November 4, 2025 • 40 mins
Misery and magic go hand in hand.
And never has that been more true than on Saturday, when Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the World Series to the dynastic LA Dodgers. On today’s episode of The GIST of It, resident Canadians and co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz share what it was like to experience a deep Jays playoff run, explaining how MLB’s lone international team captured the heart and soul of a nation. Pass the tissues.
Show notes:
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
And never has that been more true than on Saturday, when Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the World Series to the dynastic LA Dodgers. On today’s episode of The GIST of It, resident Canadians and co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz share what it was like to experience a deep Jays playoff run, explaining how MLB’s lone international team captured the heart and soul of a nation. Pass the tissues.
Show notes:
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's up, y'all? Welcome or welcome back to another episode
of The Gist of It. Today is Tuesday, November fourth,
and we are your Heartbroken co hosts. I'm Ellen Hyslop
and I'm Steph Rotts, and it's been heartbreak hotel over
here ever since the Toronto Blue Jays lost five to
four and extra innings in Game seven to the LA Dodgers,
(00:30):
who congratulations to them. They won back to back world series,
which is exceptionally hard to do and hasn't been done
in over two decades. So hats off to the LA Dodgers.
But it's been sad over here, Steph.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, I was thinking about you this past weekend. I mean,
as I often am, but I was thinking about how
you are so good at removing emotion when you talk
about sports, too, in the sense of because you have
to talk about and you do talk about in great detail,
so many different leagues and so many different teams, and
(01:05):
I feel like you talk about them with such clear eyes,
and I have been unable to do that when it
comes to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
You know what, Seph, I will say, the Toronto Blue
Jays has been a really hard one for me too,
trap my head around, and I think it's because being
that close and then having something ripped away from you,
it almost feels like, is so hard. And being such
a fan of something and loving something so much only
(01:35):
to not see it come to fruition and have your
fairy tale ending is so hard. But I do really
appreciate that. I feel like that's the balance of a libra,
you know what I mean when it's like, yes, this
is true as a fan, but also the thing about
sports and why we love them, but also why they're
so cruel is that they're ultimately always has to be
a winner, and so there can only be one and
(01:59):
sometimes that's just not the way that the cookie crumbles
in your way, and actually ninety nine percent of the
time it's not going to crumble your way, And so
I feel like it's a good life lesson almost two.
But I know that you're going through it because this
is an audio format of a podcast, but as a
lot of longtime listeners will know, I love to comment
on stuff's outfits because you always look good, and today
(02:22):
you look great, and you also look like the lead
singer of Limp Biscuit because you are wearing a backwards
MLB hat and the backwards hat though that has no opening,
and that's why it's giving limb biscuit to me, it's a.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Shout out to my sister who dressed up as Limp
Biscuit for Halloween, in a.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Very limp biscuit or limb biscuit. I think it's limp.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It's spelled limp.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
No is that is that how it's spelled. I think
I feel like I've always just said limb biscuit and
it's just kind of rulled. Huh. Anyway, I don't know
the thing about me and l we.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Get everything wrong.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
The thing about us we don't know. Ever, if you
the thing about us, we don't know. And we're just
going to rock with that. What we do want to
talk about today, and this was an interesting conversation i'd say,
at the gist and with our producers and what we
wanted to talk about on the podcast. We do want
to talk about basically the world series, but almost from
(03:21):
a Blue Jays fan perspective and a Canadian perspective, even
though the majority of our audience is American, and part
of the reason why our team said that who our
majority Americans was just that to them, it felt like
the World Series was so much bigger because all of
Canada was behind it, and it felt so much different
(03:42):
having an entire country cheer for a team as opposed
to just an entire city cheer for a team. But
also for me zooming out on the state of Major
League Baseball right now to stuff. There's so many implications
with the Toronto Blue Jays, with the LA Dodgers, with
Japan fully cheering for show Heyo Tawani and Yamamoto. So
(04:06):
I think that there's just so much to talk about
with this World Series. And I know that we're a
few days gone and passed now, but I think that
we have some kind of unique takes or thoughts I
want to say on the World Series, or at least
I think they're unique. Maybe everybody will hate them and
it's over them, but there's stuff to talk about, and
we thought that the podcast would be a great place
(04:27):
to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, because although we are Blue Jays fans, this objectively
was an incredible World Series, and objectively there's a lot
going on with it. Whether that is a reflection of
political tensions between the US and Canada or whether that
is what the implications of this might be with future
labor relations in Major League Baseball. So there are a
(04:50):
lot of things that we're going to talk about outside
of just our fandom with the Blue Jays. But I
do think that it is unique and it's become so
normalized and just like par for the course for me
just having a team for a whole country. So it
is a unique thing if you are American, unique to
not to kind of get a glimpse into what that
felt like for us as two Canadians in different locations
(05:13):
throughout the country during the World Series.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And had different types of fandom. I'd say too, oh,
I said, I think that there's some really interesting learnings
here about baseball for someone like you, Steph, who i'd
say was like an exceptionally casual fan and who was
like Baseball's boring. Now, I don't know if you go
maybe that far, but in one before the gist, I
think you would have said baseball is boring.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Before the gist, I didn't watch a baseball game. I
have to be completely honest.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, that's what I mean, Like, I think I think
your evolution and then like getting into the gist a
bit war is like Okay, there's something there with baseball,
but then all of a sudden you are all over baseball,
and I think that is to me, one of the
coolest stories of all of this is actually the development
of fandom in Canada and also in Japan and and
wherever else. That's like really digging into MLB right now.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Ellen grew up living, breathing every single sport, and I
grew up kind of wanting to be in that spot
but feeling like it wasn't for me and not really
having the same level of confidence with sport. And as
a result of that, I've built so many friendships with
people who actually never watch sports, and a lot of
my friends are not the type who would even casually
(06:27):
watch a playoff game if their team is in it.
But I was having friends who have taken me to
an NHL game and didn't realize that how long it
was because they got the tickets through their work and said,
can we actually go? I didn't realize this game was
so long. I had that very friend by Sportsnet, which
is a broadcaster here in Canada temporarily so that she
(06:50):
could watch the World Series. Like that is how far
reaching this was for Canada as a cultural moment, and
I do think that our different as and like experiences
with fandom, I think is going to be a really
good case study for this.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, the power of sport, Baby, we have so much
to get into. I can see us going a lot
off script today. Sorry in advance to our producers and
to everybody listening, but there's a lot we need to
get to first, though, I do want to call an audible.
It is our first podcast of November, which means I
am thinking about the holidays, which means I'm thinking about shopping.
(07:26):
And I know that there's a lot going on in
the world right now with consumerism and the economy and
all that sort of stuff, and we are totally aware
of that, and we want to be thinking about everything
as we're chatting about this. But Stef, I am wondering
on your side as we're calling an audible, like, what
(07:47):
are you thinking about in terms of potentially a payrol
or the best clothing item that you've ever received as
a gift, because I'm starting to buy and prepare for
Black Friday, Monday and the like.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I think that's a really good question because I've been
trying to lean into gift giving as a love language,
because I have a couple friends that are so good
at giving gifts, and to me, it's not a consumeristic
practice because I don't know that if that's a word,
but you know what I'm trying to say, because they'll
be thinking of me in different aspects. Like I had
one friend who traveled to New York City so long ago,
(08:23):
and when she was there, she picked up a WNBA
T shirt for me that was only sold in store
or something like that, like I had never seen it before.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
So to me, gift giving can be this practice.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Where we just visibly show people that we were thinking
about them at different points in time. So I'm trying
to be really strategic with how I buy gifts for
this holiday season. And I do have a notes app
that started already, And I really love when you buy
something for someone that you know that they like but
they would never buy for yourself. So for me, I
love to thrift. I love to get things on the cheap.
(08:54):
I love a bargain, and as we've talked about it
on the pod before, so for me, some of the
best gifts I've gotten have been brand name items that
I would never purchase for myself. But I certainly coveted.
My partner recently bought me a pair of sling back
uggs that I really liked that I could slip on
really easily drink for camping and keep my toes warm.
