A World Series Worth Remembering

Thirty-two years ago, I was a fifteen-year standing a restaurant bar in Oshawa Ontario named Harry Keesters. It was the World Series, and the Blue Jays were battling with the Phillies. The Blue Jays were trying to win a second Championship in a row, which is not easy to accomplish. My brother and I stood with a few hundred other fans, standing on a floor covered in peanut shells. The restaurant was known for allowing the shells to be thrown on the floor, because it helps soak up all the spilled drinks.

The memory of that night has been in my mind as this year's World Series played out. I watched all seven games of this year's Championship series, including all eighteen innings of game three. The emotions and excitement took me back to the same emotions and excitement I had thirty-two years ago. This year's World Series may go down as one of the greatest of all time. Some said it was David versus Goliath, but it proved to be separated at times by a matter of inches. As a Jays fan some of those inches were frustrating and heartbreaking, but that is how sports can be. We don't always get the outcomes that we want.

One thing that truly stood out to me was the bond between the players on the Jays. When you look at how they supported each other even after the game seven loss, showed something you don't see often on professional teams. Even Max Scherzer stated how his love for the game at age 41 was refreshed. He loved playing for the guys in the club house. The energy of the fans in the stadium and across Canada built off of that. So many historic moments and records broken, and for the series to be decided again in extra innings was fitting. Am I heartbroken over the result? Yes, I am, because it doesn't match what I felt thirty-two years ago. As I say that, I am not sad or feel regret for investing in watching all of it. It again created memories and a love for the team I grew up with, much like the bond between the players, my bond with the team feels restored after so many years.

I grew up going to Exhibition Stadium with my grandparents buying cheap outfield tickets from the Dominion grocery store. At age 47 I live outside of Atlanta Georgia and still feel close to the Jays, and what used to be called the Skydome. Thirty-two years ago, in Harry Keesters I watched Joe Carter hit the walk off home run to win the World Series. This year didn't end that way, but new memories are built. I will probably always remember the baseball wedging itself under the wall pad in game six. I will also remember watching Bo Bichette hit a three-run home run and watch it fly with a confidence that matched the Bautista bat flip of years ago. Today I don't dwell on the outcome, I focus on the amazing memories it created. I suddenly look forward to next season.