The American League Championship series opened up on Sunday night in Toronto with the Seattle Mariners visiting the Toronto Blue Jays. The hockey-crazed city is now all focused on their Jays who have the chance to bring a championship to Toronto. That’s something the Maple Leafs haven’t done since 1967, for those of you who keep track, or for those of you who love the epic trolling of the Leafs’ faithful.
The scoring was opened by Toronto's George Springer with a first inning home solo run. Observant viewers might have taken notice of his batting gloves. Springer has been wearing teal blue and green gloves that might look familiar to us hockey history enthusiasts. They are based off the famous color scheme of the Hartford Whalers.
Springer, who won the 2017 World Series with the Houston Astros under controversial circumstances and was named World Series MVP, grew up just outside of Hartford in New Britain, Connecticut. He was seven when the Whalers left Connecticut for Carolina to become the Hartford Whalers. His Whalers fandom is well known, and he has been seen wearing Whalers apparel throughout his playing career. A young Blue Jays fan even asked Springer to sign a Whalers hat for her last spring training.
For the 2023 MLB season he even tried to use the Whalers famous “Brass Bonanza” as his walk up music at Rogers Centre. In a 2021 interview with SportsNet, Springer said he attended Whalers games as a kid with his father and has the NHL television package to be able to watch games at home. He hasn’t officially said if he roots for any current NHL team or if he’s still loyal to the whale. He did root for the Boston Red Sox growing up for baseball, so perhaps his fandom went to the former rival Boston Bruins, but we don't know for sure.
The Hockey Hall of Fame noticed Springer’s gloves. Before the Jays' last playoff series against the New York Yankees the Hockey Hall of Fame officially requested that he donate them to the museum. Springer said he would at the end of his playing season, whenever it ends for the Blue Jays. He had been wearing the Whalers tribute gloves all season. His Blue Jays lost on Sunday night and find themselves down in the American League Championship series 1-0 to Seattle. Then again, losing playoff series is something Toronto fans have too much experience with.