(09:15):
And so to me, that's such a nice gift. Or
an Oakley or an arcs taks tuk, that to me
is an expensive touk or beani or hat whatever you
call it where you live. And I love it and
I'm going to wear it all the time. But I
would never purchase that for myself because in my mind,
I can thrift that for so much cheaper. So I
think certain things like that, just thinking of ways where
(09:35):
you can brighten someone's day. That's how I seek gift giving.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
To be loved is to be seen, right, And so
that's what you're kind of saying, is like the gift
giving of it all isn't just like the newest trend
or the latest fat or whatever. It's really put some
thought into what's going to put a smile on that
person's face because you know that person so well, and
it could be something like Steph would never buy herself this,
but I know that you would love it and look
(10:01):
at it every day, But would literally never buy it.
Or it could be like this persons so interested in
this thing or loves this scent or does that sort
of stuff, And that's kind of what you're thinking of.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
And I bought a birthday present recently for a mom
who's baby and child loves to be outside in the
winter and she's not a winter girly and I am
a winter girly, and so I got her a cashmir
wool blend hood that she can wear to keep warm
and look stylish. So certain things where it's going to
just enhance their life. I think that's the cute thing,
is thinking about what piece of apparel or accessory would
(10:35):
just make their every day a little bit more fun.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Can I tell you about a gift that I got
recently that was totally out of blue. So I had
the amazing experience of going to the ALCS. So the
American League Championship Series Game six with my dad Sleigh
was so much fun. And I was staying at our
now mutual friend Michelle's house. This is the friend that
sef that I I put basically two or two together
(11:01):
and I was like, you guys would be obsessed with
each other. Michelle and Steph and they are obsessed with
each other, and they give me the most fomo that
I've ever experienced in my entire life because they hang
out almost every other weekend now and I just get
to see it through Instagram stories and comment to both
of them and cry. Anyway, so I sang over at
Michelle's house Steph, and she had left for me on
(11:23):
the bed because she obviously went to bed by the
time I made it to her house after the game.
She left me on the bed. An original magazine of
the women's sports magazine that Billy Jean King started way
back from I think way back. Oh my gosh, I'm
so sorry this. It wasn't that way back but in
the nineteen seventies and something like that to your point,
(11:45):
like it was two dollars and fifty cents. But I
already am like so excited to figure out what I
want to do with that magazine, if I want to
frame it, if I want to have it someplace special.
And it was just so something where Michelle saw it
and was like, oh my gosh, Ellen is to love
this and that to me, it's not about the monetary value.
It's like Michelle was thinking about me as she was
thrifting and at this really cool place.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
One hundred percent. Michelle actually, for my birthday bought me
this book that I've been covering as well, and when
as I opened it up, I just felt seen. I said, yes, yes,
I want this book.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Thank you. Okay, So we're getting into our one big
story today, which is essentially a recap on the World
series and that we're crying in the clerb Miserrea Loves Company,
(12:38):
getting into just so many amazing things that have come
out of this World series. I do want to get
one thing straight before we get into it. This was
the best World series ever. And I don't say that
lightly because there's been century over century worth of World series,
but I truly feel like this was one of the
best ones ever.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And again this is why I feel I need to
remind everyone Ellen objective. If you're not a member of
the Just plus, there's a discord. And throughout all of
these series, Ellen has just been complementing all of these
various players on the La Dodgers and talking about how
she she can't hate them, and I myself I can.
So this is coming from Ellen.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, what I'll say, I'm a big JAS fan, but
I like the Dodgers except for Blake Snow he can
shove it in my books, but essentially the majority of
those other players, I'm like, I'm into you. I find
them a very likable team, very high paid, likable team,
a very rich likable team. But objectively, I do think
(13:38):
that the J's and the Dodgers were both very likable
teams on both sides. And also this was a true
David versus Goliath battle. It really did feel like the
J's were meant to be the underdog when they weren't.
They still had the majority of wins in MLB this year.
That's why they had home field advantage versus Goliath, with
(14:00):
the LA Dodgers having the number one payroll in baseball,
and that's even with Shoheo Tanni's contract being deferred. How
it was, and so the fact that we went to
Game seven, the fact that it was extra innings, the
fact that it was cinema almost every single game just
made it electric.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
And that underdog story probably is one that Canada loves
to pedal itself. But other than that, the Jays did
finish dead last in the American League East Division last
year and were inches away from dethroning last year's World
Series winner. So that is how this narrative is also starting,
is just looking at the Blue jays most recent history.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, And I think that's why too. It felt and
I feel like part of the reason why Canada jumped
on it so much as well, Steph, is because it
felt like truly an underdog was going to win and
that it was almost the Cinderella story of Okay, we
were literally this close. Yes, and I actually I am
holding up a couple of interest because that's what almost
(15:04):
happened at the plate. We were this close from actually
having our Disney fairy tale ending, you know what I mean.
And I think that that's what's so exciting about this now.
The Dodgers are now MLB's first back to back champ
since the Yankees won three straight from nineteen ninety eight
to two thousand. More on that later, because that is
a really big factor of what we're going to talk
(15:26):
about in this zooming out and the impact on Major
League Baseball. But I do think if there's anyone for
the Blue Jays to lose to, it is the LA Dodgers,
and I do think stuff it's because of they are
the biggest payroll in baseball. But also they have some
incredible athletes on that team. Yoshinomu Yamamoto. Oh my god,
(15:50):
the fact that he had two complete games in this
playoff is actually unbelievable. The fact that he played three
times within the World Series. He's going back to back
from Game six to Game seven. We are so lucky
to witness that. The fact that he also just showed
so much respect for the other team Vlatties Vladimir Gerrero Junior.
(16:12):
His last at bat as in Game seven, Yoshinobu literally
tipped his hat toward him like he was cleaning dugouts
after one of their games at the Rogers Center, like
he's not only one of the greatest pitchers of all
time or will go down as one of the greatest
World Series pitchers of all time, but also just such
(16:33):
a great person. And then their show Heyo Tani, who
is probably the best player that we have ever seen.
There's been comparison stuff to like Michael Jordan or Tom Brady.
I'm so sorry, you can't even make that comparison. Because
of the way that he is able to hit and
the way that he is able to pitch. We are
(16:53):
so so, so so lucky to be alive and to
watch show Heyo Tani as a two way player and
then watch Mookie Betts. He had a tough playoff and
a tough series until the last couple of games. And
these are some of the greatest athletes ever played baseball
and we got to watch them.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And regardless of who you cheer for, it is really
important to take stock and take a step back and
really acknowledge when you are witnessing greatness and witnessing history.
And I do think it is really easy to get
wrapped up in the hatred when it is a you know,
underdog story, but you do have to really appreciate who
you are watching play baseball.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, I feel very grateful that we had the opportunity
to watch those guys, and I feel I'm very much
hope knock on wood, that they all remain healthy and
don't have too many more Tommy John surgery so that
we can keep on watching them because they were amazing.
The coolest thing, Steph, is that, or at least that
I find twenty five point four to five million people
watch Game seven in the US, making it the most
(17:50):
watched World Series game since twenty seventeen. Take that, and
this is exactly Take that, Stef And this is with
a Canadian team in the finals, you know what I mean,
that's what they're always harping on.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
All is gonna be bad for numbers if a Canadian
team makes it all the way.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yes, and it ranks eighth all time, and then beyond that,
this audience for the World Series was global. The first
five games in Canada were still waiting for more average
seven million viewers in Canada. Nineteen point three million Canadians
tuned in at some point. So when we were thinking
about the math of that, there's only forty million people
in Canada, So as like over twenty five percent of
(18:33):
Canadians tuned in regularly or just shy of twenty five
percent tuned in regularly and just shy of fifty percent
tuned in period.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, approximately said of the population in Canada watched all
or some of Game seven.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yes, that's including babies, you know what I mean? Like
this is that's camp. So when we think about people
who can actually watch, like this was a huge deal.
