Dodgers vs. Blue Jays World Series Preview: Who has the advantage?
Gabe Lux of USA TODAY Sports explains the Dodgers and Blue Jays teams in the upcoming World Series.
sports pulse
- The Blue Jays will advance to the World Series for the first time since 1993 and have a chance to bring the title to Canada.
- Since President Trump’s new term began, he has floated the idea of making Canada the 51st state.
- For some Canadians, the 2025 World Series “means everything to this country.”
TORONTO — Ever since George Springer’s mighty swing brought the first World Series to be played on Canadian soil since 1993, the emotions in this city have gone beyond the typical gamut.
The joy I got thanks to alcohol. Distrust. Tears shed for generational moments that other loved ones won’t get to experience.
But as the Toronto Blue Jays prepare to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 24, the home team’s status as the true representative team in America’s national pastime will become clear.
And it’s perhaps the culmination of a shift in both Canadian identity and attitude over the past 10 months: a mixture of the passive and the aggressive.
The stereotype of the genteel Canadian is one that is generally accepted by locals, who easily open the door and hold politely. But in the months since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, the idea of making the country one of the 51 nations of the United States has emerged.cent With increasingly invasive state and supervisory searches at the Canadian border and a change in national attitudes, the natives suddenly became a little restless.
And suddenly, this World Series has a deeper meaning than which team wins four games first.
“It means everything to this country. Especially with what’s going on in the United States. you know about it. It was terrible,” said Michael Murray, 75, former vice-president of the Canadian Football League and executive director of Hockey Canada’s junior team.
“It’s all over the place. We don’t care. If the news comes on, and I hate to say this, but if they say Trump is going to be next, I’ll mute the TV.”
“I’ve cleared that area out of my head now, and so have a lot of Canadians. But we don’t want to mix politics with baseball, so we’re not concerned about that.”
Murray’s attitude, the “I swear, we’re not mad, but we are us” mentality, captures a moment for certain Canadians. He spent $1,800 to buy tickets to Game 1 of the World Series, but was hesitant when his wife suggested it. Murray was present when Joe Carter hit the series-winning three-run home run in 1993, and his age speaks to how rare this moment is.
“At my age, I don’t think I’ll ever see it again,” he says.
It is also unlikely that the United States and Canada will be involved at such a point. Most of these rivalries smolder on the ice, but perhaps most prominently in women’s hockey. Both countries are several steps above the rest of the world, and the epic 2002 Olympic battle featured a legend in which the U.S. women’s team allegedly stomped on a Canadian flag in the locker room.
Now, this International World Series is in an increasingly isolationist era.
“Canadians are going to be even more excited about this result. The saber rattle hasn’t stopped yet,” said Rick Halpern, a history professor and director of American studies at the University of Toronto. “If you watch this, you’re going to meet so many people, fair-weather fans and non-baseball fans, because it’s Canada versus the United States.
“Rivalry and the United States are another discussion. For a long time, I thought there was no real Canadian identity. It’s more defined by what Canada doesn’t have. We don’t have guns. We’re not the United States.”
“It will be interesting to see how this World Series plays out. What is Fox going to say about multicultural Toronto, where one in two Torontonians was born in another country?”
Elbow raise, not for sale
You can’t miss this commercial on Canadian TV. It’s an uplifting code wrapped in 30 seconds of breathtaking government footage and inspirational words.
“The more we choose to stand up as our most flag-flying, maple-leaf-buying, and local-adventuring selves, the more we can become our truest North, unbreakable, strong, and free selves.”
The “Choose Canada” national movement, he says, has accelerated in the months since President Trump took office, and words and actions quickly followed.
This coincides with the re-emergence of the old phrase “elbows up,” coined by hockey legend Gordie Howe, which became a popular hashtag this year. Derived from Howe’s habit of raising his elbows high during scrums aimed at the puck in the corner of the rink, the phrase describes the Canadian’s willingness to abandon his default setting of non-aggression when necessary.
That spirit permeated pop culture this year, with comedian Mike Myers opening his coat to reveal a “Canada Not for Sale” T-shirt in the outro of an episode of Saturday Night Live in which he played Elon Musk.
“Canadians sometimes act out of character, and going into corners is one of them,” says Elbows Up’s Halpern. “It quickly became a national catchphrase, meaning Return to America. There’s no way this could be 51.”cent state.
“If they try to do something, it’s going to be a long guerrilla war.”
A passage from a government ad promoting all things Canadian – “We are adventuring in our hometown” – especially tied to the Blue Jays’ status as a Canadian team. Crowds of Jays fans flocked across the border to Detroit and Seattle for road games, and a significant number of fans could be heard at T-Mobile Park during Games 3 through 5 of the American League Championship Series.
But these influxes mask a broader reality. An estimated four million fewer Canadians will travel to the United States this year, resulting in an estimated loss of $4.3 billion in tourism revenue as locals choose to stay in the safety of their Canadian homes.
“I’m a little hesitant before I go,” said Giancarlo Lima, 20, a Blue Jays fan who attended Game 7 of the ALCS. “People are trying to be more intentional about buying Canadian products. We’re seeing more people traveling within Canada to take their mind off running to America to watch sports or something else.”
“So people are finding other options in Canada and taking advantage of what they have here a little more.”
Concerns about the border are certainly not limited to snowbirds and day trippers worried about getting there and back. Halpern’s daughter got married in June in Massachusetts, but the guest list was lighter than expected.
“Almost all of my Canadian friends passed,” Halpern says. “My wife and my friends from Venezuela and Mexico passed. Our professors passed on research trips. They’re worried about having their laptops tested, their phones tested, their social media tested.”
“And there’s also a feeling that this is not the right time. They’re going to go somewhere else. Even if they cross the border, they’ve had (US) border officials apologize to them. This is unbelievable.”
“We are all North Americans.”
To be sure, there are many Canadians for whom sport is not necessarily a metaphor, and the United States is not necessarily at least a temporary enemy. While many simply wonder about the rhetoric and regulations of their southern neighbor, others simply don’t care.
“I don’t care, I love America. It’s a good country,” said Joe, 39, a lifelong Torontonian who declined to give his last name. “We are both different countries and each country has its strengths and weaknesses. I am not thinking about the political leaders and the people, right?
“America is a good country. And Trump, whether you like him or hate him, whether you agree with him or disagree with him, he cares about his people. I don’t buy into the ‘Oh, Canada versus America’ narrative. We’re all North America. We’re all one.”
It’s just business and Joe is a businessman, he said, adding that he has no problem with the Dodgers’ huge salaries and that the team should pay players what they can afford.
Plus, the Blue Jays’ total annual salary, including the luxury tax, is approaching $300 million, which isn’t a lot of money. It helps when you can have an entire country to yourself, both in terms of territory and support.
In some ways, the Blue Jays’ current championship is a combination of two important moments of national prestige in recent years. That includes the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship and Canada’s win in February, when Connor McDavid’s overtime goal defeated the United States in the Quadrangle Game just weeks after President Trump took office.
It was going to be loud and wild in Toronto, but riot police were in place for Game 7 of the ALCS. And a national team celebrated during a time of national tension will resonate from coast to coast.
“From east to west, from Vancouver all the way east, this is our team,” said Josh Antonio, a 26-year-old fan who attended Game 7 of the ALCS. “After what this country has been through the last seven or eight years, I think this team is going to liberate us. The whole country will come together, just like we came together for the Raptors.”
“This is for all of us.”
