FOR THE FIRST time in 32 years, the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League pennant.
They also came up just short of snapping their World Series title drought, dropping a memorable, tense, 11-inning Game 7 to the Los Angeles Dodgers at a rollicking Rogers Centre on Saturday.
To push the defending champs as far as they could be pushed, Toronto leaned on a diverse, balanced offense that ranked among MLB's best all season (fourth in runs per game) and somehow got better in the playoffs despite the unforgiving crucible created by October-style pitching staffs.