I that's great point.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I've never even tooken a I've never even thought, yeah,
babies are included in that population.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Am I making this? Yeah, Like in that population, babies
would be included. So there we go. So it's a
Blue Jays viewership record. And so when we think about
that's that's a most watch World Series game since twenty seventeen.
That is so cool for baseball because baseball over the
last since twenty seventeen, stuff, i'd say, has really struggled
(19:25):
as a sport to get gen z and millennial fandom
and female fandom. And I think part of that was
the game was a little bit slower. I think that
there were big names, but they weren't kind of being
marketed the right way. And so it's cool because I
think not only was finally the World Series and the
postseason kind of marketed, but I do think that the
(19:46):
changes that Major League Baseball has made over the last
two or three years to the actual sport itself, with
the pitchclock, with the way that they speak about these athletes,
with the way that these athletes express themselves with fashion
and all of that sort stuff, really has brought in
more fans and more everyday fans and made it feel
welcome for them too.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I have truly fallen in love with baseball this World Series.
Without a doubt, it has been such a welcoming experience.
I obviously can't speak for the broadcast in the US,
because I just that's not the Feedbay.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I watched the American broadcast, you.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Did, and that the Canadian broadcast was phenomenal. They kept
walking through very various rules and situations that were happening
on the field and breaking it down in real time,
acknowledging that there were a lot of new fans or
people who don't watch the regular season or who maybe
have heard of rules that happened in the regular season
(20:43):
that don't translate to the postseason. I thought it was
such a warm welcome to the sport for so many
of the Canadians that were probably tuning into baseball for
the first time.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I'm I watched baseball before the World Series.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
I need you to know that, but I just having
that perspective of a newer fan. I was so appreciative
of the way that they talked about the sport.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I don't think you've probably watched that much baseball in
that short of time. No, uh no, no's even my life.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
For the last couple of.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Months, this has been people's jobs, like literally and so
I was watching the American feed stuff and the Canadian feed.
I was doing it all and they were also great
and a lot of explanation. And this is something that
you and I were texting about. So Steph had texted
me I forget during what game, and you were like,
I am loving the commentating and what's going on and
(21:34):
I feel like I can actually understand. And you and
I got to discuss, like for these sports that are
harder to understand and there's a lot of rules and nuances,
or these sports that feel slow, and I think we
were talking about Steph baseball and football in particular, and
MLB and NFL in particular. With that, the commentators, to me,
(21:57):
for both of those sports do such an amazing job,
and I think part of the reason why they do
such a great job in comparison to the NBA or
NHL or WNBA, for example, is the sport itself is slower.
And so you have your color commentator who's kind of
telling you what's happening on the diamond, But then you
(22:17):
also have the other person on the side who's storytelling,
who's breaking down the place, who's providing the why and
the context and the so what and So if you
are someone who still isn't obsessed with Major League Baseball,
you're someone who still feels like they have a lot
to learn about the NFL before they could really sink
(22:39):
their teeth in. I would encourage you to turn on
a game and just give yourself the space to be
able to listen to these commentators because it is wild
how much you will learn because they are so good
at their jobs and with it too.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
What I really appreciated is the level of sportsmanship. Obviously,
there was one blace, no out, one situation in the
World Series where they're a fight almost broke out, But
other than that, the love that part.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Oh yeah, in Game seven that was ridiculous. I was like, boys,
so in the discord, everybody you should have been in
the discord because we were chatting about it on the
Just Plus, which every like podcasters would love it. So
we were chatting about it and I was like, oh
my god, boys are so dramatic. And then someone else
chimed in and my kiss, I was like, this is
(23:29):
why you can't get on a regular Reddit thread.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
You know what I mean. But other than that moment
where they cleared the dugout and any who the they're
chatting to each other on first base, they're dancing in
the dugout, They're hyping their teammates up, they're giving them
a hug after they hit a home run. They have
home run traditions, whether the Mariners and that staff or
the Blue Jays in their jacket. It just seems like
(23:53):
so much less of a toxic masculine environment than the
sports that I'm used to, which is partly why I
fell in love with them and fell in love with
the players throughout this series.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Yes, Ernie Clement sliding to home the way that he
did was so camp.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
So dramatic, and I lived for it, and I think
also too.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
We got to see a matching fan Cleef set on
Rojas of the Dodgers. I said, okay, Baddie. Every single
woman watching went wait a minute. Wait, Literally, I was
watching matching blue van Cleef, what is that? And then
you have Yamamoto who is wearing his blue sapphire chain,
(24:32):
which I also loved and thought that that was such
a nice look. And Vladdie's Laddie always looks amazing, and
Mookie Betts had his chain with the blue bat the
Blue Dodgers. I thought that was so cute, like that
was really cool too. And I think Steph, in all
of this emotion and fanfare, I really I think that
this connected a country and connected Canada in a way
(24:54):
that I don't think that really the country recognized that
we needed. And I think that it really brought the
whole ethos of sports together and that sports are the
greatest connector and uniter that I think that we have
period end of story and how powerful fandom can be
at uniting people, and I think that that has been
(25:15):
missed just in the world as of late, and the
way that our lives are and we're so busy and
we're so connected to our phones, and we think that
we're all so important, and we're all stressed and we're
all freaking out all the time. But I think that
it gave us this collective sense of there's something bigger
than us, and yet it feels like we're part of
(25:35):
that thing that's something bigger than us. And that is
so unique to the Blue Jays. And because Blue Jays
are Canada's team, the Toronto Raptors our Canada's team. The
Toronto Tempo will be Canada's team, and that's super unique
and I feel like for our Americans, what I would
compare it to would be the US women's national team
(25:58):
winning the FIFA World Cup. I would compare it to
Simone Biles winning the gold medal at the Olympics because
she is your gal and she is bringing all of
these Americans together. The US women's national team was your team,
and everybody was obsessed in watching every single game because
that was your one team. Versus when you have the
(26:22):
opportunity to cheer for thirty different cities and thirty different
teams and all of these other leagues, it just doesn't
feel as big. But that's why it was just so
big and fun. And what it actually made me even
excited for stuff in a different way was like the
upcoming Olympics, because the Americans and Canadians and every single
(26:45):
country around the world is now hopefully going to be
able to experience this feeling that we just had with
the Blue Jays. When Team USA faces off against Team
Canada and the gold medal knock on wood finals on
both the men's and the women's side in hockey, we
are all going to be totally united around that and
(27:06):
together in that and watching around the bar.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
It is really nice to have all of Canada cheer
for a team with your city's name on it, like
for Toronto. Because also for some political context, we don't
all get along. We don't all see to eye to eye.
There's a lot of people in Canada that explain we
we Canadians.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
So there's a lot of folks across this country that
don't like Toronto as a place, as a city, as
a people, we are very different and similar to the States.
So we have certain provinces with very different ideologies. We
have certain places that hold grudges against other places. We
have one province that has an official language that's not English. Like,
(27:48):
there is a lot of difference across the country. And
what I really loved about this series was how united
it was. And then if I could get a little
bit even more granular and go on a little bit
more of a rant specific to Toronto, I get that.
Like objectively, at the beginning of the season, there was
no way that people would have predicted the Jays ending
up in the World Series, and I get that, But
(28:09):
as a Trontonian, I constantly feel like we as a
city are overlooked and underrated when we are actually the
fourth largest city in North America. We are a world
class city, saying it baby, and the Blue Jays actually
have this past season, I think, what was it, like
the fifth highest payroll in baseball, so.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
We're not nobody's.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And constantly it feels like American media overlooks us or
discountants what it is we can do in Toronto and
in Canada. And I had so much of that passion
throughout this series towards these large like towards these larger
Americans cities like New York and like La. So to
have someone like Vlady Guerrero Junior, who plays for the
(28:50):
Blue Jays, sign a fourteen year contract with our team
that starts next year and adamantly say he wants to
play for this city. His dad played for the Montra
Expos back when that team still existed. To have someone
like Bobaschet be a free agent and say that he
wants to stay in Toronto and he wants to play
for this team. US Canadians just want to feel chosen.
