Blake Murphy (2:54)

Well, you're right, this was not the expectation level for them. A lot of the experts, whether you look at traditional media or the more, you know, analytics and projection Sites and things like that. A lot of them had them fourth or fifth in the division. I think I picked them to win a wild card spot, which they've obviously blown past. And even that, I was like, am I being a little bit of a homer thinking they could sneak into the playoffs here? So, look, obviously a lot has to. A lot has to break, right? For every baseball team the Blue Jays have had, you know, some things go their way in terms of it wasn't the strongest year ever in the American League. In the American League east, they had pretty good health, even though Boba Shed and Anthony Santander are down right now. But really, this is, you know, this is kind of a few years of work coming together at once. And I think that's part of what makes this Blue Jays team so likable, too, is, you know, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Was always destined to be a superstar and kind of lead this. He is the son of a Hall of Famer and making half a billion doll over the next 14 years and stuff like that. But there are all these little things that pulled in the right direction. George springer at age 36, bouncing back in a way that we just don't see baseball players do. Guys who were supposed to be out of the majors or never even make it, like Ernie Clement and Nathan Lucas having career years. You know, Trey Savage was a late addition, but a rookie coming up and helping you over the finish line way before the timeline would have suggested he should be in the major. So they just had a bunch of little things pulling in the same direction. And then while I am more of a numbers guy, so this is outside of my comfort zone, there is a real chemistry element to it as well, I think, where it's a really good clubhouse. It's a really good mix of smart veterans who have been around the block and young guys who are eager to learn and things like that. So, you know, a lot pulling in the right direction to get them here.

Jamie Poisson (4:47)

Well, let's talk a little bit more about some of those guys, because there is some really good storylines on this team. And you mentioned Laddie already. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He's gone on one of the most special playoff runs we've seen in baseball's modern history. I think six home runs in this post season. Right. And so can you just tell me a little bit more about the run that he's been on?

Blake Murphy (5:09)

Yeah, it's. It's pretty incredible. And even as someone who has big expectations for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And when I say that, I mean big expectations to. To the extent that this season he hit almost.300 for batting average and posted an OPS of almost.850, which if you don't know OPS is well above league average. That's a good season. That's, that's a lot of guys career years. I came out of that being like, now you got to give a little bit more. This is a guy who hit 48 home runs a couple of years ago and was second in most valuable player voting.

John Schneider (5:42)

Shoots it to right field and this one is gone. Not sure. You can have a noise a year. 30,000. Then the crowd right now for the Rogers center, number 48.

Blake Murphy (5:58)

That doesn't need to be the bar all the time, but the bar for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. When he was like 16 years old was this guy's going to be the face of a franchise someday. So you, you always kind of expected this. It's been an interesting four years where in 2021 he was second in MVP voting, only Sh Otani finished ahead of him. He hit 48 home runs, he batted.311 his batting average, which is really, really strong. And then in the years since, it's been a little up and down. He's never been bad, but he's been kind of good, not elite. And so we've been kind of waiting for that to come back around. And you're right. The way you set it up, it's one of the best postseason runs we've ever seen.

John Schneider (6:41)

Deep left field, it is a grand slam for Vladimir Guerrero. Jun Guerrero is now 6 for 7 with six RBIs in the two games.

Blake Murphy (6:58)

He's putting up numbers that are not only not really seen in Blue Jays postseason history, which is wild when you've had Jose Batista and Joe Carter have the runs that they've had. But nobody does this in, you know, in Major League Baseball postseason history, it's been pretty rare for someone to play this well over 9, 10, 11 playoff games.

Jamie Poisson (7:18)

And maybe just worth saying here, so this is a guy, he was drafted by the jades at 16, which I think you alluded to there. He's the only Canadian born player and his father is a Hall of Famer. And it feels like every time that Vladdy Jr plays, we're swamped with these absolutely adorable images of him as a child at batting practice when his father played for the Montreal Expos. He was a very adorable child. He's actually a very adorable and endearing adult as well. And one thing that I love about him so much is his hate for the Yankees. Like in that Yankee Series in particular. It was really funny to watch him take on this, like, personal campaign. What team did you was the easiest to play this year?

