Blue Jays no longer simply an afterthought for Bronx Bombers

Last year’s playoff loss and Vlad’s “Da Yankees Lose” spice up rivalry

The Blue Jays on Friday began a stretch of nine straight games against the Yankees (6) and the Rays (3). This relentless string of playoff-bound opponents will test the depth and fatigue level of both a depleted starting corps and a much-used bullpen.

The Jays began the final 39 games with a 3-1 win over Gerritt Cole and the Bronx Bombers to move to 60-64 with a firm hold on nothing but their hopes and dreams. It was the Yankees second visit to Rogers Centre since losing Game 2 of the ALDS on October 5 last year. They visited in June under less pressure. The Jays trailed 1-0 into the sixth inning on a solo homer off Shane Bieber by Trent Grisham. But the Yankees fundamentals and defence betrayed them in the sixth as it has so many times before.

With a chance to escape the sixth, still holding the 1-0 lead, with one out, Ryan McMahon fielded a grounder stepped on third then threw the ball across the diamond into the dirt. The one hopper tore the glove out of Luis Garcia Jr.’s hand spinning high above him in a Charlie Brown moment.

With Vlad Guerrero Jr. heading for third on the errant throw, Garcia barehanded the ball off the turf, spun and made a wild toss past George Lombard Jr. covering third. As Vlad scrambled to his feet, Lombard’s knee struck him in the head and neck area. He did score the go-ahead run but is now in concussion protocol, with Charles McAdoo taking over for the final six outs. Results will be known prior to the next game.

Familiar sights in that inning included manager Aaron Boone being tossed by the home plate umpire for arguing strikes even though the Bombers had challenges remaining and then Cole being irritated by the men in blue at home and first for mis-counting his disengagements with a runner on first. Has nobody told the Yankees that New York whines have been banned in Ontario?

In any case, it’s been eight seasons since the moment back in 2019 that John Schneider first joined the Blue Jays major-league coaching staff under then-manager Charlie Montoyo. The question was asked if Schneider has noticed an evolution into a more heated rivalry between the Jays and Yankees. Recall Vlad and David Ortiz having fun with hijacking John Sterling’s call into “Da Yankees Lose” after the ALDS.

But back in ‘19, the Yankees and Red Sox were too busy hating on one another to worry about the Blue Jays as any threat to their longer and more traditional rivalry in the AL East.

This previous big brother pat-on-the-head apathy from the Bronx had been obvious to anyone paying attention, even though the Jays organization and fans tried to promote every series using that rivalry angle. But truth is only Red Sox-Yankees made MLB all tingly.

Fast forward to today and Schneider appreciates that his Jays have pushed back hard against traditional Yankees big brother apathy towards his team, but he is also aware that they will never catch up to the Red Sox in terms of being traditional hated rivals.

“Yeah, it’s definitely changed,” Schneider began in describing the evolution of the organizations’ mutual dislike. “And I think whenever you get a postseason series involved, it definitely changes.”

Schneider disagreed when it was suggested that back in those days the Yankees and Red Sox set up their rotations focused on each other and whoever was left over would face teams like the Jays.

“To my recollection, it feels like there’s always a good starter on the mound against us,” Schneider said. “But yeah, it’s, I think we’re in a different spot as an organization than we were in 2019, obviously, and expectations being different.

“I think that it’s cool to kind of watch that unfold a little bit. It’s definitely like we’re taking our best shot, and they’re taking their best shot. I know their guys have said that last year pissed them off the way it ended. We were the team that ended their season, but it’s different. There’s always a little bit of a different vibe with the Yanks.”

What are the Jays chasing in terms of tradition and hate?

Just a small sample of the annual Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry that makes it special. We don’t have to go all the way back to Babe Ruth being sold to the Yankees to pay off the Sox owner’s debt on a bad investment in a failed Broadway play. But even as the Babe went on to become the most important player of that era, the hate has been palpable ever since. More recently, think of Bucky “F-ing” Dent and the Sox epic comeback from three games down in the 2004 ALCS. The hate between fanbases is reciprocal and well-earned.

“No, there’s nothing that compares to the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry,” said current Jays bench coach Demarlo Hale, who was part of manager Terry Francona’s staff in Boston in those early 2000’s showdowns. “I don’t know about other famous rivalries like the Cubs and Cardinals, but I was right there and I believe Boston-New York is at the top.

“We would play them on a Thursday on TBS, then Friday, maybe on ESPN, Saturday on Fox and Sunday again on ESPN. Every game seemed to be more than four hours and by the time you finished the series, you were exhausted. I have never experienced anything like it. This division is a grind, but this (right now) is not that.”

Think about some of the huge brawls over the course of that heated rivalry. In the last 50 years, you can start with the infamous on-field melee on May 20, 1976. It began with Lou Piniella aggressively taking out Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, which led to images of Bill Lee dislocating his shoulder in a dustup with third-baseman Graig Nettles.

Add to that the ALCS brawl, Oct. 11, 2003, in which Pedro Martinez shockingly threw aging Yankees coach Don Zimmer to the ground by his ears, with no apology offered. The bad blood has always been there, as it was on July 24, 2004, when Alex Rodriguez running out a groundball swatted at the glove of pitcher Bronson Arroyo. The ball was dislodged but A-Rod was correctly called out and more bad blood ensued.

The Jays care little about the past, although they enjoy being pesky and relentless in the present. The next two days they will try to ratchet up the rivalry, in what needs to become a sprint to the finish line for Schneider’s suddenly competitive bunch.