(29:11):
US Torontonians just want to feel chosen because so often
the narrative.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Is we are used for leverage.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
For other contract negotiations, or players who're outright say they
don't want to come to Canada. Whether that's NBA specific
or MLB, it's across the league.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
So I wanted this team to win.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
So badly just because of that chip on my shoulder
as a Torontonian. And then also to have the whole
country route for the team that my city plays in
was so special to me too because of that emotional
investment in all of the difference that's been happening throughout
our country. And to bring this roster back next year
to keep this momentum going would be so nice because
(29:52):
I do think it united the country in such a
special way.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I love that so much. I do just want to
be a wa downer for one second because I need
to balance that out. One yes, it's I love it
that Vladdie sign. It's so hard for Canada period because
of just tax stuff with athletes, where there's always going
to be a preference for the US, even though the
same taxes in New York and in New York City,
(30:19):
so that that's always interesting. And then it's always the cold.
People are like it's cold. I'm like, you know, it's cold,
or Chicago.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
It's just as cold in so many of these American cities.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Really just as cold. The other thing, sef and keeping
the roster together very unlikely. There's a lot of players
who are locked in if you're a Jays fan through
twenty twenty seven. Ernie Clement, who set a lot of
records during this World series and whose Steph was simping
for la Vero Junior. Trey Ya Savage, who in his
(30:51):
rookie year played at every single level of the Jays organization,
ultimately playing in Game seven of the World series. Like,
are you kidding, Tray's Savage? I name my daughter after you.
I'm just kidding. I would never, but Ernie could be
so cute.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
I did write down Ernie on my baby name's list. Yes,
I said Ernie Ernie.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Ernie is freaking cute. I love the name Ernie. But
then there's also Boba Schet as you mentioned, free agent
Shane Bieber, free agent Hot Commodities, and so Toronto has
to put themselves out there to try to keep them.
What I do want to talk about too, Stefan, we've
been yammering, Oh my god, so sorry everyone, but we
warn't you. So this is the Toronto set of things
(31:31):
that we've been chatting about. And like what it means
for our country and giving some insight to our American listeners.
On that side, I do want to zoom out even
further though, because there's some serious implications with the LA
Dodgers winning this championship. We had talked about it in
was that our.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Last podcast, I can't What is time?
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yeah? What is time? Anyway, we talked about it recently,
but I do think that it's worth restating, and we
talked about it in our newsletter on Monday. There could
potentially be a lockout, some pundits or even saying the
Dodgers going back to back all but guarantees a twenty
twenty seven lockout. The current collective bargaining agreement between the
Players Association and MLB is set to expire in December
(32:13):
of twenty twenty six, and so why there could be
a lockout is essentially that the LA Dodgers have the
highest payroll in all of Major League Baseball, and we
have number of five stuff, so it's still pretty up there.
But the Dodgers have the highest payroll in baseball, even
with Sho Haeo Tawny's contract mostly deferred, and so we
(32:35):
don't have time to get into show Hayes contract. We've
talked about it in the podcast beforehand, but essentially he's
getting paid like pennies and deferring the majority of his
money for over ten years down the line so that
he can win as many World Series as he can
and bring on as much great talent as possible, like
a Yema Moto. He's doing it for that. So anyway,
(32:57):
that's very interesting. And then at the same time stuff
there's also a lot of teams, So the Dodgers are
spending like three hundred million dollars a year essentially, then
there's other teams and organizations who have gone the other
way and who are not investing properly at all in
their team. The Miami Marlins stuff are spending around sixty
(33:18):
five to sixty seven million, So there's a delta of
like hundreds of millions of dollars. That's wild.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
So the Dodgers is what you're saying to our light
years ahead in terms of if you include shohe Atani's
oh yeah, total of the ones that are below them.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Like exactly exactly, And some of this is the choice
of the ownership, and the owners are like, hell yeah,
I'm a billionaire, I'm going to spend on the Dodgers.
Like the Dodgers have a massive ownership group. They have that,
but there's some of these teams who are also billionaires
who aren't investing. And so a lot of people are
saying there needs to be a salary floor because we
(33:54):
need to be investing in these teams or else we're
going to lose competitiveness. But then if there's a floor,
there generally has to be a cap. And so because
the Dodgers are now going back to back, a lot
of people are going back to when the New York
Yankees won three in a row and they won stuff
right around and right before the luxury tax was implemented.
(34:17):
And basically this luxury tax tax was implemented, and it's
basically like once you spend over a certain threshold, you
get tax at a higher rate by the league. And
that was put into place because the Yankees were exceptionally
well resourced and so that was part of the reason
why they won three in a row. And so now
that we've seen the Dodgers do it back to back
and also win in twenty twenty, I think that there
(34:40):
will be a locko.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Well, you're agreeing with them. Oh yeah, the players Association
also related but unrelated said like supported the WNBA's Players
Association recently they shouted to them out, So there's also that.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Yeah, so bring it back to the w So bring
back to the women's sports. But something's got to give.
And so all to say, really enjoy your fandom for
twenty twenty six Major League Baseball. We have experienced lockouts
in the past, and it will be really interesting to
see what the owners kind of push for over the
next year. Expect more headlines and that side of things.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
It's time for our personal training session. This is the
last segment of the podcast, where we either amplify a
hot take that you have or we answer a hard
hitting question about anything you mean. We mean anything in
the sports world and.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Aaron m messaged us on Instagram shout out erin, and
she DMed us and said this, So I want to
ask this because in all the podcasts I follow for sports,
I haven't heard this until today. Athletes Unlimited is donating
money to a charity of choice for each athlete equal
to their season bonus winnings. I'm so freaking excited for
(35:58):
that and think it should be shouted most are amazing charities.
Some charities include Trevor Project, Reproductive Freedom for All Animal Shelters, etc.
So that is from Aaron.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Thank you so much for reaching out and for putting
this out on our radar because I was not familiar.
So just for some context, at the end of each season,
Athletes Unlimited makes a grant equal to one hundred percent
of the athletes end of season win bonus to the
nonprofit of that athlete's choice. So the au volleyball season
wrap this past weekend with Jordan Thompson taking home the
league title. And here are a few of the charities
(36:33):
that au volleyball players were spotlighting. Endometriosis Foundation of America,
which raises awareness about the disease and advocacy for treatment.
One Love Foundation, which educates young people about recognizing signs
of abuse and relationship. And Women's Sports Foundation, founded by
Billy Jean King to help women and girls unlock the
lifelong benefits of sport. So that's just a couple of
(36:56):
them that the au volleyball players have been spotlighting.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
These marriaging leagues and women's sports are doing things differently,
stuff and doing things so right. So for context, for
folks who are less familiar with athletes unlimited. They are
an umbrella brand that hosts a lot of different women's sports,
so AU Volleyball, AU Softball League, so AUSL that we
talked about over the summer, AU basketball and outside of
(37:22):
the softball league that's more traditional for a team kind
of based format. The format for AU in general is
a little bit more fantasy based, so it's about the
individual athlete as opposed to the specific team, and they
earn points as they play based off of how they perform,
and so it's a really cool format in a really
(37:44):
different format. But AU has been purposely built for women's sports,
for a different type of fan, and I think that
they recognize and realize what's actually valuable to fans and
interesting to the these athletes, and that women care and
(38:04):
are multifaceted and don't make hundreds of millions of dollars
that they can give away, and so they do have
to rely on these leagues to do that as well,
and so it's just so cool that they do this.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Thank you so much Aaron M for this DM and
if you would like to be featured on a future episode,
you can call and leave us a voicemail at one
four three seven five six four five five seven nine,
or you can email us at pod at the Sports
dot com, or you can do what Aaron did and
you can DM either Ellen or myself on Instagram. So
Ellen is at Ellen at the Gist and I am
(38:35):
at Stephanie Ron's Yes.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
And with that that Marci and to today's episode. Thank
y'all so much for tuning in. We will be back
in your feed with a new podcast on Thursday, but
in the meantime, you know the drill. If you enjoyed
this episode, we'd love for you to rate, review, subscribe,
and send to someone in your life who's also heartbroken
about the Jays or someone who you think would love
Major League Baseball.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
This episode was edited by Savannah and produced by Lisa
Minutillo and Alessandra Puccio. Again, I'm steph Rots
Speaker 1 (39:04):
And I'm on his lap, and we will chat with
you again Thursday.