Blake Murphy (8:03)

Ooh.

John Schneider (8:05)

Oh, Vladi wants to answer that.

Blake Murphy (8:07)

The Yankees.

John Schneider (8:08)

The Yankees. The New York Stankies just got dog walked by whooping. Can you believe that shit? Like I always say, these dudes are the biggest chokers in the league and they better call me Papi Guerrero from.

Blake Murphy (8:19)

Now on because I own their asses.

John Schneider (8:21)

The Yankees, let's go. The Yankees lose. The Yankees lose.

Blake Murphy (8:29)

But you don't take it personal.

Jamie Poisson (8:32)

He's talked about the fact that he's had bad experiences at Yankee Stadium. And he said, quote, it's so good, I got to read it. I like to play in New York. I like to kill the Yankees. I would never sign with the Yankees, not even dead. And of course, course he had that viral moment with the Red Sox legend David Ortiz after the game. And just. Can you tell me more about why he hates the Yankees so much?

Blake Murphy (8:53)

So his dad, who, yes, came up with the Expos and Vlad Jr. Was born in Montreal while his father was in Expo, but he, he eventually played for the Angels, the Rangers and the Orioles as well. So he had some battles against the Yankees. And I, I think in the early 2000s, he, Vlad Senior, was going to sign with the Yankees, but they pulled out of the deal at the last moment, allegedly. So, you know, it goes back as far as his dad's playing days. I love it. It's, you know, the Yankees. Yeah. And like, yeah, I think other baseball people love it too, because, you know, we're going to talk about this Dodgers series where the Dodgers have the highest payroll in the history of baseball and they've got all these guys that even the Blue Jays tried to sign and stuff. The Jays are not a small market team. Like no one, no one's crying poor about that. I think they have a top five payroll. But the Yankees are the team that have won 27 championships, dominate the media and stuff like that. I think people even outside of Toronto get a real kick out of Vlad doing this to the Yankees because people want to see the Yankees lose outside of New York. And yeah, so there's a reason that that moment with David Ortiz was so popular, not just in Toronto, because Red Sox fans like that. And I think fans around baseball just, just get a real kick out of that and a real kick out of Vlad Jr.

Jamie Poisson (10:23)

You mentioned Max Schertzer before, but let's do a little bit more on him. So this is the 41 year old pitcher he's known as a bit of an intense figure. You often see him, like, storming through the dugout or talking to himself in game four of the Mariner Series. Mad Max, as he's. He's known as that refused to be taken out of the game. Right. And he went on to continue what was really a memorable performance.

Blake Murphy (10:47)

All of a sudden, I see Schneides coming out, and it kind of caught me off guard. And, you know, that's just where one of those moments where I know I wanted the ball, I. I knew the situation of the game I wanted the ball. And I basically told him that in a little bit different language. Yeah, it was awesome. And I thought he was going to kill me. It was great.

Jamie Poisson (11:04)

Talk to me a little bit more about Mad Max, who, like, as I understand it, this could be kind of the cap of his career for him.

Blake Murphy (11:10)

Yeah, he's. He's such a fascinating guy. And, yeah, the intensity is real On. On days he's not pitching, he is like, a great guy to have around for the purposes of media. He likes talking pitching. He likes chatting with media. He joined Dan and Buck in the. In the booth at one point this year on an off day.

John Schneider (11:27)

Now, you had 78 hits over your big league career. Who was the one home run off of Chris O'?

Blake Murphy (11:32)

Grady? Okay.

John Schneider (11:33)

Everybody knows that. You didn't even have to think about that one.

Blake Murphy (11:39)

But on his. On the days where he starts, like, players have joked, too. Isaiah Kiner Falefa, who was with the team before then, got traded away. Then he rejoined the team at the trade deadline this year. He kind of joked about, like, well, joked, but not really joked about how, like, oh, yeah, I got told, like, don't talk to him. Don't make eye contact. If you saw the clips of not just his pitching performance in the last round, but he's like, throwing coaches out of the way in the dugout. If anyone's in his way.

