all blue caps for road games in 1991. The Blue Jays dropped the white panel at home on July 6, 1991, in the midst of a five-game losing streak, going with all blue, and beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 5-1 behind six shutout innings from Dave Stewart. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure what the blue caps were all about,\u201d Stewart said after the game, his 150th career victory. \u201cBut we won, so maybe we\u2019ll wear them again.\u201d<\/p>\n Blue Jays equipment manager Jeff Ross thought of the change \u201cjust to see how it looks with the white uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt had nothing to do with the losing streak,\u201d Ross said at the time. \u201cWe\u2019d been doing so well at home so I didn\u2019t want to do it while we were going well. This was the time to do it. It looks great after a win.\u201d <\/p>\n Toronto went on to win its second straight World Series title in 1993, and the all-blue caps remained for most games. The Blue Jays brought back the white panels on Aug. 16, 2015<\/a>, for a \u201cTurn Back the Dial\u201d promotion honoring the 30th anniversary of the team\u2019s first AL East title, and beat the Yankees 3-1. Toronto then used the white panels at least once per season and as many as 27 times in 2018 and 24 the following year, according to uniformlineup.com, but then decreased its frequency.<\/p>\n The team hadn\u2019t worn them since Aug. 27, 2022, before they returned this year for MLB\u2019s Hall of Fame weekend promotion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing well since we\u2019ve been wearing them, which is hard for my argument of, hey, it doesn\u2019t matter what hat we\u2019re wearing guys, like, we just need to play good,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n And even Springer\u2019s disdain for superstition only goes so far. For instance, he won\u2019t think of stepping on a foul line.<\/p>\n \u201cThat,\u201d he said, \u201cwould be crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n