When the Blue Jays’ season resulted in heartbreak on Saturday, Khela Maquiling was surprised to search out herself sobbing outside a Toronto bar.
The 30-year-old web designer had only began watching the playoffs to bond together with her baseball-loving partner, but somewhere along the best way she fell for the sport — and for the nightly ritual that brought them closer.
Because the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 win in 11 innings to capture Game 7 of the World Series against the Jays, Maquiling watched from the Drake Hotel together with her boyfriend, caught up within the anguish that rippled across town. The sport drew a median audience of 10.9 million viewers on Sportsnet.
“I just began crying and I shocked myself because I didn’t think I used to be a sports person until that moment,” the Toronto resident recalls.
“After which my boyfriend turns to me and he’s like, ‘I’m so grateful that I got to experience this complete post-season with you,’” she adds, choking up.
Together with her partner moving to Switzerland soon for work, watching the Jays’ playoff run had turn out to be a cherished routine, making the loss especially bittersweet.
“I’ve been coping in not the neatest way, because I keep watching videos of Vladdy (Guerrero Jr.) looking sad after the sport.”
For a lot of Toronto fans, the Jays’ post-season was greater than baseball — it was a reason to collect with friends, family and partners night after night. Now, with the season concluding in crushing defeat, fans like Maquiling are left navigating the quiet, reflecting on the shared experience and determining the right way to fill the sudden void.
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For Guy Felicella, a 56-year-old Vancouver father of two, the post-season became a multi-generational ritual, sparking a newfound love of the sport in his youngest son, five-year-old Leo.
“He’s just became a fanatic. He loves Bo Bichette. He began asking all these questions on the right way to play the sport. It was such a superb bonding experience for me,” says the general public speaker.
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Felicella watched every game with Leo and his 11-year-old brother, Noah, with the youngsters even staying up through the sixteenth inning of Game 3’s 18-inning thriller against the Dodgers.
When the Jays lost Game 7, Felicella says he was “devastated.”
“I just turned the TV off. I didn’t need to see any of it.”
Thankfully, his sons have taken the Jays loss pretty much. They’ve been filling the void by watching NHL games. But Felicella says he can’t get invested in any sport quite like baseball: “It’s 162 regular season games a 12 months, hockey’s like 82. Once you get locked into that, it takes a physical and mental toll.”
Leo, meanwhile, is optimistic about next season. He’s looking forward to attending his first Jays game.
“After the loss, I tucked him into bed and he still had his Jays hat on. He told me he loved me. I mean, that’s it right there. He’ll be a Jays fan for all times, but crucial thing is it brought us so close.”
While Leo is just discovering the joys of playoff baseball, Cecilia Reyes has been there for all of it. At 94, she’s been following the Jays for a long time, attending games each time she could and watching every post-season since she moved to Canada in 1973. She saw the Jays win back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993, and was hopeful they might recreate that magic.
“I’ve been watching the sport an extended time and I like the Jays very much, but I’m so disillusioned that we lost,” says Reyes, who was born in Trinidad.
She followed all of the playoff games together with her daughter and son-in-law, cheering when the Jays hit dingers, and quietly mourning with them when the team fell behind.
“Each time we won, we’d laugh, jump up, clap our hands,” she says.
“We were very, very sad once we lost. But I told my family, ‘That is how games are. You’ve gotten to have a loser and a winner.’”
Reyes says she’ll be occupying her time by rooting for the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs.
“I like sports. Any game that they’ve on the TV, I’ll be taking a look at it.”
Still, the Jays hold a special place in her heart. She’s already counting down the times until spring training.
“I hope that the nice Lord gives me life to see them play again next 12 months,” she says.
“In the event that they keep practising, learn from their loss and put of their best efforts, I feel good things will occur.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press