Jamie Poisson (12:06)

That's crazy.

Blake Murphy (12:07)

And there's a. There was a really great story by Mitch Bannon of the Athletic heading into the playoffs, talking to Scherzer about his first playoff experience. So this would have been back in 2011, when he was 26 years old and established at that point, but he wasn't quite yet on the hall of Fame track that he was eventually going to get on. And the advice that he was given was, you got to slow everything down. You got to be calm and things like that to succeed in the playoffs. And the experience that he relayed to Mitch and relay to all of The Blue Jays this year is that that didn't work for him. He had to be this crazy intense. We can't repeat what he's saying on the mound. And you better not be able to read lips if you're watching the broadcast. That is the only way he can function. So his advice to the Blue Jays has been, if you're a low heartbeat guy, if you're a chill guy, be that in the playoffs. But if you're Max Scherzer, you got to go out there and be Max Scherzer. And so some of my, you know, I've watched this guy pitch in the major since 2008. His run in 2019, when he won a World Series with the Washington Nationals, he was must see viewing because he was so good and he's so intense. And I think there's, you know, not everyone has to be that. Not everyone has to be Max Scherzer. Not everyone has to be Michael Jordan, where they can't possibly be friends with an opponent and things like that. But I think it's awesome for fans to see that level of intensity, to see that the guys you're watching and rooting for care every bit as much as you and even more. And then I'd imagine there's some element of like. Like, look, Max Scherz is 41 right now. Pitchers aren't supposed to last till 41. There's only two guys in baseball older than him this year. And, you know, Justin Verlander was really good, but Charlie Morton was bad enough that he's going to retire after this year, and it's a miracle he made it. Like, Max Scherzer was the first guy this age to start a playoff game since 2008. You're just not supposed to be able to do it. And I really do think that him having that attitude and that mentality is a part of what has allowed him to stick around longer and stick around being effective longer than what, like, the entire history of baseball tells us should be possible.

Jamie Poisson (14:13)

Yeah, Yeah. I like them so much, too. I know we could dig deeper into a lot. A lot of these players, a lot of the people you mentioned off the top. But why don't we just do Trey Savage, sort of the flip. The flip of Schertzer. Right. This rookie sensation who pitched them into the World Series.

Blake Murphy (14:30)

Yeah, he's fascinating. They drafted him just last year. So for anyone who, you know, may. Maybe that sounds normal in baseball's not like football and basketball and. And hockey, where you expect your top picks to contribute pretty soon, but Baseball, the clock is usually more like five years. You've got. If a guy is there before five years are up after they get drafted, that's pretty good. And some guys will make it in two or three years. For a pitcher, especially a starting pitcher, to be in the major leagues one year after he got drafted is, you know, Savage isn't the first to do it, but it's pretty rare and it's pretty special. And on top of that, he started this year pitching in ballparks where there were 300 people at the games. He started in low single A, then went to high single A in Vancouver, then went to double A, then went to Triple A, then went to the majors. So he is, he jokes, he's met every person in the organization this year. So, you know, from an analysis perspective, you don't expect a guy like that to contribute because he starts the season so far away from the majors. And even though his numbers are really good, you know, teams are usually pretty careful with pitching prospects. We don't want them to throw too many innings and risk injury. We don't want to give them too much too soon. But around August, they were promoting him fast enough that we all kind of started to take notice and was like, huh, maybe he is going to join the team at some point. Maybe he'll be a reliever, maybe he'll. But even the most optimistic of people would not have been, he's going to take the ball in game one of the World Series or he's going to help you punch your ticket to the World Series. Dominating the Mariners in the ALCS and the Yankees in the alds.

John Schneider (16:08)

The Savage trying to strike out the side. And he does. Naylor flailing.

