INT. BLUE JAYS MANAGER’S OFFICE — ROGERS CENTRE — DAY
JOHN SCHNEIDER, obviously sunburnt, stands with a clipboard. He clears his throat.
SCHNEIDER
Guys. Can we just — can we do the thing from last year?
You know… Next man up. The jacket thing.
(reading, then abandoning the clipboard)
SCHNEIDER (CONT’D)
That was good. I liked that.
(He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror)
SCHNEIDER (CONT’D)
…maybe we should get a new jacket?
The 2025 Blue Jays were World Series finalists beloved for their La Gente del Barrio attitude. Next man up. Contact. Next batter brings you home. They took the Dodgers to seven games, and they did it in such a likeable way. It was a particular kind of winning — it looked fun. It looked like a team.
They brought back almost all of the same pieces this year. Yet they slumped — under .500 for most of the season. It hasn’t looked fun. It hasn’t looked like much of anything.
It must be frustrating for every level of leadership — to try to will the spirit of last year back into being with everything they’ve got and find it doesn’t work.
The trade deadline came. Beloved pieces went out. New blood came in. Suddenly, there’s a little fun in the dugout. Some smiles. Some next man up. At the time of writing they’ve won 7 of their last 10, and it may very well fall apart again. It feels like random chance that this particular combination of players is sparking — but that’s what leaders, in all of their incarnations, actually control: not the spark, just who’s standing near the match.
This recent winning stretch came with something else. Fog machines. Strobe lights. The clubhouse turning into a nightclub after every win. Nobody in the front office drew that up. The easy move is to shut it down — get back to business, we’re in a wildcard race. The only decision leadership made was not to stop it.
What made last year’s team enchanting was the camaraderie — that’s what had people on their feet. It was a team you can imagine being part of. They were a bunch of individuals doing their jobs and all pulling hard in the same direction. The lesson for leadership isn’t to throw your team a party or get them a new jacket. Leadership’s real job is unglamorous twice over — choose who stands near the match, then have the discipline not to smother the sparks.
h/t to the Yeast Enderz who provided feedback on this post.