‘You’re envious of them’: Leafs’ Morgan Rielly on Blue Jays’ World Series berth
The Toronto Blue Jays got a sense of what the NBA’s Toronto Raptors felt in 2019 on Monday night, clinching a berth in Major League Baseball’s World Series for the first time since 1993.
It’s a feeling the Toronto Maple Leafs have so desperately wanted, missing out on Stanley Cup finals since they last won the coveted honor in 1967. At the same time, the Blue Jays pulled off a series win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7– and the Leafs have fallen in each of their seven Game 7s since beating the Ottawa Senators in 2004.
For Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, the envy is palpable, given his team’s penchant for falling short in the most significant moments of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“There’s a small part of you that you’re envious of them. You’re a bit jealous of what they’re doing, just because of Toronto,” he said the morning after the Jays’ win. “You watch it firsthand, you’re obviously happy for them, it’s a great moment for the city, but we want to be able to do that and have a run like that.”
I don’t think the city is going to get much sleep this evening.
The Blue Jays’ ALCS Championship party has flood into Front Street.
What scenes. pic.twitter.com/au5JtUhAov
Fans flocked to the streets in Toronto, filling the short walk between the Rogers Centre and the Scotiabank Arena and other surrounding areas with blue and white as they looked forward to the city’s third World Series berth in its history.
“We felt that when the Raptors did it [in 2019], too,” Rielly added. “You look at the passion that they’re playing with, and that’s contagious. You want to be able to also bring that when your time comes.”
Ahead of Game 7, Blue Jays superstar and 2025 ALCS MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked into the Rogers Centre wearing an Auston Matthews jersey. Although his reason for doing so remains a mystery, it certainly showed that not everything the Maple Leafs can’t win a Game 7.
The city’s sporting focus shifts to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Sunday, while the Maple Leafs look to improve on their 3-2-1 start to the season, with five games – including two home games – scheduled during the potential 10-day span of the World Series.