Blue Jays celebrate return to playoffs with wild clubhouse party (VIDEOS/PHOTOS)

Oct 1 2022, 4:40 pm

The Toronto Blue Jays are poppin’ bottles. 

The Blue Jays celebrated accordingly after a 9-0 drubbing of the Boston Red Sox, their first on-field activity since clinching a berth in the 2022 MLB playoffs. The ticket puncher didn’t come in the win — instead, it came via a Baltimore Orioles loss at Boston the previous afternoon — but that didn’t dampen the celebration. 

“This party was scheduled and whether we won or lost. For me, it was let’s have a good time, but with a win, you know?” said pitcher Alek Manoah, according to Sportsnet. “I feel like it would have been really terrible to get our butt kicked out there and then have to come and party. The biggest thing was being able to just lock it in and make sure that the win comes first and then the party comes after.”

What started on field quickly turned into champagne showers in the clubhouse, with the team first blasting Endor’s “Pump It Up” on the speakers before pivoting to “Hot” by Daddy Yankee and Pitbull.

“This is what we work for all year, all offseason,” Manoah told Daily Hive this week in an exclusive interview.  “Everyone goes into spring training with aspirations to win a World Series. And, you know, five, six, months later, we’re right here, we’re in the driver’s seat.”

Toronto, who sits 88-69 on the season, holds the first wild card into the playoffs from the American League and will be heading to the American League Wild Card series against either Tampa Bay or Seattle, which kicks off next Friday, with (up to) three games all being played in the same city. 

Game 1 would be on Friday, October 7; Game 2 on Saturday, October 8; and an “if-necessary” Game 3 on Sunday, October 9.

The winner of each of the two Wild Card series in each league will then move on to face the top divisional winners.

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