How the Blue Jays overcame ‘apprehension’ on wild ride back to World Series

TORONTO – On the day the World Series returns to Toronto for the first time since Joe Carter touched them all Oct. 23, 1993, it’s a good time to look back at the vibe around the Blue Jays on opening day, before we dig into how they ended up in the Fall Classic.

Back on March 27, prior to a 12-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, we wrote how even club president and CEO Mark Shapiro described this year as “an inflection point,” and why that necessitated some compartmentalization between the “legitimate potential for a successful 2025,” and the “apprehension about 2026 and beyond.”

Driving that apprehension, first and foremost, were the uncertain long-term futures of cornerstones Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose to that point unsuccessful negotiations on a contract extension had hung over an other