By\u00a0Sharif Hassan\u00a0in Toronto<\/p>\n
Mike Chisholm had a pager with him when he came to watch the Toronto Blue Jays play against Philadelphia in the World Series in 1993.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His wife was nine months pregnant, so he needed to check in every half-hour to make sure she was OK.\u00a0<\/p>\n
VIDEO: Blue Jays and Dodgers fans travel to Toronto for World Series<\/p>\n
He said he was called home during the fourth inning of Game 2. His daughter was born that night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thirty-two years later, daughter and father were at Rogers Centre to watch the Blue Jays play against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we are here today, to celebrate that,\u201d Chisholm, 62, said on Friday. \u201cSo, she\u2019s here with me to watch the World Series game tonight, so her first World Series, my third one.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a huge fan. She keeps score, we went to about a dozen games this year. This is our thing. This is what we do. We like going to ball games.\u201d<\/p>\n
1992 World Series brings joy<\/p>\n
The Blue Jays\u2019 1992 World Series win brought a kind of joy to the fans that they had never seen before, Chisholm said.<\/p>\n
However, he said, the \u201993 win was more fun because of Joe Carter\u2019s famous home run in Game 6 to clinch the championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen a stadium so loud in my whole life,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Blue Jays back in the World Series this year, a generation of Canadians who witnessed the team\u2019s glory days say the Jays\u2019 current playoff run has brought back memories of the two championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blue Jays fan Lenny Bruce said he was also at the stadium in 1993, and remembers paying only $58 to watch Game 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was ecstatic, that\u2019s all I can tell you,\u201d he said of the World Series win that year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Single-game tickets for this year\u2019s World Series went on sale Tuesday and sold out in about an hour. As of Thursday, the cheapest Game 1 resale ticket for general admission was more than $1,000 on Ticketmaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given the high prices this time, Bruce said he will attend watch parties at Nathan Phillips Square and also Rogers Centre when the Jays are playing in Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though the Dodgers are considered the favourites, he said he believes the Jays have what it takes to win the title for a third time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really different team, much more power-oriented and so forth like all of baseball is,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey actually got a chemistry, they\u2019re a team, they work together, they\u2019ve got the great defence, so I think they\u2019ve that certain intangible factor and they could upset the mighty Dodgers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Two best teams left standing\u2019<\/p>\n
Among those at Rogers Centre on Friday for Game 1 was Drake.<\/p>\n
The Toronto rapper was seen at the game wearing a Don Bosco Eagles letterman jacket with Rob Ford\u2019s name embroidered on it. The former Toronto mayor coached football at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monday night saw Toronto clinch a World Series berth in a nail-biter Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A go-ahead three-run homer by George Springer led the Jays to a 4-3 win, securing Toronto\u2019s matchup against the defending champion Dodgers in the Fall Classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a press conference Thursday, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he sees the series as being between the \u201ctwo best teams left standing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a reason we\u2019re here, and there\u2019s a reason they\u2019re there,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cI got all the confidence in the world in my guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Turcan, who came to Rogers Centre with his father and son, said he also believes in the Blue Jays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we got a better depth in our team \u2026 in the lineup now than we ever had,\u201d he said outside Rogers Centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turcan said he wasn\u2019t at the stadium when the Jays won their two titles, but he watched on TV.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1993, Joe Carter\u2019s home run was the epitome of baseball for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI was still playing in those days and it was a lot of fun, so I\u2019ll never forget \u201992 and \u201993. It was awesome.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Turcan says Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Dodgers superstar, is a \u201cgame-changer\u201d and a \u201cmajor threat.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think our pitching staff are going to shut him down, I hope,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turcan said his love for the Jays will never diminish even if the Dodgers win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they lose, we\u2019re going to be disappointed, but they\u2019re still Canada\u2019s team and we\u2019re still going to support them no matter what,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re in our hearts forever.<\/p>\n
\u2013With files from Cassidy McMackon and Rianna Lim<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
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