What's up, y'all? Welcome or welcome back to another episode
of The Gist of It. Today is Tuesday, November fourth,
and we are your Heartbroken co hosts. I'm Ellen Hyslop
and I'm Steph Rotts, and it's been heartbreak hotel over
here ever since the Toronto Blue Jays lost five to
four and extra innings in Game seven to the LA Dodgers,
(00:30):
who congratulations to them. They won back to back world series,
which is exceptionally hard to do and hasn't been done
in over two decades. So hats off to the LA Dodgers.
But it's been sad over here, Steph.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, I was thinking about you this past weekend. I mean,
as I often am, but I was thinking about how
you are so good at removing emotion when you talk
about sports, too, in the sense of because you have
to talk about and you do talk about in great detail,
so many different leagues and so many different teams, and
(01:05):
I feel like you talk about them with such clear eyes,
and I have been unable to do that when it
comes to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
You know what, Seph, I will say, the Toronto Blue
Jays has been a really hard one for me too,
trap my head around, and I think it's because being
that close and then having something ripped away from you,
it almost feels like, is so hard. And being such
a fan of something and loving something so much only
(01:35):
to not see it come to fruition and have your
fairy tale ending is so hard. But I do really
appreciate that. I feel like that's the balance of a libra,
you know what I mean when it's like, yes, this
is true as a fan, but also the thing about
sports and why we love them, but also why they're
so cruel is that they're ultimately always has to be
a winner, and so there can only be one and
(01:59):
sometimes that's just not the way that the cookie crumbles
in your way, and actually ninety nine percent of the
time it's not going to crumble your way, And so
I feel like it's a good life lesson almost two.
But I know that you're going through it because this
is an audio format of a podcast, but as a
lot of longtime listeners will know, I love to comment
on stuff's outfits because you always look good, and today
(02:22):
you look great, and you also look like the lead
singer of Limp Biscuit because you are wearing a backwards
MLB hat and the backwards hat though that has no opening,
and that's why it's giving limb biscuit to me, it's a.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Shout out to my sister who dressed up as Limp
Biscuit for Halloween, in a.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Very limp biscuit or limb biscuit. I think it's limp.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It's spelled limp.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
No is that is that how it's spelled. I think
I feel like I've always just said limb biscuit and
it's just kind of rulled. Huh. Anyway, I don't know
the thing about me and l we.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Get everything wrong.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
The thing about us we don't know. Ever, if you
the thing about us, we don't know. And we're just
going to rock with that. What we do want to
talk about today, and this was an interesting conversation i'd say,
at the gist and with our producers and what we
wanted to talk about on the podcast. We do want
to talk about basically the world series, but almost from
(03:21):
a Blue Jays fan perspective and a Canadian perspective, even
though the majority of our audience is American, and part
of the reason why our team said that who our
majority Americans was just that to them, it felt like
the World Series was so much bigger because all of
Canada was behind it, and it felt so much different
(03:42):
having an entire country cheer for a team as opposed
to just an entire city cheer for a team. But
also for me zooming out on the state of Major
League Baseball right now to stuff. There's so many implications
with the Toronto Blue Jays, with the LA Dodgers, with
Japan fully cheering for show Heyo Tawani and Yamamoto. So
(04:06):
I think that there's just so much to talk about
with this World Series. And I know that we're a
few days gone and passed now, but I think that
we have some kind of unique takes or thoughts I
want to say on the World Series, or at least
I think they're unique. Maybe everybody will hate them and
it's over them, but there's stuff to talk about, and
we thought that the podcast would be a great place
(04:27):
to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, because although we are Blue Jays fans, this objectively
was an incredible World Series, and objectively there's a lot
going on with it. Whether that is a reflection of
political tensions between the US and Canada or whether that
is what the implications of this might be with future
labor relations in Major League Baseball. So there are a
(04:50):
lot of things that we're going to talk about outside
of just our fandom with the Blue Jays. But I
do think that it is unique and it's become so
normalized and just like par for the course for me
just having a team for a whole country. So it
is a unique thing if you are American, unique to
not to kind of get a glimpse into what that
felt like for us as two Canadians in different locations
(05:13):
throughout the country during the World Series.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And had different types of fandom. I'd say too, oh,
I said, I think that there's some really interesting learnings
here about baseball for someone like you, Steph, who i'd
say was like an exceptionally casual fan and who was
like Baseball's boring. Now, I don't know if you go
maybe that far, but in one before the gist, I
think you would have said baseball is boring.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Before the gist, I didn't watch a baseball game. I
have to be completely honest.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, that's what I mean, Like, I think I think
your evolution and then like getting into the gist a
bit war is like Okay, there's something there with baseball,
but then all of a sudden you are all over baseball,
and I think that is to me, one of the
coolest stories of all of this is actually the development
of fandom in Canada and also in Japan and and
wherever else. That's like really digging into MLB right now.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Ellen grew up living, breathing every single sport, and I
grew up kind of wanting to be in that spot
but feeling like it wasn't for me and not really
having the same level of confidence with sport. And as
a result of that, I've built so many friendships with
people who actually never watch sports, and a lot of
my friends are not the type who would even casually
(06:27):
watch a playoff game if their team is in it.
But I was having friends who have taken me to
an NHL game and didn't realize that how long it
was because they got the tickets through their work and said,
can we actually go? I didn't realize this game was
so long. I had that very friend by Sportsnet, which
is a broadcaster here in Canada temporarily so that she
(06:50):
could watch the World Series. Like that is how far
reaching this was for Canada as a cultural moment, and
I do think that our different as and like experiences
with fandom, I think is going to be a really
good case study for this.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, the power of sport, Baby, we have so much
to get into. I can see us going a lot
off script today. Sorry in advance to our producers and
to everybody listening, but there's a lot we need to
get to first, though, I do want to call an audible.
It is our first podcast of November, which means I
am thinking about the holidays, which means I'm thinking about shopping.
(07:26):
And I know that there's a lot going on in
the world right now with consumerism and the economy and
all that sort of stuff, and we are totally aware
of that, and we want to be thinking about everything
as we're chatting about this. But Stef, I am wondering
on your side as we're calling an audible, like, what
(07:47):
are you thinking about in terms of potentially a payrol
or the best clothing item that you've ever received as
a gift, because I'm starting to buy and prepare for
Black Friday, Monday and the like.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I think that's a really good question because I've been
trying to lean into gift giving as a love language,
because I have a couple friends that are so good
at giving gifts, and to me, it's not a consumeristic
practice because I don't know that if that's a word,
but you know what I'm trying to say, because they'll
be thinking of me in different aspects. Like I had
one friend who traveled to New York City so long ago,
(08:23):
and when she was there, she picked up a WNBA
T shirt for me that was only sold in store
or something like that, like I had never seen it before.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
So to me, gift giving can be this practice.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Where we just visibly show people that we were thinking
about them at different points in time. So I'm trying
to be really strategic with how I buy gifts for
this holiday season. And I do have a notes app
that started already, And I really love when you buy
something for someone that you know that they like but
they would never buy for yourself. So for me, I
love to thrift. I love to get things on the cheap.
(08:54):
I love a bargain, and as we've talked about it
on the pod before, so for me, some of the
best gifts I've gotten have been brand name items that
I would never purchase for myself. But I certainly coveted.
My partner recently bought me a pair of sling back
uggs that I really liked that I could slip on
really easily drink for camping and keep my toes warm.
