For the first time in its 89-year history, the centerpiece of America's favorite pastime will feature a team from outside the United States.
The Toronto Blue Jays saw to it Wednesday afternoon by beating the Oakland Athletics 9-2 in the sixth game of the American League Championship Series to become the first Canadian participant in a World Series.
Toronto will face the Atlanta Braves, who beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 with a 9th-inning comeback in the seventh and decisive game of the National League playoffs.
While baseball's other north-of-the-border franchise, the Montreal Expos, had occasionally knocked on the World Series' door, it was the Blue Jays whose efforts epitomized Canada's long climb to baseball's summit.
Toronto entered the Major Leagues in 1977, and has been among the premier teams in the American League East for nearly a decade.
But until this year, it always found a way to sit out the Fall Classic.
The erstwhile 'Blew Jays' reached the league playoffs three previous years, but lost each time. The first was the bitterest: Toronto jumped to a 3-games-to-1 lead over the Kansas City Royals in 1985, then proceeded to become the first team ever to squander such an advantage in a league championship series. Toronto also fell to Oakland in 1989 and Minnesota last year.
But the Blue Jays erased such frustrations in Wednesday's Game 6.
Candy Maldonado hit a three-run homer and Joe Carter added a two-run shot as the Blue Jays built a 6-0 lead after three innings and coasted to the win.
'That home run was my greatest feeling yet because it helped with a bit of history for Toronto, and personally, it wiped out some bad memories,' Maldonado said. 'Being part of history is a dream come true.'
For die-hard Blue Jays fans, the end of the game marked just the beginning of a celebration they've been planning since 1985.
'Everyone say Toronto Blue Jays choke in the end,' said Toronto second baseman Roberto Alomar, who was named the series' Most Valuable Player. 'This time we didn't choke, we showed we can play baseball to the end.'
The World Series begins Saturday in Atlanta, with Game 3 -- the first World Series game ever on Canadian soil -- slated for Tuesday night.
