'Drenched In Beer and Champagne': Blue Jays Party After 2023 Playoff Clinch

The Blue Jays celebrated their spot in the 2023 MLB postseason with champagne, beer, and a post-game party.

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

First came the cigars, wafting smoke throughout the Blue Jays' clubhouse moments after the final game of Toronto's 2023 regular season. Then came the pop of champagne, corks flying one after another as the celebratory liquid coated every player, coach, and surface in the room.

"Crazy year," manager John Schneider, saluting his team. "Great job everybody, ups and down but we are right where we should be. Let's make a deep f**king run at this. Congratulations to you all."

The Blue Jays entered the 2023 season expecting to compete for the American League East division. They fell 12 games short of that goal, facing injuries, inconsistent offense, and some tough divisional opponents.

So it was only natural that after a season of tumult, the Jays had to battle a few more bumps in the final days, waiting for the Seattle Mariners to lose on Saturday night to solidly their spot in the postseason. It took until the very last minutes of the regular season for the Blue Jays to finally let the party loose.

"It's only fitting, nothing has been easy for us all year," Kevin Kiermaier said. "We're at Game 162 and we're sitting here popping champagne for the first time. And you know that's okay. That's how it is. But you know, now the playoffs start and it's a clean slate. We control our own destiny. It's up to us, and we wouldn't want it any other way."

Whit Merrifield bounced around the clubhouse with a bubbling bottle in his hand, sliding over to every teammate he could find, lifting the champagne, and pouring it into their open mouths.  He soon traded the bottle for a jug of tequila. The 34-year-old utility man embodied the rollercoaster that was the 2023 Blue Jays.

At times Merrifield was the team's hottest player, moving into the leadoff spot to spark the offense. Down the stretch, he went cold and lost his regular spot in the lineup altogether. Merrifield thinks those bumps make this Blue Jays squad "battle-tested," he said, and that's going to matter when the postseason starts on Tuesday.

"You don't always play to the potential that you can," Merrifield said. "But you want to have a team that's able to win even when you're not playing at your best. We did that."

Last year, Toronto's playoff clinch party was the only time the Blue Jays got to pop bottles, with a crushing Wild Card round loss to the Mariners ending any hope of more champagne. There was an aura of unfinished business hanging around this year's party as it moved from the clubhouse onto the field. Schneider acknowledged it, and so did other players. This year, they want more parties to follow.

"We're hungry. I think that's the key, the difference this year compared to other years," Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said through a team interpreter. "We're really hungry and we want to go far in the playoffs."

The Jays will get a chance to unleash that hunger on the Twins on Tuesday when they begin a best-two-of-three Wild Card round in Minnesota. When the first pitch flies at 4:38 ET, the work starts again. But Sunday was a moment to celebrate.

"This is why you play," Schneider said. "To get drenched in beer and champagne is why you do it. I love that the guys get to feel that. There's been guys here for a while that have felt it for a few years now. The next step is feeling it multiple times, as you keep going."