George Springer has been here before, done this before. That doesn’t mean he has to act like it.

“If he hits a home run, he’s going to be coming around this and his eyes are just as wide as they were when he was in Little League, when he was at Avon Old Farms, or when he was hitting them in Storrs,” UConn baseball coach Jim Penders was saying Monday morning. “It’s like he looks surprised. But he’s just really exuberant and fun and people are drawn to him.”

In 12 big league seasons, Springer has gone from wide-eyed rookie, to wizened, grizzled — and wide-eyed — veteran, the perfect presence to keep the young, dynamic Toronto Blue Jays, who won the AL East and now lead the Yankees  2-0 in the AL Division Series, on the rails. They have three chances to eliminate the Yankees and advance, beginning Tuesday night in New York.

Springer, from New Britain, who played at Avon Old Farms and UConn, has 293 home runs in the majors, but on point here, his solo shot Sunday was his 20th in postseason play, tying Derek Jeter for fifth in baseball history. The Jays gave him $150 million over six years in 2021 to bring his October magic to Canada and, if it’s taken a while, it’s working right now.

Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Why CT recruit picked Razorbacks; Rivalry redux, lousy UConn TV deal, more

“(I’m in) the ‘old guy’ role,” Springer told reporters in Toronto before the series. “Just try to do as much as I can to help anybody who has a question or wants to know something. At the end of the day, man, it’s the same game. Just go play, enjoy the moment. I don’t think the moment gets lost on anybody, but just go have fun.”

For a few years, Springer’s age and injuries called into question whether the Blue Jays had invested too many years, dollars, in postseason intangibles, and his name came up in trade talk last winter. In 2025, Springer turned back the clock to match his exuberance, his best season since 2019 in Houston. He hit .309, some 43 points above his career average and 89 points higher than 2024, a .399 on-base percentage, 27 doubles, 32 homers and 84 RBI in 140 games, with 18 steals in 19 tries.

Springer buried the Yankees during a four-game sweep in Toronto in July, and hit .348 with four homers and 12 RBI in 13 games against them during the season. He piled on a homer, Toronto’s fifth of Game 2, with his solo shot.

“I don’t take this for granted,” Springer says. “I didn’t back (in Houston), and I won’t now. I think the few times we haven’t been in this position, you learn how hard it is to do and how much fun it is to do. You want to be a part of this moment, and you kind of yearn for that all year. When you’re not a part of it, you kind of watch the other teams celebrate or watch the other teams play, and you’re like, ‘man, I really want to be there and enjoy that.’ To do it with this group of guys who has really stuck together since spring training, it’s special.”

The Astros took Springer with the 11th pick in the MLB Draft in 2011, on the very night he was leading the Huskies to a landmark win in school history, a victory at Clemson to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. He hit 44 home runs during his career at UConn.

Once in the majors, he was one of the young core Houston assembled to take them from 100 losses to the top, and they made it in 2017. Springer, the World Series MVP, hitting .379 with five homers.

Dom Amore: Jim Mora has uplifted UConn football. His players returned the favor after his 100th win

As part of that young core, Springer had to wear the controversy of a sign-stealing scandal in 2020, which for some called all the teams achievements into question. But as the players and coaches have since scattered, from manager A.J. Hinch in Detroit, to  coach Alex Cora in Boston, to players Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and Springer have, to one degree or another, continued to produce and healed their reputations. Springer, like Bregman in the recent Boston series, will hear a few residual boos in Yankee Stadium this week.

But Springer, a four-time All-Star, has pushed his career wins-above-replacement (WAR, for those who celebrate) to 42.3. His Whalers batting gloves are going to the hockey Hall of Fame when this season is over; another big postseason and couple of more regular seasons like this, and Cooperstown plateaus will be in reach for Springer.

Penders, for one, doubts this rejuvenated Springer is playing to prove anything, regarding the past or future. And if he were, it would be hard to tell.

“He’s just always really, really consistent with his energy,” Penders says. “I used to call him ‘Peter Pan’ because he is in the one profession where you really don’t have to grow up. But he would be great at anything that requires all-out energy all the time.”

Like the Astros during Springer’s years there, the Jays’ stars have shown up and played loose, particularly the resident superstar, Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who was 6-for-10 with two homers and six RBI in two games at Toronto. That’s something the team in the other dugout Tuesday would love to be able to say, if you get the drift.

Springer has always had an ability to connect with teammates across language, age, cultural barriers and he has played a large part on tightly-knitting this Jays team. “His boyishness makes him approachable,” Penders says, “but his resume should make him an authority in that clubhouse.”

Daulton Varsho, who had two doubles and two homers in Game 2, has picked up on Springer’s admonitions to “flush” a game, good or bad, once it’s over.

It helped Springer break out of a slump during the 2017 postseason, and it came in handy when the Jays looked to be running on fumes in the last week of the season, but rebounded to win their final four games, needing all of them to hold off the Yankees and earn the first-round bye, which right now looks like a big deal.

“I just kind of lean into the fact that every day is a new day,” Springer says. “Whether I get the job done or not, hopefully there’s another moment to kind of dive into the next day. So I’ve got to be able to be clearheaded and ready to roll.”

UConn’s George Springer returns to Avon Old Farms, talks World Series pressure

Since signing with the Jays, Springer has strengthened his Connecticut roots, buying a home in the Hartford area. He frequently stops by UConn with his young children to watch Penders’ practice, or will come to a game if they are playing nearby, such as in Florida during spring training. Springer delivers a familiar message in Storrs, similar to one he has delivered by example in Toronto.

“‘Have fun, the game is fun,’ he just constantly says that,” Penders says. “It’s a great message. When you play your best is when you’re having the most fun. … He’s like a kid again, he’s just having so much fun. He’s just so bright-eyed and exuberant in anything he does, and it’s contagious. I think his teammates adopt that, too.”