Blue Jays Veteran Gets Brutally Honest About World Series Loss
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The Toronto Blue Jays were 90 feet away from winning Game 7 of the World Series last year against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home. Toronto was not able to push across the winning run and Los Angeles went on to win the game in 11 innings on a Will Smith solo home run.
That loss left a sour taste for the Blue Jays in what was a long winter. When they reported for spring training in February, they said all the right things about the upcoming season after losing devastatingly in November.
A couple of weeks into spring training, right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer was still a free agent. He ended up agreeing to a deal to return to Toronto. It didn't take him long to explain why he decided to return for another season. He knew there was a job to finish in the postseason. Before he made his season debut against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, Scherzer admitted that he's still not over the Game 7 loss.
Blue Jays Pitcher Max Scherzer Still Not Over World Series Game 7 Loss
After signing a couple of weeks into spring training, it wasn't surprising that manager John Schneider didn't rush the 41-year-old into the rotation to begin the season. Before his first start, he explained how that loss is going to sting even entering a new season.
"You never get over it. Not that one. Nor should we. That's how important winning a World Series is to all of us,” Scherzer said. "You make all the sacrifices in the world, you work so hard to get here to have that one opportunity. To be that close and not get it, I don't see how I'm ever going to get over that one. And good. You don't want me to be able to get over it. Like, why would you want a player to be over it?”
Being the competitor that Scherzer is, that is not a surprising comment and he feels that way. You get so close only to come up short. He'll make his first start the first time through the rotation against Colorado and he'll do it with a rotation that many feel is a deeper rotation that, if it stays healthy, could lead the Blue Jays back to the World Series. It won't be easy, but if they do, they will be looking to finish the job. Not finishing it last year still hurts Scherzer, as it should.
Scott Roche has covered both college and professional sports for nearly three decades for various outlets. Scott has covered the MLB, NHL, and college sports and he is someone always looking for a good rumor, no matter which sport it is.