The Blue Jays on Wednesday clinched their first AL East championship since '93, and the team "unleashed a flood of new products" around the title, according to David Bateman of the TORONTO STAR. A promotional tweet for merchandise "went out from the @BlueJays account" around 8:00pm ET Wednesday, and by Thursday at 11:00am, most of the new clothing range "was sold out" on the team's online store (TORONTO STAR, 10/2). In Canada, Kristen Lipscombe writes, "Blue Jays fever has infected Halifax, and local sports retailers are medicating the masses with hats, jerseys and T-shirts." Locally based R.U.A. Sports Fanatic Owner Jan MacKinnon said, "Some of the things we re-stock disappear in 24 hours; some maybe take two business days, but for the most part, it's selling really well." MacKinnon added that caps and T-shirts "featuring names and numbers of popular players seem to be the best sellers so far" (METRONEWS.ca, 10/1).
BETTER CALL PAUL: In Toronto, Steve Simmons wrote the Blue Jays' division title "wouldn't have happened" without outgoing President & CEO Paul Beeston, who has been the "loudest advocate for this team and this sport and this country and the all the possibilities of this season." In the "midst of the dancing and spraying and hugging in Baltimore on Wednesday" after the Jays clinched the division, Beeston, "as is his custom, was nowhere to be found." He "didn’t travel to Camden Yards" and "wasn’t around his players." Blue Jays Senior VP/Baseball Operations & GM Alex Anthopoulos said, “That’s Paul. He doesn’t want the attention for any of this.” Beeston's contract "expires in 30 days, just before Game 4 of the World Series." But he said of the team potentially playing in the Series, "You won’t be getting rid of me that fast. I’m in this till the end" (TORONTO SUN, 10/1).
PRICE OF ADMISSION: Communications agency North Strategic co-Founder Mia Pearson in a special to the GLOBE & MAIL wrote fans in Toronto and across Canada "have fallen in love with this team, and ever since the Jays beefed up their roster with some key player acquisitions at the trade deadline, television numbers are up, Blue Jays hats are everywhere in the city, and the Rogers Centre has been sold out almost every night." Blue Jays P David Price, who was acquired from the Tigers, has "quickly become a fan favourite, primarily because of his incredible performance on the mound, but also because of the way he interacts with the baseball fans of this city, both at the park and on social media" (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/1). The NATIONAL POST's Kaitlyn McGrath noted Blue Jays fan Ruhee Dewji is the "mastermind behind the website, 'The David Price Nickname Generator.'” Essentially, it is an online tool that "allows any user to input a name and with one click it spits out a Price-inspired nickname." It was initially meant "as a toy for Jays fans -- a way to interact with the Blue Jays ace without actually doing so." But on Wednesday afternoon, Price "got wind of the project, and shared it on Twitter with his mass of followers" (NATIONAL POST, 10/1).
