Hey, the Toronto Blue Jays are Back to Back Champs once again! Oh, my childhood memories are … not quite come flooding back to me. It seems phantom championships are not nearly as fun, there’s no banners, no parades, sure there’s still tears but oh whatever. Congrats to the Clevelands for winning the pennant, good luck in the World Series, I’ll be cheering for good, exciting baseball.
For those new to this, “phantom championship” merchandise are the items prepared for a team title which never happens, the Blue Jays in this case were three wins away from a spot in the 2016 World Series therefore some merchandise was produced in advance to get it ready for sale as quickly as possible.
If the Jays won the ALCS here’s what we would have seen all around the Rogers Centre over the next few years.
2016 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS LOCKER ROOM COLLECTION
This is the cap and t-shirt which the players and coaches would have been wearing as they celebrated winning the pennant on the field and while spraying each other with champagne in the locker room
2016 WORLD SERIES ON-FIELD COLLECTION
These are what Blue Jays players would have worn during the 2016 World Series, the on-field cap and jersey (with 2016 World Series patches on the sides), and the hoodie which would have been worn in the dugout (this replaces the “WE CAME TO REIGN” design you have seen during the LDS and LCS rounds)
RETAIL-ONLY COLLECTION
The rest are pieces that would have been made available to fans to celebrate the League Championship and that they’d be a participant in the World Series
If you enjoy this sorta thing, we’ve got a few other phantom championship collections dating back several years across all major North American sports leagues. Check that out here. Go Jays.