Brought closer by playoff fever, Blue Jays fans find ways to move on

When the Blue Jays’ season ended in heartbreak on Saturday, Khela Maquiling was surprised to find herself sobbing outside a Toronto bar. 

The 30-year-old web designer had only started watching the playoffs to bond with her baseball-loving partner, but somewhere along the way she fell for the game — and for the nightly ritual that brought them closer.

As the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 win in 11 innings to capture Game 7 of the World Series against the Jays, Maquiling watched from the Drake Hotel with her boyfriend, caught up in the anguish that rippled across the city. The game drew an average audience of 10.9 million viewers on Sportsnet.

“I just started crying and I shocked myself because I didn’t think I was a sports person until that moment,” the Toronto resident recalls.

“And then my boyfriend turns to me and he’s like, ‘I am so grateful that I got to experience this entire post-season with you,’” she adds, choking up.

With her partner moving to Switzerland soon for work, watching the Jays’ playoff run had become a cherished routine, making the loss especially bittersweet.

“I’ve been coping in not the smartest way, because I keep watching videos of Vladdy (Guerrero Jr.) looking sad after the game.”

For many Toronto fans, the Jays’ post-season was more than baseball — it was a reason to gather with friends, family and partners night after night. Now, with the season concluding in crushing defeat, fans like Maquiling are left navigating the quiet, reflecting on the shared experience and figuring out how to fill the sudden void.

For Guy Felicella, a 56-year-old Vancouver father of two, the post-season became a multi-generational ritual, sparking a newfound love of the game in his youngest son, five-year-old Leo.

“He’s just became a fanatic. He loves Bo Bichette. He started asking all these questions about how to play the game. It was such a good bonding experience for me,” says the public speaker.

Felicella watched every game with Leo and his 11-year-old brother, Noah, with the kids even staying up through the 16th inning of Game 3’s 18-inning thriller against the Dodgers.

When the Jays lost Game 7, Felicella says he was “devastated.”

“I just turned the TV off. I didn’t want to see any of it.”

Thankfully, his sons have taken the Jays loss pretty well. They’ve been filling the void by watching NHL games. But Felicella says he can’t get invested in any sport quite like baseball: “It’s 162 regular season games a year, hockey’s like 82. When you get locked into that, it takes a physical and mental toll.” 

Leo, meanwhile, is optimistic about next season. He’s looking forward to attending his first Jays game.

“After the loss, I tucked him into bed and he still had his Jays hat on. He told me he loved me. I mean, that’s it right there. He’ll be a Jays fan for life, but the most important thing is it brought us so close.”

While Leo is just discovering the thrill of playoff baseball, Cecilia Reyes has been there for it all. At 94, she’s been following the Jays for decades, attending games whenever she could and watching every post-season since she moved to Canada in 1973. She saw the Jays win back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993, and was hopeful they could recreate that magic.

“I’ve been watching the game a long time and I love the Jays very much, but I’m so disappointed that we lost,” says Reyes, who was born in Trinidad.

She followed all the playoff games with her daughter and son-in-law, cheering when the Jays hit dingers, and quietly mourning with them when the team fell behind. 

“Whenever we won, we would laugh, jump up, clap our hands,” she says.

“We were very, very sad when we lost. But I told my family, ‘This is how games are. You have to have a loser and a winner.’”

Reyes says she’ll be occupying her time by rooting for the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs.

“I love sports. Any game that they have on the TV, I’ll be looking at it.”

Still, the Jays hold a special place in her heart. She’s already counting down the days until spring training.

“I hope that the good Lord gives me life to see them play again next year,” she says.

“If they keep practising, learn from their loss and put in their best efforts, I think good things will happen.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2025.