Blake Murphy (16:22)

It has been phenomenal. There are so few stories like this in the history of baseball. And then if you want to get really nerdy, he pitches like nobody else pitches. He has this weird over the top of his head kind of delivery that no one else has. He has a split finger fastball that is really cool. And then he has a slider which moves in the wrong direction. Like a slider is supposed to go right to left and his kind of goes right to right. So there are just like, it's a great story. It's an unusual, like, prospect story. And then also, he's just so weird as a pitcher. I had a guy who has hit against him in the minor leagues tell me that when you stand in the batter's box against him, every pitch he throws because of the weird angle, looks like it's going to go in the dirt and then it ends up in the strike zone. So I can't even imagine what it's like hitting against this guy for the first time.

Jess (17:32)

AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI transformation@rubrik.com that's R U B R I K.com hello, I'm Jess.

Blake Murphy (18:03)

Milton, host of the podcast Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe. Join us every Friday for funny, fictional feel good family stories about Dave, his wife Marley and their kids, Sam and Stephanie. And for behind the scenes stories about what it's like to live life out on the road, on a tour bus, living out of a suitcase, traveling across Canada. New episodes every Friday. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts.

Jamie Poisson (18:33)

Okay, let's do Jay's manager, John Schneider. He's been with the team forever, right? First as a catcher, then as a catching instructor and then a minor league coach. And then he got called up to coach in 2022. He became manager. And what do you make of his role in all of this?

Blake Murphy (18:50)

Yeah, you, you lay it out so fascinating there. He's been a part of the organization since 2002, which is, you know, I, I think he's got to be one of the longest tenured people on like you there. There's probably people on like the marketing team and the sales team and stuff that haven't been there since 2002. So it's pretty fascinating. And he's shown a lot of growth over his couple years as a manager. You know, I think people were a little skeptical of the hire initially because he got the job on an interim basis. They fired the last manager in the middle of the season, so you don't have a ton of options. And then in 2023, when they got eliminated, he was pretty heavily criticized for a move he made in the Wildcard series. And you know, the, the changes that the organizations made aren't just around John Schneider. You know, how do you communicate information? How do you blend the analytics with gut feel and talking to your players and stuff like that. And I just, I think he's really improved a lot in, in all of those regards. And, and that doesn't mean he's perfect. I didn't love, you know, his management in game five of the alcs, but he obviously got it pretty good from there. And I think, honestly, there's. There's so much information in the game now, and. And I'm a numbersy guy. I like all that stuff. But I think all 30 teams have similar information. So where you're really getting at advantage as a team and as a coaching staff is can you take. Can you find out. Max Scherzer understands this and talks this language, so I'm going to talk to him this way. Bo Bashet understands this and talks this language. I'm going to talk to him this way. And how you manage a coaching staff and how you manage those player relationships and how you tell Chris Bassett, who's been a huge part of this team for years now, hey, we're going to move you to the bullpen for the playoffs, and you're a starting pitcher, but we need you ready out of the bullpen. And however you might feel about that, this is what we need out of you for a playoff run. How you manage all of those things is, I think, as big a part of the job as the stuff that we can touch, which is, oh, which relief pitcher did you use in this situation? And Blake's gonna go on air the next day and rip you if you pick the wrong guy. There's so much behind the scenes, and I think, you know, you don't get to the World Series without a lot of stuff going. Right. And, you know, when we talk about the chemistry aspect or a lot of guys having the best seasons of their career, so, you know, John Schneider has definitely, definitely had a role in that. On top of which, if you're a fan, like, that's. He seems like a cool guy to.

Jamie Poisson (21:16)

You know, talk to and be around. He's so into it. Like, did you see that interview, was it with Hazel May that he was giving after Monday, and he's talking to, like 40,000 people and he's like, this is effing unbelievable for me.

Blake Murphy (21:34)

This is my 24th year with this.

John Schneider (21:36)

Organization, and I feel love it here, these fans, this country. You deserve all of this.

Jamie Poisson (21:44)

I was thinking, like, Sports Sportsnet was probably having a hard time keeping up with all the swearing.

Blake Murphy (21:49)

I imagine we've caught some font. I don't know how that stuff works, but there's been a couple. Couple of those during this run.

