Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be the first and last person in sports history to wear a symbol of failure on the biggest day of his career.  He walked into Rogers Center for a do-or-die Game 7 of the ALCS wearing an Auston Matthews jersey against the Seattle Mariners. Vladdy Jr., who was in Toronto for his entire career and always sponsored the city, it looked like a simple city spirit. But for the Toronto fans, it was their last choice to turn to the Toronto Maple Leafs for good luck.  Why?

That simple white jersey represented decades of sporting heartbreak. The Maple Leafs, a legendary NHL franchise, have not won another Stanley Cup since 1967.

They didn’t even appear in the Final in all that time. And in Matthews’ era, they’ve lost all three Game 7s they’ve played where Matthews had scored exactly zero goals. And yet, the Blue Jays won. They beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 and punched their ticket to the Fall Classic. 

“I think Vladdy broke the curse by wearing Auston Matthews’ jersey here today,” manager John Schneider told reporters after the win. And the story came full circle the very next day when Auston Matthews arrived at his own game wearing a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. jersey. Jomboy Media tweeted the video with a caption that read: “Auston Matthews returned the favor today.”

Vladdy, however, did not just break the Leafs’ curse. The Blue Jays carried their own heavy burden, too. They got swept 2-0 in three straight Wild Card trips in the last five years and clinched their first World Series since 1993. And the most painful was from the 2022 AL Wild Card series, where they faced these exact same Seattle Mariners.

After dropping their first game, they had a lead of  8-1 early in Game 2 at home. Then came one of the worst collapses in baseball history, and the Jays eventually lost the game 9-10 at the end. 

So, why did Vladdy risk it all?  This was not random, of course. It was likely a response to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, who arrived in Toronto wearing Mariners jerseys to support their baseball neighbor. In that sense, Vladdy’s response set the stage before..

The Jays snatched the pennant right out of Seattle’s hands

The Blue Jays’ run to the pennant almost ended before it started. They lost the first two games of the ALCS at home to the Mariners, just like the 2022 postseason. The team’s MVP, Vladdy Jr., went 0-for-7 in those first two contests where the Mariners completely outscored the second-favorite team in the league.  Then the Jays battled back in their away game at Seattle and crushed the Mariners 13-4 and 8-2 in back-to-back Game 3 and 4.

Then, in Game 5, the momentum shifted back to Seattle when their superstar catcher Cal Raleigh tied the game in the eighth inning and Eugenio Suárez opened the game with a grand slam. The Mariners won 6-2, pushing Toronto back to the brink of elimination.

The Blue Jays returned home for a do-or-die Game 6. Rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage gave them a brilliant start on the mound, and Vladdy added his sixth postseason home run to win the game 6-2. That forces the series to a season-decider Game 7, where Seattle built a 3-1 lead, thanks to home runs from Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh, and just eight outs away from their first-ever World Series.

Then, the bottom of the seventh inning changed Toronto sports history. After a walk and a single, George Springer stepped to the plate. Springer, who was playing on an injured knee and hit the first homer of the series,  hit a three-run go-ahead home run into left field that made the score 4-3. And at the end, Closer Jeff Hoffman slammed the door for the Blue Jays that broke their cursed past.