(09:15):
And so to me, that's such a nice gift. Or
an Oakley or an arcs taks tuk, that to me
is an expensive touk or beani or hat whatever you
call it where you live. And I love it and
I'm going to wear it all the time. But I
would never purchase that for myself because in my mind,
I can thrift that for so much cheaper. So I
think certain things like that, just thinking of ways where
(09:35):
you can brighten someone's day. That's how I seek gift giving.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
To be loved is to be seen, right, And so
that's what you're kind of saying, is like the gift
giving of it all isn't just like the newest trend
or the latest fat or whatever. It's really put some
thought into what's going to put a smile on that
person's face because you know that person so well, and
it could be something like Steph would never buy herself this,
but I know that you would love it and look
(10:01):
at it every day, But would literally never buy it.
Or it could be like this persons so interested in
this thing or loves this scent or does that sort
of stuff, And that's kind of what you're thinking of.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
And I bought a birthday present recently for a mom
who's baby and child loves to be outside in the
winter and she's not a winter girly and I am
a winter girly, and so I got her a cashmir
wool blend hood that she can wear to keep warm
and look stylish. So certain things where it's going to
just enhance their life. I think that's the cute thing,
is thinking about what piece of apparel or accessory would
(10:35):
just make their every day a little bit more fun.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Can I tell you about a gift that I got
recently that was totally out of blue. So I had
the amazing experience of going to the ALCS. So the
American League Championship Series Game six with my dad Sleigh
was so much fun. And I was staying at our
now mutual friend Michelle's house. This is the friend that
sef that I I put basically two or two together
(11:01):
and I was like, you guys would be obsessed with
each other. Michelle and Steph and they are obsessed with
each other, and they give me the most fomo that
I've ever experienced in my entire life because they hang
out almost every other weekend now and I just get
to see it through Instagram stories and comment to both
of them and cry. Anyway, so I sang over at
Michelle's house Steph, and she had left for me on
(11:23):
the bed because she obviously went to bed by the
time I made it to her house after the game.
She left me on the bed. An original magazine of
the women's sports magazine that Billy Jean King started way
back from I think way back. Oh my gosh, I'm
so sorry this. It wasn't that way back but in
the nineteen seventies and something like that to your point,
(11:45):
like it was two dollars and fifty cents. But I
already am like so excited to figure out what I
want to do with that magazine, if I want to
frame it, if I want to have it someplace special.
And it was just so something where Michelle saw it
and was like, oh my gosh, Ellen is to love
this and that to me, it's not about the monetary value.
It's like Michelle was thinking about me as she was
thrifting and at this really cool place.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
One hundred percent. Michelle actually, for my birthday bought me
this book that I've been covering as well, and when
as I opened it up, I just felt seen. I said, yes, yes,
I want this book.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Thank you. Okay, So we're getting into our one big
story today, which is essentially a recap on the World
series and that we're crying in the clerb Miserrea Loves Company,
(12:38):
getting into just so many amazing things that have come
out of this World series. I do want to get
one thing straight before we get into it. This was
the best World series ever. And I don't say that
lightly because there's been century over century worth of World series,
but I truly feel like this was one of the
best ones ever.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And again this is why I feel I need to
remind everyone Ellen objective. If you're not a member of
the Just plus, there's a discord. And throughout all of
these series, Ellen has just been complementing all of these
various players on the La Dodgers and talking about how
she she can't hate them, and I myself I can.
So this is coming from Ellen.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, what I'll say, I'm a big JAS fan, but
I like the Dodgers except for Blake Snow he can
shove it in my books, but essentially the majority of
those other players, I'm like, I'm into you. I find
them a very likable team, very high paid, likable team,
a very rich likable team. But objectively, I do think
(13:38):
that the J's and the Dodgers were both very likable
teams on both sides. And also this was a true
David versus Goliath battle. It really did feel like the
J's were meant to be the underdog when they weren't.
They still had the majority of wins in MLB this year.
That's why they had home field advantage versus Goliath, with
(14:00):
the LA Dodgers having the number one payroll in baseball,
and that's even with Shoheo Tanni's contract being deferred. How
it was, and so the fact that we went to
Game seven, the fact that it was extra innings, the
fact that it was cinema almost every single game just
made it electric.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
And that underdog story probably is one that Canada loves
to pedal itself. But other than that, the Jays did
finish dead last in the American League East Division last
year and were inches away from dethroning last year's World
Series winner. So that is how this narrative is also starting,
is just looking at the Blue jays most recent history.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, And I think that's why too. It felt and
I feel like part of the reason why Canada jumped
on it so much as well, Steph, is because it
felt like truly an underdog was going to win and
that it was almost the Cinderella story of Okay, we
were literally this close. Yes, and I actually I am
holding up a couple of interest because that's what almost
(15:04):
happened at the plate. We were this close from actually
having our Disney fairy tale ending, you know what I mean.
And I think that that's what's so exciting about this now.
The Dodgers are now MLB's first back to back champ
since the Yankees won three straight from nineteen ninety eight
to two thousand. More on that later, because that is
a really big factor of what we're going to talk
(15:26):
about in this zooming out and the impact on Major
League Baseball. But I do think if there's anyone for
the Blue Jays to lose to, it is the LA Dodgers,
and I do think stuff it's because of they are
the biggest payroll in baseball. But also they have some
incredible athletes on that team. Yoshinomu Yamamoto. Oh my god,
(15:50):
the fact that he had two complete games in this
playoff is actually unbelievable. The fact that he played three
times within the World Series. He's going back to back
from Game six to Game seven. We are so lucky
to witness that. The fact that he also just showed
so much respect for the other team Vlatties Vladimir Gerrero Junior.
(16:12):
His last at bat as in Game seven, Yoshinobu literally
tipped his hat toward him like he was cleaning dugouts
after one of their games at the Rogers Center, like
he's not only one of the greatest pitchers of all
time or will go down as one of the greatest
World Series pitchers of all time, but also just such
(16:33):
a great person. And then their show Heyo Tani, who
is probably the best player that we have ever seen.
There's been comparison stuff to like Michael Jordan or Tom Brady.
I'm so sorry, you can't even make that comparison. Because
of the way that he is able to hit and
the way that he is able to pitch. We are
(16:53):
so so, so so lucky to be alive and to
watch show Heyo Tani as a two way player and
then watch Mookie Betts. He had a tough playoff and
a tough series until the last couple of games. And
these are some of the greatest athletes ever played baseball
and we got to watch them.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And regardless of who you cheer for, it is really
important to take stock and take a step back and
really acknowledge when you are witnessing greatness and witnessing history.
And I do think it is really easy to get
wrapped up in the hatred when it is a you know,
underdog story, but you do have to really appreciate who
you are watching play baseball.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, I feel very grateful that we had the opportunity
to watch those guys, and I feel I'm very much
hope knock on wood, that they all remain healthy and
don't have too many more Tommy John surgery so that
we can keep on watching them because they were amazing.
The coolest thing, Steph, is that, or at least that
I find twenty five point four to five million people
watch Game seven in the US, making it the most
(17:50):
watched World Series game since twenty seventeen. Take that, and
this is exactly Take that, Stef And this is with
a Canadian team in the finals, you know what I mean,
that's what they're always harping on.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
All is gonna be bad for numbers if a Canadian
team makes it all the way.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yes, and it ranks eighth all time, and then beyond that,
this audience for the World Series was global. The first
five games in Canada were still waiting for more average
seven million viewers in Canada. Nineteen point three million Canadians
tuned in at some point. So when we were thinking
about the math of that, there's only forty million people
in Canada, So as like over twenty five percent of
(18:33):
Canadians tuned in regularly or just shy of twenty five
percent tuned in regularly and just shy of fifty percent
tuned in period.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, approximately said of the population in Canada watched all
or some of Game seven.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yes, that's including babies, you know what I mean? Like
this is that's camp. So when we think about people
who can actually watch, like this was a huge deal.
I that's great point.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I've never even tooken a I've never even thought, yeah,
babies are included in that population.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Am I making this? Yeah, Like in that population, babies
would be included. So there we go. So it's a
Blue Jays viewership record. And so when we think about
that's that's a most watch World Series game since twenty seventeen.