Jamie Poisson (21:55)

But it's not just him. Yeah, yeah. So you've already talked about the Dodgers and how rich they are. My husband refers to them as the Death Star. And you talked a little bit about, um. But just let's talk a little bit More. More about him. Right. In the last series, he had one of the greatest performances in the history of baseball.

Blake Murphy (22:18)

Shohei just unleashed the greatest game ever in Game 4 of the NLCS, striking out 10 and belting three home runs to send LA to the World Series for the second straight year.

Jamie Poisson (22:29)

And just what are you expecting from him? The best player in the world right now? And how does sort of the story of how he might have actually ended up in Toronto play into this. This whole kind of rivalry here?

Blake Murphy (22:43)

So fascinating that probably the best way to capture Shohei is like, you almost can't have expectations for him because everything he does defies expectations. This is a guy who. He's the only guy who pitches and hits. If that's not enough, he's one of the five, if not three, best hitters in the world. Last year, he was injured and couldn't pitch. So he became the first guy to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season on a one two.

John Schneider (23:07)

Otani sends one in the air the other way back it goes. Go. One of a kind player, one of a kind season. So, hey, Ohtani starts the 50, 50 club this year.

Blake Murphy (23:26)

He just went back to hitting home runs and pitching. So he stole bases a little less. It's. It's. It's fascinating. Like, there is. There is nothing you could suggest the guy do on the baseball field that it doesn't feel like sh. Otani is capable of, because we've never seen a guy do all of this stuff. Like, if he were only a hitter, we would be talking about him with the same level of excitement. And he's so dangerous for the. For the Blue Jays to face. And he's one of the best players alive. And then he also pitches. And it's really good. It's. It's. It's ridiculous. You know, look, he's gonna. He's gonna play a big part in determining how this series goes on the field. How it goes off the field is. Yes. US national media, they're gonna make their little jokes about. Shohei is on a plane to Toronto because at one point it was reported that Shohei was coming to Toronto. And maybe that was part of the negotiations. You know, it's been reported Keegan Matheson of MLB.com has a terrific book called the Franchise that everyone should check out. And it gets into detail on. There's an entire chapter on the Blue Jays trying to sign Shohei, and Shohei being in Dunedin at the Blue Jays practice facility, and they're trying to keep it secret. And he Leaves there with a bunch of Blue Jays gear, even gear for his dog decoy. That's how close it got. So, yeah, that'll be a big part of this series, I think. You know, on the one hand it could be a little bit of. Well, that's the one that got away. What if he signed here? On the other hand, the Blue Jays are still in the World Series without Shohei Ohtani. They tried to sign Roki Sasaki, who is the Dodgers closer right now too. They're in the World Series without Roki Sasaki. Teoscar Hernandez, a former Blue Jay, is on that team too. There, there are a lot of storylines like that, but the Blue Jays are here even without all of those guys. So yeah, there's a possibility. It turns out Shohei is just too good. And the best player in the world on the richest team in the world, wins the World Series again. And whatever it happens. There is also a scenario though where the Blue Jays still managed to beat the Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani. And what a story that would be. And I think picking the Dodgers over the Jays is, is a part of that.

Jamie Poisson (25:40)

Look, I'm. I'm a millennial. I don't know about you. I was like 8 and 9, I think in 92 and 93. I know all of Canada's cheering for the Jays, but I also grew up in Toronto and I live here now. And for me and so many of my friends right now, this is unlocking just an enormous amount of nostalgia. And we're also kind of living this through and with our own children right now. I dropped my 5 year old off at school the other day after game seven and this entire schoolyard was just screaming, go Jays, go. It was amazing. How would you describe what this run is like for you and the feeling, the feeling in the city right now?

