{"id":418614,"date":"2026-01-19T03:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T03:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/418614\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T03:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T03:47:08","slug":"how-canada-used-americas-pastime-to-push-back-against-washington-mir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/418614\/","title":{"rendered":"How Canada Used America\u2019s Pastime to Push Back Against Washington \u2013 MIR"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past October, the Fall Classic found <\/a>its way back to the Rogers Centre, where the Toronto Blue Jays played in their first World Series in 32 years, against the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n

It was a heroic 2025 season that\u00a0few fans\u00a0expected<\/a>.\u00a0The Blue Jays came last in their division in the 2024 season, no free agents wanted to sign with Toronto, and their franchise star, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.,\u00a0was\u00a0<\/a>seemingly on his way out.\u00a0And yet, the team bounced back by stunning the baseball world with a division title in 2025, then beating <\/a>the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners in the playoffs en route to the World Series.<\/p>\n

For many Canadians, the return of playoff baseball to Toronto could not have come <\/a>at a more fitting time: the success of the Blue Jays was an assertion of national pride and a rebuke against growing anti-Canadian sentiment from its southern neighbours.<\/p>\n

In the wake of repeated tariff threats from Washington and US President Donald Trump\u2019s comments about turning Canada into the 51st state, meetings between Canadian and American sports teams have reached <\/a>a new level of competitiveness. In February 2025, the Star-Spangled Banner was booed <\/a>in Montreal ahead of the Four Nations ice hockey tournament. Following Canada\u2019s thrilling overtime win<\/a>\u00a0in the finals, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took<\/a>\u00a0to X, writing, \u201cYou can\u2019t take our country\u2014and you can\u2019t take our game,\u201d a quip responding to Trump\u2019s repeated comments attacking Canadian sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\"\"Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid after scoring the game-winning goal in the finals of the Four Nations Tournament. \u201cConnor McDavid Game-Winning Goal\u201d<\/a> by Brian Fluharty<\/a> is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a sentiment that many Canadians carried into their support for the Toronto Blue Jays. This team was special for Canada because, while there are seven Canadian hockey teams in the National Hockey League, there is only one Canadian baseball team\u00a0in Major League Baseball. From coast to coast to coast, Canadians began rallying <\/a>behind the Blue Jays; the team brought on a renewed sense of unity, even among provinces normally divided on political lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go from as far east as Nova Scotia and as far west as Vancouver, and it was all about the Blue Jays. It was all about Canada,\u201d former Blue Jays hero Joe Carter commented <\/a>on the widespreadness of Blue Jays support across the country.<\/p>\n

Even people living in parts of the country that traditionally have a bitter disdain for Toronto and its overarching dominance in Canadian politics and culture couldn\u2019t resist\u00a0jumping<\/a>\u00a0on the Blue Jays bandwagon in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty rare to meet an Albertan who\u2019d ever root for a team from Toronto, but uncharacteristically, almost every fan I know was cheering for the Blue Jays this year. Even though lots of people from Western Canada can\u2019t stand Toronto, everyone still came together to back Canada\u2019s team,\u201d Sophia Beach, a resident of Camrose, Alberta, told The McGill International Review, reflecting on Albertan sports loyalties during the Blue Jays\u2019 playoff run.<\/p>\n

And by the start of the World Series back in Toronto in late October, Blue Jays fever had fully engulfed <\/a>the city. Anything anyone could ever talk about was the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a unique feeling because the energy stretched across Toronto. When I was taking the train downtown, everyone was talking about the game, and walking around before the game, I could feel the buzz everywhere,\u201d Joshua Wttewaall told The McGill International Review, describing his experience before attending Game Seven of the World Series at the Rogers Centre.<\/p>\n

But even amid all the passion Canadian sports fans had shown for the Jays, the sourness of Canada-US relations underscored the entire series. During the broadcast of Game One of the World Series, Ontario Premier Doug Ford aired<\/a> an anti-tariff ad featuring audio excerpts from a speech delivered <\/a>by former US President Ronald Reagan, despite Prime Minister Carney\u2019s disapproval:<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the long run, such [trade] barriers will only hurt American workers and consumers. [\u2026] Throughout the world, there\u2019s a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting free and fair competition,\u201d Reagan warned<\/a> in a 1987 speech, excerpts of which were featured in Ford\u2019s advertisement.<\/p>\n

On live television, the advertisement\u00a0reached\u00a0<\/a>millions of Americans from coast to coast, including US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra and President Donald Trump. Trump promptly cancelled <\/a>all trade talks with Ottawa following the advertisement\u2019s airing, and Ambassador Hoekstra went <\/a>on an \u201cexpletive-laced tirade\u201d against Ontario\u2019s trade representative.<\/p>\n

As Canada-US tensions began to flare up again, the Blue Jays lost <\/a>two back-to-back games at home in Toronto, losing <\/a>to the Dodgers in the 11th inning of Game Seven 5-4, despite having the lead for the first ten innings.<\/p>\n

It was an outcome no one in Canada wanted.<\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid reflected on the Blue Jays\u2019 magical 2025 season and\u00a0commented<\/a>: \u201cThey\u2019ve given Canada a lot to cheer about, and they should be very, very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette, visibly emotional, spoke <\/a>\u00a0to reporters saying: \u201cI wished we could have won it together. I wish we could\u2019ve shared that moment together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith hitting the go-ahead home run in Game 7. \u201cWill Smith of the Dodgers hitting the game-winning home run in the 11th inning.\u201d<\/a> by Kevin Sousa<\/a> is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, for years to come, Canadians will reminisce<\/a>\u00a0about the 2025 Blue Jays with fondness. A team that managed to capture lightning in a bottle and unite a country when political turmoil had threatened its unity most.<\/p>\n

As Canwood resident Ryan Peekeekoot puts<\/a> it: \u201cthe world is so divided\u2014it\u2019s times like these that really bring everyone together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though the 2025 Blue Jays never got to lift the World Series trophy, they still won over the hearts of millions of Canadians. Perhaps that in itself is a victory more sweet and enduring than a championship could ever be.<\/p>\n

Edited by Aubrey Nan\u00a0<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Rogers Centre during Game 2 of the 2025 World Series viewed from above. \u201cRogers Centre<\/a>\u201d by Arlyn McAdorey<\/a> is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This past October, the Fall Classic found its way back to the Rogers Centre, where the Toronto Blue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-418614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}