A light that never goes out
Two shots, captured by Star snappers four years apart, capture the agony and the ecstasy of being a Blue Jays fan
As the Jays head to training camp in Florida this week, fans across the city are dusting off their baseball caps — and memories — of their favourite team.
Back in 1988, Tony Frey, pictured above braving the elements at open-air Exhibition Stadium, was a stalwart fan. The early years had been lean ones for the Jays, but fans stuck by them, especially when a move to the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) meant that the weather was no longer an issue. Today, Tony wonders about his younger self: “What was I thinking sitting like that for the rain delay?” The day Tony’s photo was taken, the delay lasted an hour and 47 minutes.
“I went to many Jays games in the Dome,” says Tony, who still cheers for the Jays. “I never got rained on like that again!”
For Toronto musician Jason Wilson, who was among the swelling crowd pictured below on Yonge Street celebrating the Jays’ unforgettable 1992 World Series win, being in the moment was the entire point. Jason and his friends watched the game in his parents’ basement in Downsview. When the Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in Game 6, the group instinctively headed downtown. “We wanted to experience the joy of living the moment together,” recalls Jason. “We were all there, high-fiving and hugging strangers. It was the sweetest thing. There was no sense of anything dangerous; the craziest thing was maybe some guy climbing a street sign. It was Toronto the Good at its best.”
Jason had been a fan of the Jays since their first season in 1977. “I was seven when they started, and they were [crap] for years. When I was 15, they perked up. The initial honeymoon had worn off, and now there was a hint of promise; like, maybe, just maybe, someday something might happen. And then, finally [in 1992], there was this deliverance.”
At that time, an entire generation had gone by without a major sports win — the Canadians had beat the Russians in 1972, and then there was nothing for decades. “The Leafs were even worse than the Jays and the Argos, God love them,” Jason says with a laugh. “We sports nuts were starved. There was no reference for how to feel, how to behave with a major win. Suddenly, a Canadian team won an American sport. And then,” Jason says, his voice rising in excitement at the memory, “we did it again the next year!”