Blake Murphy (26:21)

Yeah, the feeling in the city is incredible. And the only thing I can really compare it to is I covered the Raptors 2019 championship and you know, that was this big lead up of multiple years of, you know, the Raptors fan base at times feeling like they were kind of the other. Not only in the NBA because they were the only Canadian team, but even in the city a little bit because the Leafs were, you know, always getting the biggest media attention, things like that. And then the Blue Jays kind of own the. Some are on their own. So the Raptors run was really special in that regard and a lot of people jumped on and it was. That part of it was really, really fun. But the hardcore long time Raptors Fans had a certain attachment to that team that I don't think you can really replicate Now. Blue Jays fans have a different attachment because the Blue Jays have had more success. They've won it before. There are, you know, I joked the other, the other day with a friend on air that if you're sitting at a Blue Jays game right now and you know you're with your son or I don't know, nephew or I don't have kids, so I'm there with my nephew or something like that. If you are Talking about the 92, 93 team as your core memories, they're going to be like, okay Grandpa, but for someone like me, I'm going to be talking about 2015, 2016. Those teams that went to the. Yeah, Jose Batista, Edwin Encarnacion, Marco Estrada, because those are. I was alive during the World Series, but I wasn't old enough to like, I have no recollection of it whatsoever. So those are kind of my core ones. And you know, they'd be like, instead of okay Grandpa, be like, okay unk. Like, you know, so there's, I think the, the Blue Jays because they own the summer, because they are truly like across Canada brand. No disrespect to those Mariners fans in bc, but the Jays are a pretty national brand and because they've had success in 92, 93, because even though they didn't win the World Series, those 2015, 2016 teams were really special. There is like a multi generational aspect to this that I think is really cool and adds to the vibe in the city as well. For me personally, this is awesome. Like I don't, you know, like as a kid you, you dream of obviously playing in these things. Not. But I'm, you know, 5 foot, I was a 5 foot 10 defenseman in hockey. I'm not, I'm not going anywhere with that. Like my, my dad's five foot three. I'm not making it to the majors or the NHL. So you know, this is, it's unbelievable that I'm going to cover a World Series game later this weekend that's really special. I got to cover the Raptors championship. So to get the double dip on those feels like unfair almost. So it's awesome. It's so cool. Like my dad's out in Newfoundland and those games don't start till 9:30 at night and he's not really a big baseball guy, but he's staying up to watch all those. And you're seeing these videos of, of Vladimir Guerrero Jr's hometown in the Dominican Republic doing watch alongs the same way, you know, we did all over Canada for the Raptors championship run. And it's just, it's struck me a couple times that like the memories I had watching the bat flip with friends or whatever, like everyone is creating a whole bunch of Those now and 5, 10, 15, 25 years from now, everyone is going to be talking about the moment that we're in right now. That's so cool. As a baseball fan, a sports fan, and the fact that I get to be a part of that as media and like some people's experience with this is listening to my show or see me on Blue Jays Central pregame or whatever. It's, it's so special. It's. Yeah, it's unbelievable. I can't believe I'm covering a World Series game. Later.

Jamie Poisson (29:40)

Blake, thank you and good luck, Good luck this weekend. And you got to come back, you got to come back on the show as this moves along. Promise.

Blake Murphy (29:49)

Yeah. Tell you this, if they win the World Series, I will do. I'm just going to set up my, my laptop and zoom and I'll do every podcast on the planet. I'll show. But yes, you first. Absolutely.

Jamie Poisson (30:00)

Thank you. Okay. And for people listening, it's the sportsnet Blue Jays podcast, Jay's Talk plus, so you can, you can follow that. Okay. Have a good one. Thank you, Blake.

Blake Murphy (30:11)

Thanks so much.

John Schneider (30:13)

Okay. Okay, Blue J, Blue J, let's, let's play ball.

Jamie Poisson (30:29)

All right, that is all for today. Front Burner was produced this week by Joytha Shangupta, Matthew Amha, Matt Muse, Lauren Donnelly, cecilia Armstrong, Sam McNulty, Dave Modi, and MacKenzie Cameron. Our YouTube producer is John Lee. Music is by Joseph Shabazin. Our senior producer is Elaine Chao. Our executive producer is Nick McKay Blocos. And I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening. Go Blue Jays. And we'll talk to you guys on Monday.

Jess (31:02)

For more CBC Podcasts, go to CBC CA Podcasts.