Blue Jays Partying Like It’s 1993
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of toronto.bluejays.mlb.com
The Toronto Blue Jays have found themselves in a similar position against the Kansas City Royals.
Toronto lost the first two games in the American League Championship Series’ best of seven matchups in Kansas City.
They are trailing the Royals 2-1 and are trying to tie the series today.
So far, they are losing 12-2 with the matchup in the bottom of the eighth inning.
If you are a casual baseball fan who are into post-season baseball, you might believe that Toronto have no chance of tying the series.
If you are a Blue Jay fan, you believe that Toronto can pull off a comeback to win the series and advance to the World Series.
Who can blame the fans of Toronto for feeling optimistic about winning the series.
The Blue Jays faced a similar situation in the American League Divisional Series best of five matchup against the Texas Rangers.
Toronto lost the first two games in their own stadium against the Rangers.
They had the most difficult task of going to the Dallas-Ft.Worth area facing elimination to win two consecutive games to bring the crucial game 5 back to their city.
Not only did they survive elimination twice, they thrived in both of those matchups with 5-1 and 8-4 victories, respectively.
That set up the crucial Game 5 in Toronto.
The atmosphere in Toronto was electric because it was the first time they were in the post-season since 1993 when they won the World Series.
Texas had taken a 3-2 lead in one of the strangest plays in post-season history.
With a runner on third base, the catcher was trying to throw back the baseball to the pitcher after and it hit Shin-Soo Choo’s bat and went into fair territory.
That became a live baseball and allowed the runner to score.
Though the umpires first ruled the baseball dead, they look at the replay and saw that the baseball was fair play and they overturned the first call to upheld the lead at 3-2.
The Blue Jays could have complained about the misfortune of that baseball play and give up.
However, they knew that they had the opportunity to take the lead and win.
The Blue Jays chipped away and was able to tie the game at 3 courtesy of three errors.
Then Jose Bautista delivered a 3-run moonshot to give them a 6-3 lead and cause the fans at Rogers Centre to erupt.
The moonshot from Bautista completed the most epic comeback that allowed the Blue Jays to be in this series against the Royals.
What we can learn from the Blue Jays is it is never over until it is over.
You might feel down and out because you did not get that dream work whether with a public relations firm or got rejected from the dream university.
Just because you feel down about the rejection from the dream work or university does not mean that it is the end of the world.
In the same way like the Toronto Blue Jays, you must keep the faith and believe that everything will work for the better.
When you have that positive believe and put in the hard work and be patient, the doors will open for you to succeed for the better.
In the same way that the Blue Jays fans erupted for joy after the moonshot by Bautista, your true fans will explode with applause when they see you succeed.
The Most Inspirational Moments of 2015
By Cheval John
Two sports moments stood out to me in 2015 that inspired us to keep on pushing towards achieving our dreams for the better.
The two sports moments that I am chatting about is the Toronto Blue Jays comeback win against the Texas Rangers in the American League Divisional Series and Holly Holm’s shocking win against Rhonda Rousey.
THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS
The Toronto Blue Jays was facing an 0-2 deficit after losing the first two matchups against the Texas Rangers in their home city.
The Rangers had everything going for them because they take away the Blue Jays’ home field advantage with an opportunity to return back to the American League Championship series for the first time since 2011 on their second consecutive run to the World Series.
It is rare for team who have been down 0-2 in a best of five playoff series come back and win the series.
Toronto was looking to pull off three consecutive wins against the Rangers and join the 2012’s San Francisco Giants, who came from behind to win their divisional series and later the World Series.
Not only did they accomplished the task of winning those two games in Arlington, Texas, they outplayed the Rangers 13-5 to return to Toronto in a winner takes all Game 5.
The Rangers got a huge gift in the top of the seventh inning.
With a runner on third base and the scored tied at 2, Russell Martin’s routine throw back to the pitcher hit off the bat of Shin-Shoo Choo and into fair territory that made it a live baseball and allowed the third run to score.
The gift run should have given Texas the opportunity to put Toronto out of their misery.
That was when the craziness began in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Rangers committed three uncharacteristic errors on routine plays that loaded the bases.
After Josh Donaldson’s blooped fielder’s choice play tied the score at three, Jose Bautista came up to bat.
With a energetic crowd sensing that something great was going to happen, Bautista delivered the go-ahead three-run moonshot heard around Toronto and Canada.
Note: The home run happened around the 15:55 of this YouTube video by Major League Baseball
The Blue Jays were able to prevent a possible rally by Texas in the top of the eight inning and cruised towards an epic comeback series win.
HOLLY HOLM
Many did not believe that Rhonda Rousey was going to lose the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight against Holly Holm.
Entering this matchup, Rousey was undefeated and held the championship belt in her three year reign in UFC.
Holm was a former boxer and had only fought twice in the UFC since joining their organization in 2014.
It seemed as if she was not ready for the spotlight because she had not had many fights in the UFC like Rousy.
And only once that Rousey went past the first round in a UFC fight before the matchup with Ms. Holm.
Holm took Rousey past the first round and did the impossible when she landed a left kick to Rousey’s face and pinned her to the ground.
Short video courtesy of Dreist Studio
The win by Holm sent shockwaves around the world.
And what is even more impressive about Ms. Holm is that she has remained humble despite the sudden fame.
So there you have it, the two sports moments that stood out in 2015.
If you are searching for inspiration when you think that you will not achieve your dreams for the better, look at these two sports moments of 2015.
Because if the Toronto Blue Jays and Holly Holm can overcome the odds to be successful for the better, then anyone can follow their lead in achieving success that will make a positive impact on the world.
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