That is so cool for baseball because baseball over the
last since twenty seventeen, stuff, i'd say, has really struggled
(19:25):
as a sport to get gen z and millennial fandom
and female fandom. And I think part of that was
the game was a little bit slower. I think that
there were big names, but they weren't kind of being
marketed the right way. And so it's cool because I
think not only was finally the World Series and the
postseason kind of marketed, but I do think that the
(19:46):
changes that Major League Baseball has made over the last
two or three years to the actual sport itself, with
the pitchclock, with the way that they speak about these athletes,
with the way that these athletes express themselves with fashion
and all of that sort stuff, really has brought in
more fans and more everyday fans and made it feel
welcome for them too.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I have truly fallen in love with baseball this World Series.
Without a doubt, it has been such a welcoming experience.
I obviously can't speak for the broadcast in the US,
because I just that's not the Feedbay.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I watched the American broadcast, you.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Did, and that the Canadian broadcast was phenomenal. They kept
walking through very various rules and situations that were happening
on the field and breaking it down in real time,
acknowledging that there were a lot of new fans or
people who don't watch the regular season or who maybe
have heard of rules that happened in the regular season
(20:43):
that don't translate to the postseason. I thought it was
such a warm welcome to the sport for so many
of the Canadians that were probably tuning into baseball for
the first time.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I'm I watched baseball before the World Series.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
I need you to know that, but I just having
that perspective of a newer fan. I was so appreciative
of the way that they talked about the sport.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I don't think you've probably watched that much baseball in
that short of time. No, uh no, no's even my life.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
For the last couple of.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Months, this has been people's jobs, like literally and so
I was watching the American feed stuff and the Canadian feed.
I was doing it all and they were also great
and a lot of explanation. And this is something that
you and I were texting about. So Steph had texted
me I forget during what game, and you were like,
I am loving the commentating and what's going on and
(21:34):
I feel like I can actually understand. And you and
I got to discuss, like for these sports that are
harder to understand and there's a lot of rules and nuances,
or these sports that feel slow, and I think we
were talking about Steph baseball and football in particular, and
MLB and NFL in particular. With that, the commentators, to me,
(21:57):
for both of those sports do such an amazing job,
and I think part of the reason why they do
such a great job in comparison to the NBA or
NHL or WNBA, for example, is the sport itself is slower.
And so you have your color commentator who's kind of
telling you what's happening on the diamond, But then you
(22:17):
also have the other person on the side who's storytelling,
who's breaking down the place, who's providing the why and
the context and the so what and So if you
are someone who still isn't obsessed with Major League Baseball,
you're someone who still feels like they have a lot
to learn about the NFL before they could really sink
(22:39):
their teeth in. I would encourage you to turn on
a game and just give yourself the space to be
able to listen to these commentators because it is wild
how much you will learn because they are so good
at their jobs and with it too.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
What I really appreciated is the level of sportsmanship. Obviously,
there was one blace, no out, one situation in the
World Series where they're a fight almost broke out, But
other than that, the love that part.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Oh yeah, in Game seven that was ridiculous. I was like, boys,
so in the discord, everybody you should have been in
the discord because we were chatting about it on the
Just Plus, which every like podcasters would love it. So
we were chatting about it and I was like, oh
my god, boys are so dramatic. And then someone else
chimed in and my kiss, I was like, this is
(23:29):
why you can't get on a regular Reddit thread.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
You know what I mean. But other than that moment
where they cleared the dugout and any who the they're
chatting to each other on first base, they're dancing in
the dugout, They're hyping their teammates up, they're giving them
a hug after they hit a home run. They have
home run traditions, whether the Mariners and that staff or
the Blue Jays in their jacket. It just seems like
(23:53):
so much less of a toxic masculine environment than the
sports that I'm used to, which is partly why I
fell in love with them and fell in love with
the players throughout this series.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Yes, Ernie Clement sliding to home the way that he
did was so camp.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
So dramatic, and I lived for it, and I think
also too.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
We got to see a matching fan Cleef set on
Rojas of the Dodgers. I said, okay, Baddie. Every single
woman watching went wait a minute. Wait, Literally, I was
watching matching blue van Cleef, what is that? And then
you have Yamamoto who is wearing his blue sapphire chain,
(24:32):
which I also loved and thought that that was such
a nice look. And Vladdie's Laddie always looks amazing, and
Mookie Betts had his chain with the blue bat the
Blue Dodgers. I thought that was so cute, like that
was really cool too. And I think Steph, in all
of this emotion and fanfare, I really I think that
this connected a country and connected Canada in a way
(24:54):
that I don't think that really the country recognized that
we needed. And I think that it really brought the
whole ethos of sports together and that sports are the
greatest connector and uniter that I think that we have
period end of story and how powerful fandom can be
at uniting people, and I think that that has been
(25:15):
missed just in the world as of late, and the
way that our lives are and we're so busy and
we're so connected to our phones, and we think that
we're all so important, and we're all stressed and we're
all freaking out all the time. But I think that
it gave us this collective sense of there's something bigger
than us, and yet it feels like we're part of
(25:35):
that thing that's something bigger than us. And that is
so unique to the Blue Jays. And because Blue Jays
are Canada's team, the Toronto Raptors our Canada's team. The
Toronto Tempo will be Canada's team, and that's super unique
and I feel like for our Americans, what I would
compare it to would be the US women's national team
(25:58):
winning the FIFA World Cup. I would compare it to
Simone Biles winning the gold medal at the Olympics because
she is your gal and she is bringing all of
these Americans together. The US women's national team was your team,
and everybody was obsessed in watching every single game because
that was your one team. Versus when you have the
(26:22):
opportunity to cheer for thirty different cities and thirty different
teams and all of these other leagues, it just doesn't
feel as big. But that's why it was just so
big and fun. And what it actually made me even
excited for stuff in a different way was like the
upcoming Olympics, because the Americans and Canadians and every single
(26:45):
country around the world is now hopefully going to be
able to experience this feeling that we just had with
the Blue Jays. When Team USA faces off against Team
Canada and the gold medal knock on wood finals on
both the men's and the women's side in hockey, we
are all going to be totally united around that and
(27:06):
together in that and watching around the bar.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
It is really nice to have all of Canada cheer
for a team with your city's name on it, like
for Toronto. Because also for some political context, we don't
all get along. We don't all see to eye to eye.
There's a lot of people in Canada that explain we
we Canadians.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
So there's a lot of folks across this country that
don't like Toronto as a place, as a city, as
a people, we are very different and similar to the States.
So we have certain provinces with very different ideologies. We
have certain places that hold grudges against other places. We
have one province that has an official language that's not English. Like,
(27:48):
there is a lot of difference across the country. And
what I really loved about this series was how united
it was. And then if I could get a little
bit even more granular and go on a little bit
more of a rant specific to Toronto, I get that.
Like objectively, at the beginning of the season, there was
no way that people would have predicted the Jays ending
up in the World Series, and I get that, But
(28:09):
as a Trontonian, I constantly feel like we as a
city are overlooked and underrated when we are actually the
fourth largest city in North America. We are a world
class city, saying it baby, and the Blue Jays actually
have this past season, I think, what was it, like
the fifth highest payroll in baseball, so.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
We're not nobody's.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And constantly it feels like American media overlooks us or
discountants what it is we can do in Toronto and
in Canada. And I had so much of that passion
throughout this series towards these large like towards these larger
Americans cities like New York and like La. So to
have someone like Vlady Guerrero Junior, who plays for the
(28:50):
Blue Jays, sign a fourteen year contract with our team
that starts next year and adamantly say he wants to
play for this city. His dad played for the Montra
Expos back when that team still existed. To have someone
like Bobaschet be a free agent and say that he
wants to stay in Toronto and he wants to play
for this team. US Canadians just want to feel chosen.
