By Frank Pingue
TORONTO (Reuters) -The Toronto Blue Jays have crashed baseball's biggest party and will have the support of an entire nation when they face the star-studded and deep-pocketed Los Angeles Dodgers in a World Series played amid ongoing Canada-U.S. political tension.
After 32 years in baseball's wilderness, Canada's lone MLB team reached baseball's biggest stage with a come-from-behind win over the Seattle Mariners in the decisive seventh game of the American League Championship Series
on Monday.
Canadian support for the Blue Jays goes beyond the fact that they will be facing the Dodgers, the defending champions and a team painted as the proverbial villain given they boast some of the game's biggest stars and one of MLB's highest payrolls.
There is also national pride at stake.
If Toronto are crowned World Series champions in a sport long considered as America's pastime, it would be celebrated across a country whose economy has come under strain given the impact of tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States.
Shortly after the final out in Monday's game and with a champagne-soaked party in the Toronto clubhouse far from over, Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke about the possibility of the World Series narrative turning into Canada versus America rather than just the Blue Jays versus Dodgers.
"We'll see. I know it will be the Blue Jays versus the Dodgers. That's kind of how we're going to look at it, knowing that we have a whole country behind us," said Schneider.
"But I'm not quite sure how that will unfold. But I know that these guys in there know that they're representing the country too."
George Springer, still hobbled by the fastball that hit his right kneecap and forced him out of Game Five of the ALCS, hit a late three-run homer that put Toronto in the World Series for the first time since they won the second of back-to-back titles in 1993.
The home run cemented Springer's place in Blue Jays lore and turned the tide in a 4-3 victory that formed the basis for the first question asked to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney when he met with reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.
"What a game. I mean, unbelievable. Unbelievable," said Carney. "It's absolutely clutch. Springer coming through with one knee and then getting it closed out... It was fantastic, and I'm super excited. I'm out of breath."
Toronto will host the first two games of the World Series on Friday and Saturday before the action shifts to Los Angeles for games on Monday, Tuesday and, if needed, Wednesday. If the series goes further, the games will be in Toronto.
Schneider said it was a special feeling to have an entire country rooting for you.
"We're the only team that gets to experience that, and we're the only team that has the following that we do and the viewership that we do," said Schneider.
"I think guys don't realize that sometimes. But from coast to coast to have this team to grasp on to is really cool."
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was named Most Valuable Player of the ALCS, felt there was "no pressure at all" for the Blue Jays even though they are carrying the hopes of a nation.
"So when you have a country -- that you know you represent a country, you want to give everything you have for your country," said Guerrero, who was born in Canada and raised in the Dominican Republic. "I mean, you feel proud of it. You feel very proud of it, and you want to continue."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Additional reporting by David LjunggrenEditing by Toby Davis)
