It was one of those moments where you had to pinch yourself just to be sure it was real.
It just doesn’t get any better than this in the city of Toronto.
And the capacity crowd after Rogers Centre standing ovation, watching Trey Yesavage throw the opening pitch of the World Series to Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was just one of those rare moments people will never forget.
If you consider the last five years of pandemic war and protests, finally some good news – something to cheer and be excited about.
This magical night was a long time in the making.
O Canada pic.twitter.com/wewiiH6v3o
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) October 25, 2025
It was loud inside the Dome and it was feverish outside of the stadium prior to the game.
Fans understood they needed to savour the moment. It has been a lot of decades since baseball fans in Toronto experienced anything like this.
And one guy who knows that more than anybody is Rock’n Rick Donaldson , the longtime drummer who busks outside of the Rogers Centre before and after games and is in his final homestand of a 36-year-run of banging those drums and yelling, “Let’s go Blue Jays!”
In many ways, no one in a Blue Jays uniform has hit harder or louder than Donaldson.
“I knew it was time to retire and I couldn’t think of a more perfect time with the team in the World Series that I hope they can end with a win,” he said.
Donaldson doesn’t know what he’ll do on game nights in the summer going forward, but he suspect he’ll spend some time with his grandkids and watch a little bit of Blue Jays on the TV.
He has helped create an atmosphere down there since 1989 – on good days and bad days. But there’s no problem creating atmosphere now – people are very enthusiastic.
Many fans were getting photos with the Toronto Police horse Bluejay, who was all decked out with his glove and Blue Jays ball cap along with the Budweiser Clydesdale, TOM, which marked what an important event this is around the world.
Whether it’s Ontario Premier Doug Ford making a bet with California Governor Gavin Newsom, or you people travelling to the city from all over the world, there’s no better time to showcase Toronto.
And man oh man have they done a good job so far.
Hat’s off to Toronto Police Staff-Sgt. Jeff MacDuff who ran a tight ship Friday night to ensure everybody got in and out safely while having a good time.
It was a night of greatness.
An amazing choir to sing the national anthems and the first pitch being thrown out by legendary Blue Jays’ World Series-winning manager Cito Gaston.
It just doesn’t get any better than this.
The only thing that could top it would be if the Blue Jays can win the World Series .
What a party that would be.
