After Will Smith’s home run and the World Series-clinching double play silenced all of Canada, Bo Bichette walked behind Don Mattingly, Donnie Baseball, in the Blue Jays dugout and held on to the long-time major-leaguer.
Not looking like he wanted to let go.
Probably knowing that this was Mattingly’s last day as a Blue Jay. Maybe knowing, in his own mind, that this was his last day, as well.
Two days later, Mattingly made it official. He called this Blue Jays team his favourite he was ever around. He called it the closest team he’d ever seen and, like others, the most special.
Then, without explanation really, he was gone in a flash, his call apparently, gone as bench coach for John Schneider. Not retiring from baseball, just time to move on from the Jays. A confusing departure from a heartbreaking World Series ending.
Bichette told everyone who would listen that he wants to stay a Blue Jay as free agency approaches. He wants to continue his World Series quest with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He said that publicly while quietly telling some people he wouldn’t mind playing in New York in the future. The immediate future.
So, maybe he stays. Or, maybe he doesn’t. Or, maybe he already knows where he wants to be. The Blue Jays are taking the soft approach here. They’re letting Bichette walk to free agency. They are, in their words, respecting the free agency he has earned over time.
That’s wonderful of them. But being wonderful should never be part of free agency. If they want Bichette and he wants them, sign him now. To play polite footsie with him over the coming months is foolhardy.
But I couldn’t help but wonder, watching Bichette and Mattingly, the last two standing in the dugout on the last night of this spectacular season, if this was it for both of them.
We know Mattingly is moving on. With Bichette, we wait for an answer.
Hoffman was brilliant in playoffs, until …
There is strong sentiment for Mattingly getting elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame next month as one of eight candidates on the Contemporary Era ballot. Among those he is up against is former Jays slugger Carlos Delgado, whose offensive statistics trump most of Mattingly’s. Delgado’s average season was 38 home runs a season, 120 RBIs and an OPS of .929. Mattingly’s average was 20 homers, 100 RBIs, and a .830 OPS … This will be the second time Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will be candidates for the December calling. The previous time they were eligible, they didn’t get enough of the 16 votes. You need 12 to be elected. They each got less than four … Also eligible: Gary Sheffield, ex-Jay Jeff Kent, two-time MVP Dale Murphy and Fernando Valenzuela. It’s an indication of how difficult it is to get elected to Cooperstown when talent such as this has previously been overlooked … So, I can’t get this out of my mind: How often do you see a base-runner slide into first base? Like, almost never. So why, with the bases loaded and pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa on third base, did he slide on a force play at home, rather than run through the base? If he does that and scores, the Jays win the World Series … Before Game 7 of the World Series, Jeff Hoffman made nine post-season relief appearances, pitched 11 innings, struck out 16, gave up one earned run and no home runs, with an ERA of 0.81. That’s great pitching. Giving up a ninth-inning home run is understandable. Giving one up to regular backup Miguel Rojas is not … Mitch Williams served up the famous Joe Carter homer in 1993. He had 40 saves that year with the Phillies, but never pitched for Philadelphia again after the Carter shot … Funny to hear Jays president Mark Shapiro bragging about the drafting and development of Bichette in Toronto. Shapiro and Ross Atkins had to be talked into drafting Bichette when they had a rule against drafting high-school players. Two months after the Jays drafted Bichette, they fired the scout who pushed hard to select him … A possible World Series-changing decision: Manager Dave Roberts inserting Andy Pages into centre field for defensive purposes in the ninth inning of Game 7. Pages made an awkward but spectacular catch off an Ernie Clement drive that easily could have ended the series in Toronto’s favour.
Team Canada forward corps may look much different at Olympics
General manager Doug Armstrong has no shortage of difficult decisions to make as the Team Canada Olympics roster must be finalized by late-December. In fact, this season has made the job a whole lot more complicated. Youngsters Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard are playing their way on to Team Canada. But at whose expense? Nick Suzuki, Mark Scheifele, Tom Wilson and John Tavares have played well enough for consideration and better than returnees Sam Bennett, Brayden Point, Seth Jarvis and Travis Konecny in the first month of the season. There could easily be five forward changes from the 4 Nations team if Armstrong wants to go to that extent. There will be some pushback, though, from coach Jon Cooper, who has his guys — Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel — as holdovers … One factor in whether Celebrini gets chosen for Team Canada: He played with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon at the world championships. No doubt they will be asked — if they haven’t already — for their thoughts on Celebrini who, as of Saturday afternoon, was one point ahead of Bedard in NHL scoring. Celebrini is 19 years old. Bedard is 20. Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby won NHL scoring titles at the age of 19 … I don’t care what Canadian assistant coach Bruce Cassidy thinks of Logan Thompson, which apparently isn’t much. Thompson has to be on Team Canada. He’s clearly the best Canadian goalie in the NHL … The Maple Leafs have the worst power-play goal differential in hockey. They have two goals scored, putting them 16 behind the Minnesota Wild. Marc Savard coaches the structurally inept Leafs power play, which can’t adequately enter the offensive zone. The Leafs also draw the second fewest penalties in the NHL, which is an indictment of their 5-on-5 play … I came across this accidentally the other day: The top three picks in the NHL expansion draft of 1967 were 1. Terry Sawchuk; 2. Bernie Parent and 3. Glenn Hall. Three of the greatest goaltenders of all time … Worth taking in, the Joe Bowen Roast at Angus Glen Golf Club this coming Friday night.
