This isn't even the first World Series this decade to have a heroic game from a guy from Southern New Jersey with an iconic mustache. Cause we already had Zac Gallen a few years ago, he's from Somerdale, which is two towns over from me. I go to Somerdale to get my tomato plants at the beginning of the season, there's a nice place there. And now we've got Davis Schneider, who's from Berlin [not that Berlin, that's Max Kepler I think], which is like 3 towns from me, and went to Eastern Regional H.S., which isn't far from me at all. In fact, Schneider apparently did a clinic for a family friend's kid when he was in high school. This kid's currently a D3 college athlete, and Schneider, being local and all, helped out and gave some pointers during the offseason. Apparently he's a great dude from a great family.
And tonight he hit a leadoff home run in the World Series against Blake Snell, followed swiftly by another homer by his teammate, Vladimir Guerrero. Far from Eastern, right? Far from...okay I was gonna name some defunct Voorhees area landmarks and then it dawned on me that Schneider won't remember any of them cause he's four years younger than me. No use digging up the spirit of Echo Pizza, or the old diner across the street from Office Depot [which is now an Urgent Care, and the Office Depot is now a pickle ball court]. He probably doesn't even remember back far enough to when the Ritz Plaza had two record stores instead of just the one. Damn, I am getting old, even as one of the youngest bloggers still blogging.
But yes, Schneider got to be a hero tonight against a tough Dodgers team, which is a testament to the Jays' mentality of, being, to quote Ernie Clement paraphrasing Herb Brooks, 'a team of uncommon men'. And that's the perfect way of putting this Jays team, they are UNCOMMON. It would be common if the team that slugged the most, or had the most stars, or paid the most money, triumphed. That's a common ending. But what would be uncommon is if the team that had the most players specifically made for this moment, and the most performers at the absolute best time to strike, ended up winning. If a championship could be won by guys like Davis Schneider and Trey Yesavage and Addison Barger and Ernie Clement and, yes, Vlad and Bo and Bieber and Scherzer. Sometimes the best man for the job isn't the best player in baseball. Sometimes it's better to be useful and timely than it is to be 'the best'. And this is a very efficient, and timely, Jays team.
And tonight, Trey Yesavage was once again right on time, having a terrific start, going 7 strong with 12 Ks, including a golden sombrero for Tuesday's hero Freddie Freeman, and only allowing 1 run on a solo shot from Enrique Hernandez. Naturally. Yesavage is showing all of the ace qualities of someone 10 years his senior, and he's doing it right now, before any rookie cards of his can be released. It'd be incredible if he has an entire career of performances like this, but it'd be just as incredible if everything lined up for him to be this good for a short enough stretch to net the Blue Jays a ring.
So now, the Jays have the leverage once more heading back to Toronto. They win, it's over. They just need to get through Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which will not be easy whatsoever, especially with the prospect of Kevin Gausman taking the start for Toronto. This could go to 7 if they can't crack Yamamoto. But if they somehow can...that'll be a really satisfying ending to this series, and this season.
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