The Blue Jays are a serious threat to the Cubbies.

Now that Toronto has swept Texas and knocked the Rangers out of the baseball playoffs for the second straight year, are we ready to admit the Blue Jays are a team, perhaps the only team, capable of beating the Chicago Cubs, especially with the home-field advantage the American League has in the World Series?

Toronto has home run bombers all over its lineup, from Encarnacion to Bautista to Donaldson to Tulowitzski to Saunders to Martin – six players with at least 20 homers during the regular season. Their starting pitching is as deep as any team with Estrada, Happ, Dukie Stroman, Sanchez and Dickey, and their bullpen is solid if not spectacular.

Most importantly, after struggling during certain pockets of the regular season, the Jays are now playing their best baseball, hitting their stride at exactly the right time. They won two out of three in Boston to secure the wildcard home field and went to Texas, where the Rangers had the best record in the American League, and won the first game with slugging and the second game with defense and pitching.

Then they went home to the thunderous Sky Dome, or Rogers Center, and outlasted the Rangers in extras to sweep the ALDS and earn a nice rest to get their rotation set for the AL championship series that begins this weekend. Whether plucky Cleveland, or even if the Red Sox pull a miracle comeback, the Jays will be favored because they have the best all-around team of all remaining in the American League.

And getting to play four at home and only three at Wrigley Field, you have to love their chances to win their first World Series in, what, 30 years? The Cubs have become America’s team, sentimental favorites to break the curse of the Billy Goat. And I, for one, will be pulling for them. But I’ve seen the Jays at their best, and their best is as good as the Cubbies best. If that turns out to be the match-up, what a World Series it will be.

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Baseball In October
The wildcard games were wild; that’s October baseball. Ever since Major League Baseball added a second wildcard team, the do-or-die play-in games have been tense, taut entries into the postseason playoffs. Two teams, with the fourth-and fifth-best records in each league, playing one game to get in. This year, the six division races were over […]
Former UNC Pitcher Adam Warren Traded to Chicago Cubs
On the second day of Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, the New York Yankees made a deal to send former UNC standout Adam Warren to the Chicago Cubs, along with Yankees’ second baseman Brendan Ryan, in exchange for Cubs’ infielder Starlin Castro. Warren, who grew up in New Bern, NC, played three years for the […]
On the Porch: Tom Wolf - Baseball in the Roaring Twenties
This Week: Thomas Wolf is the author of The Called Shot: Babe Ruth, the Chicago Cubs, and the Unforgettable Major League Baseball Season of 1932 (Nebraska, 2020), finalist for the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research, and coauthor, with Patricia Bryan, of Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America’s Heartland.
Chansky's Notebook: Long Night Home
The Dodgers won the third game of the World Series Monday night in 18 innings, tying for the longest game in post-season history.
Chansky's Notebook: Wild Cards
Art Chansky provides his predictions for Major League Baseball's four Wild Card series, which begin Tuesday afternoon.
Chansky's Notebook: Playoff Fireworks
Major League Baseball's 162-game regular season may be a bit too long, but the playoffs always seem to deliver.
Shohei Ohtani Surpasses 50-50 Milestone in Spectacular Fashion With a 3-Homer, 2-Steal Game
Written by ALANIS THAMES Shohei Ohtani looked up at a visiting crowd that turned out to cheer him and the Los Angeles Dodgers — and ended up getting to witness one of the greatest individual performances, and seasons, in major league history. Fans lifted their phones to capture the moment and chanted “M-V-P!” as Ohtani […]
Chansky's Notebook: Major League Melting Pot
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Minorities who are in the minority are dominant in professional baseball. More than 70 percent of the Major League ballplayers are white, and some […]
Koh's Notebook: Pitch, Please
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Major League Baseball may have finally gotten something right. Since taking the MLB commissioner job in 2015, it’s safe to say Rob Manfred hasn’t […]
Chansky's Notebook: There Goes the Judge?
Why Aaron Judge may stay in New York, but with the Mets. As we head into a historic Major League Baseball playoff, with six teams from each league contending for World Series spots, the Yankees remain the biggest story of them all. And it’s all about their biggest name and body and what he’ll do […]
›