Presser: Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro Reflects On Unforgettable 2025 Season, World Series
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What reflections does Mark Shapiro share about the 2025 World Series loss?
we get to the Q&A portion, was thinking through moments and, you know, thoughts and memories over the past, you know, month. And one moment kind of summarized my awareness, my heightened awareness as to the magnitude of what was occurring, not just for us, but for our fans. I think it was the Sunday after game two of ALCS. I was Walking in a park with my dog and my brother after the game before heading to Seattle. Passed by, you know, dozens of Puget's caps, sweaters, things you might not see in October. Got to the field where, you know, we throw the ball to Cleo and... adults playing catch, baseball catch, you know, in the middle of the park. There was a mom, as we progressed, pitching to her son, the kicker rake, by the way, good hitter.
You know, then I proceeded to leave the park and walked home and walked by driveways that were normally full of, you know, after seeing it for 10 years, normally full of hockey nets and sticks and pucks, but had signs, you know, Buje parking only, you know, Only Blue Jay fans allowed. Porches that had Blue Jay flags flying.
How did the Blue Jays' playoff journey impact the community?
And as I got closer to the house, I turned to my brother and just said, man, I don't think I've been fully aware as to what's going on. We've been flying cross-country. We've been so absorbed in everything that had happened. And that kind of crested... On Sunday, when my inbox started to get inundated and my text messages were filled with hundreds of text messages, some from people that I've met briefly along the way, you know, over 34 years in MLB or people I've met, you know, in the 10 years I've lived here, some from people I've never met before. But the stories were kind of all the same. It was over the past month, over the past season, we've had unbelievable moments and memories and bonds with our families, with our friends.
We kept video links open during the games. We shed tears of joy, tears of sadness, but we had unbelievable moments. Grandparents to grandkids, parents to kids, brothers and sisters, friends. We kept phone lines open. We'll never forget the memories that were made. Please thank the team. Thank everyone for us. And it's unbelievable how uniform they were. And it spoke to the power that when you think about giving your life to working in sports, you do so for the moments that you think you might be able to lift a community. But you never imagine what it could mean to lift a community coast to coast, not just to raise spirits, but to unite people. Not just to give people a reason to cheer, but to give people a reason to feel better about everything going on in the world right now.
And for a period of time, you know, it was an affirmation of every reason you work in sports. And then even better to me is when you read deeper in those emails or listen to the comments walking along the street. It was what people recognized about this team. Because I can tell you, having been involved with winning teams or having friends at work in a variety of sports, fans cheer winning regardless of who's on the field. They like to win. Everybody likes to win.
What lessons did the team learn from their postseason challenges?
But when you hear... Everyone uniformly pointing out the same attributes and characteristics and traits that we work so hard as an organization to instill. When they notice how authentically a group of teammates love and care for each other. When they notice how genuinely those players want for the fans to win. This is a group that almost savored having their backs against the wall. They had to win four in a row the last four games of the season to a very pivotal result. AL East Championship that was meaningful to the stretch run and the postseason run. They had their backs against the wall 0-2 in the ALCS, multiple elimination games, and they always responded. And they noticed that toughness. They noticed that grit, that resilience, that determination, and ultimately what it meant to be a teammate.
So it wasn't just that the team won.
What traits does Shapiro want to maintain for the team's identity?
It was how they won. It wasn't just that they were the players in the field as they accomplished some championships and great things.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What reflections does Mark Shapiro share about the 2025 World Series loss?
0:00–1:15
2
How did the Blue Jays' playoff journey impact the community?
1:15–3:41
3
What lessons did the team learn from their postseason challenges?
3:41–4:49
4
What traits does Shapiro want to maintain for the team's identity?
4:49–5:59
5
How will the World Series run affect the Blue Jays' offseason strategies?
5:59–7:33
6
What are the key factors for building a successful baseball team?
7:33–9:05
7
How does Shapiro view the importance of franchise players?
9:05–10:25
8
What is the future outlook for the Blue Jays organization?
10:25–39:34
Speakers
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