Blue Jays’ rotation is looking rather potent for 2026
What a nice bonus it was to have Shane Bieber choose the Blue Jays for next season, and maybe betting on himself for future contracts of significant worth. Bieber made 11 starts with the Jays after being acquired from Cleveland. Seven of them were close to great with an ERA of 2.45. If the Jays get anything close to that next season, it will exceed expectations … The Bieber money paid next season will essentially be the Max Scherzer money paid from 2025 … With Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Bieber at the top of the rotation, and Jose Berrios somewhere to be found, the Jays already have a starting rotation with some force for next season … What they may not have is much of a bullpen. And the problem with any bullpen is, what it looks like in the winter, what it looks during the season and what it looks like at season’s end are usually three different things. You can’t predict what any bullpen will be … If the Jays don’t re-sign Bichette, they’re going to need a bat in the middle of their lineup. And you have to figure Anthony Santander can’t possibly be as terrible or injured as he was this past season. He should be a bat of consequence. But the Jays need either a third baseman or a second baseman who can hit to take the place of Bichette … This still doesn’t sound right, but is worth celebrating: Clement had the most post-season hits in playoff baseball history. The most. Ernie Clement. And one more would have resulted in a World Series victory …When the Jays made the ALCS in 2015, they did so much extra business in merchandise and other sales that they made $60 million that wasn’t budgeted for. This year, making the World Series, the estimates are that that number is close to $100 million. And that should make for a handsome payroll from chairman Edward Rogers, who was already a top-five spender in baseball … From the time Shohei Ohtani was on base nine times in the crazy 18-inning Game 3 of the World Series, after hitting two homers and two doubles that night, he wound up going 3-for-15 with no homers and no RBIs the rest of the way. For that reason alone, the Jays should have been champions … It’s hard to do this, but the New York Rangers have played six home games and scored all of six goals in those games … What makes this Raptors team different from any in the past? They have three 20-point-a-game scorers in their starting lineup — Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes. Even the championship team of 2019 had Kawhi Leonard at about 26 a game and nobody within 10 points of him … Ty France won a Gold Glove. Can anyone explain why? … For many reasons, I look forward to the next baseball season. But I really want to see what Yoshinobu Yamamoto does for an encore. Like, what can he do?
Bill Lankhof quiet, effective and dignified
You may not necessarily know Bill Lankhof’s name because he did his job quietly, effectively and with dignity and with absolutely no ego at all in his years covering sports for the Toronto Sun. He was never the loudest screamer in the room, rarely heard from on radio or television. He just happens to be one of the best sports writers I’ve worked alongside at the Sun. He was a wordsmith, a storyteller, skilled whether crafting about the Maple Leafs, the Blue Jays or auto racing, one of his favourite subjects. Bill lost his battle with the dreadful disease ALS this week. Condolences to his family and friends and those of us fortunate enough to have worked with him.
Ryan Dinwiddie will be tough to replace for Argos
Ryan Dinwiddie never had the profile he should have had as Argonauts head coach. He won two Grey Cups in five years. In between those wins, he coached the best Argos regular season in history. Had the Argos been of higher profile or more prominent in the mainstream, he would have been a figure for the ages. He leaves now for the Ottawa Redblacks. And replacing him, even with someone as storied as Mike O’Shea, will be challenging … Three of the final four coaches in the CFL are former league quarterbacks. The other is a former defensive lineman … The Maple Leafs spent a minute or two considering the disgraced Joel Quenneville as a candidate to be head coach before they wound up hiring Craig Berube. Now, in Quenneville’s first season with the Ducks in Anaheim, the club is 9-3-1 with the best goal differential in hockey. This coming after the Ducks missed the playoffs the past seven seasons … When, in time, did an opinion become a hot take? … I’ve screamed about this before so I’ll scream about it again: Why schedule NHL games on the night of the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions? It’s a Monday. Take the night off. Celebrate those worth celebrating. Instead, Matthew Schaefer, Jack Hughes, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart, Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel are playing while Zdeno Chara is making a heartfelt speech … Another East Carolina alumni to go alongside Yesavage, Hoffman, Vince McMahon and Sandra Bullock: Legendary CFL linebacker Dan Kepley … So, who gets more grief during Grey Cup Week in Winnipeg, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston or TSN’s Luke Willson? And for the record, I hate not going to the Grey Cup … Where would the Colorado Avalanche be without Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar? Where would the Maple Leafs be without Auston Matthews and William Nylander? Or, the Winnipeg Jets without Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck? The Florida Panthers have played every game this season without Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, their two best players. You take the two best players off most teams and what’s left? Florida is hanging in at 7-6-1. Few other teams could do what they’re doing … Happy birthday to Todd Gill (60), Keith Jones (57), Bill Guerin (55), Bob Neely (72), Mary Hart (75), Gaetan Hart (72), Chris Jericho (55), Giancarlo Stanton (36) and Lou Ferrigno (74) … And hey whatever became of Nelson Liriano?
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