The Toronto Blue Jays stand one win away from their first World Series appearance in decades, yet ESPN analysts have already written their obituary. Despite clawing back from a 2-0 deficit to force Game 7 against the Seattle Mariners, the Blue Jays find themselves dismissed by the very network covering their historic run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who leads all postseason players with six home runs and a staggering 1.532 OPS, watches as pundits ignore his dominance and pick against his team.

ESPN’s Bradford Castillo delivered the first blow with a dismissal rooted in stubbornness rather than analysis. “I picked Seattle to win the World Series before the season began so I’m not going to deviate from that even though the Blue Jays have been the better team since dropping the first two games of this series,” Castillo wrote. He admitted that Toronto played better, but he still stuck to his prediction that the Mariners would win 6–4. Guerrero Jr.’s great postseason play is now just a footnote in someone else’s preseason bracket.

Jeff Passan followed with a more measured but equally deflating take. “The coin-flip nature of postseason baseball is personified by the record of home teams in winner-takes-all games: 71-67,” Passan explained, giving Seattle a narrow bullpen advantage. “With Andrés Muńoz able to work multiple innings after two days’ rest and Hoffman coming off a 35-pitch outing, though, the edge tilts ever so slightly in Seattle’s favor,” he wrote. Passan thought the Mariners would win 3-2 and make it to their first World Series, ignoring the fact that Toronto had won two in a row by clinching the sixth game of the series 6-2.

The Toronto Blue Jays are at home for Game 7, where they have already shown their strength by forcing this important game. Guerrero Jr. has 12 RBIs and 18 hits this postseason, which shows that he is playing at a championship level. Ernie Clement has the second-most hits among active playoff players, and Bo Bichette gives the team some veteran stability. And now, Toronto is on the brink of rewriting history heading into Game 7.

History beckons as Blue Jays prepare for the ultimate test

The numbers support Toronto’s confidence going into the big game on Monday. The 6-2 win over Seattle on Sunday at Rogers Centre led to this winner-takes-all moment, which set up a rematch between Shane Bieber and George Kirby. These two pitchers faced off again in Game 3, and Toronto put on a show that Seattle won’t soon forget.

The Blue Jays blew out the Mariners 13-4 in Game 3, hitting five home runs and four doubles in a display of offensive firepower that set new records. Seattle’s pitchers gave up statistical lines that had never been seen before in MLB history, either in the regular season or the postseason. If Toronto gets back even a little bit of that power, the Mariners will have to fight a battle that few teams have won.

The historical weight makes this contest even more interesting. The 1996 Yankees were the only team to win Game 7 after losing the first two at home, which is exactly what Toronto did. Seattle is in a new situation because they have never played in a Game 7 before in their history. This is a big deal for both teams because Toronto hasn’t been this far since the 1985 ALCS.

One team moves on to play the Dodgers. Seattle is going for their first pennant ever, and Toronto is going for its first World Series appearance since 1993. Monday night brings what both fan bases have been hoping for for years.