Toronto Blue Jays have a new historic flub to complain about as they’re eliminated from playoffs

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Every baseball franchise has a few epochal boners in its history. Think the Boston Red Sox and Bill Buckner.

For a long time, the Jays had the ball that went through Manny Lee in 1987. That fielding brain cramp cost Toronto a shot at the pennant. But it wasn’t a playoff game.

After Toronto’s latest headfirst swan dive into an empty pool on Wednesday, the Blue Jays have a new historic flub to kvetch about – that time Vlad Guerrero Jr. fell asleep in the middle of an elimination game.

Odds are you’ve already seen it in slow motion a dozen times. Guerrero standing off second base in the fifth inning. A man on third, Bo Bichette at the plate, two out and the count full.

Guerrero wanders too far from the bag and Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa begins to creep in behind him. Twins’ pitcher Sonny Gray spins. Far too late, Guerrero figures out what’s happening.

Dan Shulman called it in real time. For future viewings, they ought to dub in Sir David Attenborough.

Guerrero was out. The inning ended, and soon thereafter the season. Minnesota won both the game and the series 2-0. The Jays got the opponent they wanted and then they got manhandled. Where have we heard that one before?

There is no good reason to get caught napping on second during a meaningless game in June. In a playoff elimination game, trailing by two, with a man on third, your best shot up at bat and a 3-2 count? That’s the dictionary definition of the most inexcusable moment to make that mistake.

It won’t finish at the top of any bonehead plays lists. Buckner’s got that one wrapped up forever.

But Buckner allowing a hard-hit ball through his legs was a physical error. Guerrero’s mistake was a guy packing a bag and going on a mental vacation.

The Jays made other mistakes on Wednesday that cost them the game and their campaign. But that’s the one people will remember.

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It settles in the mind a précis of the 2023 Blue Jays – losing a game you could have won because your biggest brand-name took a KitKat break at exactly the wrong time.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was Wednesday’s starter, José Berríos.

When the Jays traded for Berríos a couple of years ago, it was not a happy moment. For Berríos.

At the time, he was a Minnesota Twin. He liked Minnesota. He wanted to stay.

“In my mind, inside of me, I had, ‘No, I’m not going to leave here. I’m not going to leave the Twins organization,’” Berríos said.

He said that after he found out he’d been dealt.

He still talks that way. During the Jays opening-game loss on Tuesday, Berríos did a live TV interview in the dugout. He used most of that time to moon about his old city, saying “it still feels like home.”

On the face of it, you’d figure this was sort of a guy likely to fall apart under elimination-game pressure. Like so much about these Blue Jays, the exact opposite of what you’d expect happened. Berríos was highly effective against his old team. For once, things were turning Toronto’s way.

So Toronto found a way to screw that up, too.

As soon as Berríos wobbled in the fourth inning – not stumbled, but shook from side to side a bit – he was hooked.

The Jays chose to go with the analytics pick – left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi. That way, they would force the Twins to adjust. Theoretically.

Upon introduction, Kikuchi allowed a hit, a walk, another hit and soon thereafter, the second of two runs. Just like that, the game was over.

Back in the dugout, Jays manager John Schneider was huddled with Berríos. It was probably a pep talk. It should have been an apology.

Later, Berríos was seen good-naturedly jawing with former teammate and Twins third baseman, Jorge Polanco. I wonder what he said? ‘Take me back’?

Berríos has five years left on his deal. How do you think he feels about the organizational direction right now? I’m going to guess it’s something less than total satisfaction.

Upon trading for him, the Jays gave Berríos a US$131-million contract. It’s a deal that says, ‘We believe in you’. And when it came time to prove it, they went with another guy.

What is the point of putting together one of the best rotations in baseball if you’re not willing to let it play?

Take that a step further. Why have a manager when you could hire a laptop instead? It’s a couple of grand up front, but after that all it will cost you is electricity.

All the other coaches can be replaced by air horns. That way, you can wake your baserunners up between pitches.

So that’s it. Another year down the tubes. Toronto has advanced to post-season play in three of the past four seasons. It has yet to win a game there. It leads the major leagues in one unfortunate statistic – playoff consistency. No one loses with as much commitment as the Jays do.

The offence we repeatedly heard was just about to break out managed to score one run in 18 innings of wild-card-series play. The rotation we were told was best-in-class was only allowed to throw seven of those innings.

After every season, you hear a lot about learning from your mistakes. It’s an ever-green excuse. Every year, there’s always a few new mistakes.

In 2023, the Toronto Blue Jays tried a new approach. They already knew what the problems were. They just pretended they weren’t problems.

To a point, they were rewarded for this willful ignorance. They did make the post-season, which is not nothing.

But you can only tell people about how good you are in theory for so long. Eventually, someone else comes along and shows how good you are in practice.