Torontonians still want their Blue Jays parade
Don’t the Jays deserve some kind of congratulatory procession?
From the high of an 18-inning World Series game to the low of a lodged ball at the Rogers Centre, Blue Jays fans have been through it these last weeks. We may not get a championship parade per se, but please, Mayor Chow, can we have a parade anyway? That’s what some Torontonians are asking, saying it’d be nice to celebrate the team one last time—until we do it again next year, that is.
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After the Jays took the World Series to the absolute limit, necessitating extra innings during Saturday’s game seven, the team eventually suffered a heartbreaking 5–4 loss. (Some are calling it one of the best baseball games ever played.) This means the city won’t host the parade we would have had if the Jays had won. But didn’t they win, in a way? Didn’t we all win, sort of?
Blue Jays fan Amy Ladouceur has started a petition asking the city to throw a parade in recognition of the team’s uplifting contribution to the city, even if they didn’t clinch the World Series.
“This team has woven itself into the fabric of our city, bringing together people of all walks of life, transcending barriers of language, culture, and age,” reads the petition. “This isn’t merely about wins and losses, it’s about what the team stands for: dedication, teamwork, and unyielding loyalty. The electric atmosphere at their games has united fans, igniting a flame of shared passion and community spirit.”
Before game seven, city sources speaking with the Toronto Star kept details to a minimum but said behind-the-scenes parade-planning had begun in case of victory. That didn’t happen, but the petition makes its case: “Win or lose, our appreciation for the Toronto Blue Jays transcends the final scores.”
At the very least, can George Springer still ride a horse down Bremner Boulevard?
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
