With HUGE homer, hobbled Springer has biggest moment as a Blue Jay

SEATTLE -- George Springer just had a moment that will live forever in Toronto.

With one of the biggest home runs in franchise history, Springer put the Blue Jays ahead in the seventh inning, sending them to a 4-3 win Monday night in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre.

Springer bounced up the line, screaming into the air as the towering three-run shot sailed out to left field, just like Joe Carter skipped up that line 32 years ago. Now, because of Springer, the Blue Jays are headed back to the World Series for the first time since Carter touched ‘em all in 1993.

“I love this team. I’ll do anything for these guys,” Springer said, the stadium celebrating around him. “I’ll do anything to try to play. I love this place.”

This is the moment for which Springer was brought to Toronto five years ago. This is what the Blue Jays dreamed of when they signed Springer to a six-year, $150 million deal, which signaled to the rest of baseball that the club was ready to spend big and win big around its young core of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. It has taken some time, but with one swing, it was all worth it.

One after another, the Blue Jays’ veterans said that a moment like this is why they came to Toronto. Kevin Gausman, who pitched the top of the seventh out of the bullpen before Springer’s big moment, even said that Springer already being with this organization was part of what drew him to Toronto. He knew Springer could do this.

“There was a group of us inside [the clubhouse], and we went crazy. We went absolutely crazy. We destroyed a small part of the clubhouse inside,” Gausman said, “but it was awesome. George is an unbelievable player. For him to do that, how banged up he is right now, that’s who he is. He’s just such a big-time player in a big-time spot.”

All postseason, the Blue Jays have rolled out stars from the 2015 and ‘16 teams for ceremonial first pitches. We’ve seen Russell Martin, Kevin Pillar, Edwin Encarnación, Josh Donaldson, José Bautista and Marco Estrada, all of whom were part of teams we’ve celebrated for a decade in this city, but those teams stalled out in the ALCS. Springer won’t just be celebrated in this city, he’ll be held up among the Blue Jays’ legends, especially if Toronto can take down the mighty Dodgers.

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It’s different to have a moment like this playing for the Blue Jays. A new life opens up. For the next 50 years, Springer will have invitations to appear at banquets and celebrity golf tournaments in Nova Scotia, in Quebec, in Alberta, in British Columbia. He was already a great baseball player and a solid Blue Jay, but now he’s a Canadian icon.

“You feel so many emotions, mainly for him and the season he’s had, but what it meant for this country with one swing of the bat,” said manager John Schneider. “He’s the heart and soul of our team. Him and Vlad are just the heavy lifters. It’s so cool that they both got their moments tonight.”

After the Blue Jays celebrated on the field, with Guerrero being named ALCS MVP after a brilliant performance, the party spilled into the clubhouse and makeshift night club that has been built outside. Springer, who might not wear a shirt for the next 48 hours, was in the middle of everything, bouncing and dancing and drenching everyone he could find.

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There comes a moment after every one of these celebrations, though, when the players collapse, exhausted, into a chair, a couch or the arms of their family. Springer didn’t want it to end. He was one of the last players out on the field, his parents and family with him. These moments are so rare, and with Springer’s experience, he knows you need to cherish them.

“I had a headache from screaming,” Springer said. “I remember just how loud the stadium was, obviously watching the Bautista moment over and over again. It felt like it was that loud. I wasn’t there for that, but it’s an incredible moment.”

Let the debates begin. This might be the second-biggest home run in Blue Jays history behind Carter’s, which is hard to beat as one of the greatest moments in baseball history. Springer will be frozen in time, the video of him bouncing up that first-base line, forever.

Springer’s home run was the first go-ahead homer while trailing by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later in Game 7 history. The Blue Jays had played in only one Game 7 before in their 49-year history, a loss in the 1985 ALCS to the Royals.

A new generation of Blue Jays fans has its core memory now. Bautista’s bat flip defined one generation of baseball in Toronto and in Canada, but Springer’s moment just defined another.