The closer you get, the more it hurts, Blue Jays fans

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Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and the Blue Jays celebrate after punching their ticket to the ALCS. (Mark Blinch/CP)

TORONTO – The closer you get, the more it hurts.

For the second straight year, the Toronto Blue Jays were one of just two American League teams left standing on the road to the World Series, and for the second straight year, they fell short of their ultimate goal, leaving fans and players alike in tears.

Before the start of Game 4 of the ALCS, with the Blue Jays down 3-0, Jays’ president and CEO Mark Shapiro said, “We’ve worked very hard all year long to have the chance to suffer like this.”

It’s so true.

For decades, the Blue Jays and their fans never got to feel anything like this. From 1995 to 2014 the Blue Jays had a realistic playoff chance going into the month of September only twice. In the 18 other years, the best they could hope for was either a complete collapse from the multiple teams in front of them or that they could help to spoil the playoff hopes of somebody else.

Back then, we said that all we wanted was the chance to have meaningful games in September. It stung, it was tear-your-hair-out frustrating and then it just became real life. The Blue Jays were going to entertain us with 162 games of good-but-not-good-enough baseball every year and then watch as the Yankees, Red Sox and whoever else got to fight through October in an attempt to win the whole thing.

Then last year’s trade deadline happened. The Blue Jays hardly lost for two months and this whole country caught the fever, but when the highs get higher, the lows get lower.

I was asked earlier this week if it was unfair to the team for fans to be angry and upset about how the ALCS was going, given the fact that the Blue Jays were still playing baseball in the middle of October. Shouldn’t people be thrilled about that, even with the team on the brink of getting swept?

The answer is that the closer you get, the more it hurts.

However, no matter how much it hurts now, the pain will eventually fade.

It’s an incredible accomplishment to get to a League Championship Series in consecutive seasons, and the Blue Jays provided so many memorable moments on their roller-coaster ride to get there this season.

In these playoffs alone, we got Edwin Encarnacion’s extra-inning walk-off in the wild card game and the Jays’ first-ever post-season sweep. That it came over the Texas Rangers, who had the best record in the league and that it ended on a daring dash home by Josh Donaldson thanks to a throwing error by the oh-so-lovable Rougned Odor just made it that much sweeter.

So as we all sit mystified by the fact that the same Blue Jays team that scored 26 runs in its first four playoff games this month only scored eight in its next five, it’s important to try to remember that the hurt will fade and the memories of a very exciting 2016 season will remain.

It also doesn’t hurt to remember that the Blue Jays had the best starters’ ERA in the American League – by almost half a run – and that all of Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, Francisco Liriano, Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman are under contract for next season. Roberto Osuna and Joe Biagini will also be back and the Jays have a cheap option on Jason Grilli that they’re almost certain to pick up.

Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki remain Blue Jays, and so do Russell Martin, Devon Travis and Kevin Pillar.

So even if Jose Bautista and Encarnacion find new homes, much of the core from this season’s squad remains intact.

There’s also the fact the team that just beat the Blue Jays and is headed to the World Series was built under the watchful eye of the man who now runs the show in Toronto.

Try to enjoy the suffering, Blue Jays fans. It only hurts this much because your team is that good, and their window is far from closed.

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