(29:11):
US Torontonians just want to feel chosen because so often
the narrative.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Is we are used for leverage.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
For other contract negotiations, or players who're outright say they
don't want to come to Canada. Whether that's NBA specific
or MLB, it's across the league.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
So I wanted this team to win.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
So badly just because of that chip on my shoulder
as a Torontonian. And then also to have the whole
country route for the team that my city plays in
was so special to me too because of that emotional
investment in all of the difference that's been happening throughout
our country. And to bring this roster back next year
to keep this momentum going would be so nice because
(29:52):
I do think it united the country in such a
special way.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I love that so much. I do just want to
be a wa downer for one second because I need
to balance that out. One yes, it's I love it
that Vladdie sign. It's so hard for Canada period because
of just tax stuff with athletes, where there's always going
to be a preference for the US, even though the
same taxes in New York and in New York City,
(30:19):
so that that's always interesting. And then it's always the cold.
People are like it's cold. I'm like, you know, it's cold,
or Chicago.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
It's just as cold in so many of these American cities.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Really just as cold. The other thing, sef and keeping
the roster together very unlikely. There's a lot of players
who are locked in if you're a Jays fan through
twenty twenty seven. Ernie Clement, who set a lot of
records during this World series and whose Steph was simping
for la Vero Junior. Trey Ya Savage, who in his
(30:51):
rookie year played at every single level of the Jays organization,
ultimately playing in Game seven of the World series. Like,
are you kidding, Tray's Savage? I name my daughter after you.
I'm just kidding. I would never, but Ernie could be
so cute.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
I did write down Ernie on my baby name's list. Yes,
I said Ernie Ernie.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Ernie is freaking cute. I love the name Ernie. But
then there's also Boba Schet as you mentioned, free agent
Shane Bieber, free agent Hot Commodities, and so Toronto has
to put themselves out there to try to keep them.
What I do want to talk about too, Stefan, we've
been yammering, Oh my god, so sorry everyone, but we
warn't you. So this is the Toronto set of things
(31:31):
that we've been chatting about. And like what it means
for our country and giving some insight to our American listeners.
On that side, I do want to zoom out even
further though, because there's some serious implications with the LA
Dodgers winning this championship. We had talked about it in
was that our.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Last podcast, I can't What is time?
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yeah? What is time? Anyway, we talked about it recently,
but I do think that it's worth restating, and we
talked about it in our newsletter on Monday. There could
potentially be a lockout, some pundits or even saying the
Dodgers going back to back all but guarantees a twenty
twenty seven lockout. The current collective bargaining agreement between the
Players Association and MLB is set to expire in December
(32:13):
of twenty twenty six, and so why there could be
a lockout is essentially that the LA Dodgers have the
highest payroll in all of Major League Baseball, and we
have number of five stuff, so it's still pretty up there.
But the Dodgers have the highest payroll in baseball, even
with Sho Haeo Tawny's contract mostly deferred, and so we
(32:35):
don't have time to get into show Hayes contract. We've
talked about it in the podcast beforehand, but essentially he's
getting paid like pennies and deferring the majority of his
money for over ten years down the line so that
he can win as many World Series as he can
and bring on as much great talent as possible, like
a Yema Moto. He's doing it for that. So anyway,
(32:57):
that's very interesting. And then at the same time stuff
there's also a lot of teams, So the Dodgers are
spending like three hundred million dollars a year essentially, then
there's other teams and organizations who have gone the other
way and who are not investing properly at all in
their team. The Miami Marlins stuff are spending around sixty
(33:18):
five to sixty seven million, So there's a delta of
like hundreds of millions of dollars. That's wild.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
So the Dodgers is what you're saying to our light
years ahead in terms of if you include shohe Atani's
oh yeah, total of the ones that are below them.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Like exactly exactly, And some of this is the choice
of the ownership, and the owners are like, hell yeah,
I'm a billionaire, I'm going to spend on the Dodgers.
Like the Dodgers have a massive ownership group. They have that,
but there's some of these teams who are also billionaires
who aren't investing. And so a lot of people are
saying there needs to be a salary floor because we
(33:54):
need to be investing in these teams or else we're
going to lose competitiveness. But then if there's a floor,
there generally has to be a cap. And so because
the Dodgers are now going back to back, a lot
of people are going back to when the New York
Yankees won three in a row and they won stuff
right around and right before the luxury tax was implemented.
(34:17):
And basically this luxury tax tax was implemented, and it's
basically like once you spend over a certain threshold, you
get tax at a higher rate by the league. And
that was put into place because the Yankees were exceptionally
well resourced and so that was part of the reason
why they won three in a row. And so now
that we've seen the Dodgers do it back to back
and also win in twenty twenty, I think that there
(34:40):
will be a locko.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Well, you're agreeing with them. Oh yeah, the players Association
also related but unrelated said like supported the WNBA's Players
Association recently they shouted to them out, So there's also that.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Yeah, so bring it back to the w So bring
back to the women's sports. But something's got to give.
And so all to say, really enjoy your fandom for
twenty twenty six Major League Baseball. We have experienced lockouts
in the past, and it will be really interesting to
see what the owners kind of push for over the
next year. Expect more headlines and that side of things.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
It's time for our personal training session. This is the
last segment of the podcast, where we either amplify a
hot take that you have or we answer a hard
hitting question about anything you mean. We mean anything in
the sports world and.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Aaron m messaged us on Instagram shout out erin, and
she DMed us and said this, So I want to
ask this because in all the podcasts I follow for sports,
I haven't heard this until today. Athletes Unlimited is donating
money to a charity of choice for each athlete equal
to their season bonus winnings. I'm so freaking excited for
(35:58):
that and think it should be shouted most are amazing charities.
Some charities include Trevor Project, Reproductive Freedom for All Animal Shelters, etc.
So that is from Aaron.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Thank you so much for reaching out and for putting
this out on our radar because I was not familiar.
So just for some context, at the end of each season,
Athletes Unlimited makes a grant equal to one hundred percent
of the athletes end of season win bonus to the
nonprofit of that athlete's choice. So the au volleyball season
wrap this past weekend with Jordan Thompson taking home the
league title. And here are a few of the charities
(36:33):
that au volleyball players were spotlighting. Endometriosis Foundation of America,
which raises awareness about the disease and advocacy for treatment.
One Love Foundation, which educates young people about recognizing signs
of abuse and relationship. And Women's Sports Foundation, founded by
Billy Jean King to help women and girls unlock the
lifelong benefits of sport. So that's just a couple of
(36:56):
them that the au volleyball players have been spotlighting.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
These marriaging leagues and women's sports are doing things differently,
stuff and doing things so right. So for context, for
folks who are less familiar with athletes unlimited. They are
an umbrella brand that hosts a lot of different women's sports,
so AU Volleyball, AU Softball League, so AUSL that we
talked about over the summer, AU basketball and outside of
(37:22):
the softball league that's more traditional for a team kind
of based format. The format for AU in general is
a little bit more fantasy based, so it's about the
individual athlete as opposed to the specific team, and they
earn points as they play based off of how they perform,
and so it's a really cool format in a really
(37:44):
different format. But AU has been purposely built for women's sports,
for a different type of fan, and I think that
they recognize and realize what's actually valuable to fans and
interesting to the these athletes, and that women care and
(38:04):
are multifaceted and don't make hundreds of millions of dollars
that they can give away, and so they do have
to rely on these leagues to do that as well,
and so it's just so cool that they do this.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Thank you so much Aaron M for this DM and
if you would like to be featured on a future episode,
you can call and leave us a voicemail at one
four three seven five six four five five seven nine,
or you can email us at pod at the Sports
dot com, or you can do what Aaron did and
you can DM either Ellen or myself on Instagram. So
Ellen is at Ellen at the Gist and I am
(38:35):
at Stephanie Ron's Yes.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
And with that that Marci and to today's episode. Thank
y'all so much for tuning in. We will be back
in your feed with a new podcast on Thursday, but
in the meantime, you know the drill. If you enjoyed
this episode, we'd love for you to rate, review, subscribe,
and send to someone in your life who's also heartbroken
about the Jays or someone who you think would love
Major League Baseball.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
This episode was edited by Savannah and produced by Lisa
Minutillo and Alessandra Puccio. Again, I'm steph Rots
Speaker 1 (39:04):
And I'm on his lap, and we will chat with
you again Thursday.
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