TORONTO — Within the Blue Jays’ clubhouse early Sunday morning, the players who had come so close to winning a championship tried to make sense of what had happened.
Still in full uniform, Ernie Clement was crying as he spoke. Nearby, Chris Bassitt spoke about the “true love” these players have for one another. Asked to describe the emotions of the day, Bo Bichette needed just one word: “sad.”
Others worried that they hadn’t done enough. Jeff Hoffman wondered aloud if he’d cost his teammates a World Series ring. John Schneider both thanked and apologized to Blue Jays fans. Isiah Kiner-Falefa scrolled through hateful messages on his phone, including a threat to break his legs.
“I just love every single guy in here so much,” said Clement, tearing up as he spoke. “I’ve been crying for probably an hour. I thought I was done with the tears but I love these guys so much. All I care about is hanging out with these guys for another couple hours.”
This was not the ending the Blue Jays had envisioned when they took a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. By losing 5-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 11 innings, they came nearly as close as a team can possibly come to winning a World Series without actually winning one. Their 32-year title drought continues.
There’s pain in coming so close to the sport’s ultimate goal only to miss — especially when there’s no guarantee they’ll get another opportunity this good any time soon. But beyond that, this group genuinely liked each other and brought out the best in each other.
Cementing those bonds with a championship would have been fitting. Having it all end with a loss didn’t feel right.
“I’ll remember this group forever,” Bichette said. “This group taught me what a team is. I think it’s probably the most valuable lesson of my career, so they mean a ton to me.”
Along with Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Seranthony Dominguez, Bichette’s eligible for free agency this winter. The 27-year-old infielder says he’d love to re-sign in Toronto and his teammates certainly have that impression, yet there are no guarantees in free agency. One way or another, the 2026 Blue Jays will be different than this group — and many weren’t ready to say goodbye yet.
“These people mean a lot more to me than baseball does,” said Myles Straw. “Obviously we wanted to do it for the country and for everybody, but sometimes baseball can be rough and that was a rough one, but if I could do it all over again, I’d take this same group of guys every single year for the rest of my career.”
Nearby, Bassitt echoed a similar sentiment: “It’s the most special group (we’ve) been a part of on and off the field. I’ll definitely cherish this group forever.”
As players packed up and showered, they offered support for those who may have been feeling worst. Hoffman got a big hug from Bassitt and words of support from Clement, who said “I’d go to war with Jeff Hoffman every day of the week.”
Devastated by the way things ended, Kiner-Falefa replayed his baserunning over and over, wishing he could have scored from third on a ground ball to second baseman Miguel Rojas.
“They told us to stay close to the base,” Kiner-Falefa said. “They don’t want us to get doubled off in that situation with a hard line drive. (Daulton) Varsho hits the ball really, really hard. (Max Muncy’s) right there, I’m waiting for a backpick from Will Smith in that situation. I can’t get doubled off right there so it’s almost like bases loaded. They wanted a smaller lead and a smaller secondary, so that’s what I did.”
Upon learning that Kiner-Falefa had received a flurry of hateful messages for his baserunning, Straw jumped to his defence.
“If you’re saying that, take a look in the mirror and re-evaluate yourself,” Straw said. “There’s no place for that in sports. We’re all human. We give 100 per cent for the team, for the Blue Jays and no one should ever receive stuff like that. We’re all trying. We want to win.”
Another player stopped to chat with Schneider, thanking the manager for trusting him when he struggled earlier in the season.
The entire scene reinforced what the players have been saying for months: this group genuinely likes and supports each other in a way few big-league teams do. Looking back, it’s probably one of the reasons they got as far as they did.
Because the 2025 Blue Jays had talent, there’s no doubt about that. But they also overachieved, increasing their win total by 20 on their way to an AL East title and playoff wins over the two next-best teams in the American League, the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. Devastating finish or not, this season was a resounding success.
It’s impossible to quantify, but the friendships that exist in that room likely helped drive results on the field to some extent. It would certainly help explain why outsiders were often surprised by the Blue Jays’ success when the players in that room expected it.
Whether it can be replicated is a question for another time. For now, there’s disappointment that this season ended the way it did — and appreciation for what it meant.
“One awesome ride,” one player said. “That was fun as hell.”
