The Toronto Blue Jays really are the talk of baseball heading into the 2015 MLB postseason and for the first time in more than a decade the team is featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Under the headline ‘The New Jacks’ manager John Gibbons and stars David Price, Russell Martin, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson appear on the front of the publication’s MLB playoff preview issue.
It’s a nod of approval to a team that just ended a 22-year post-season drought, but the cover didn’t come as pleasant news to all Blue Jays supporters. Sports fans can be superstitious at times and for some people the SI cover jinx is real.
In October 1987, outfielder Lloyd Moseby was featured on the cover alongside the caption “Toronto Takes Off” but prior to the issue hitting newsstands the Blue Jays unexpectedly wound up collapsing down the stretch and blowing a 3.5 game lead in the AL East, to miss the playoffs entirely.
Not only do the Jays have to deal with a potential SI cover jinx, but they’re already mired in Swift-gate, a perceived hex brought onto sports teams by pop star Taylor Swift. The Jays have gone 0-2 since Swift played a concert at Rogers Centre this past Friday. In July Swift played two concerts in Washington at Nationals Park. After those shows, the Nationals finished the season 35-40 and missed the playoffs. In August, Swift played a show in San Diego and the Padres finished the season 12-21. Then, in early September, she held a show in Houston and the streaking Astros ended up limping into the AL Wild Card game.
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Clearly oddsmakers didn’t take this into consideration when laying out the recent World Series odds, as they’ve got the Blue Jays listed as favourites.
The Blue Jays open the ALDS against the Texas Rangers Thursday at Rogers Centre with David Price slated to take the mound.
Here is a look at previous issues of SI that featured Blue Jays on the cover.
