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Toronto Blue Jays History: Edwin Encarnacion Hits Playoff Walk-Off
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- Toronto Blue Jays History: Edwin Encarnacion Hits Playoff Walk-Off
(Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY)
October 4 represents an important day in Toronto Blue Jays history.
It was on that day in 2016 that slugging first baseman Edwin Encarnacion hit a walk-off home run in the American League wild card game against the Baltimore Orioles. That home run sent the Jays to the American League Division Series.
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As a reminder, from 2012-19, two wild card teams in each league played each other in a one-game playoff. The format also happened in 2021, was was abandoned in 2022 with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. At that point, the format we know now was put in place, where there is a best-of-three wild card round.
Encarnacion's home run came off former All-Star right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, who pitched in relief rather than left-hander Zack Britton, who had a 0.54 ERA in 69 games that season. Britton was in contention for the Cy Young and him not pitching in that game became the biggest commentary after the fact.
The Blue Jays ended up getting to the American League Championship Series that year, and then they got back again in 2025. They've created bigger memories since this game, but it's still one of the most fun moments of the last quarter century of Jays history.
About Encarnacion
A three-time All-Star, Encarnacion spent 16 years in the big leagues with the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners , New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.
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A powerful hitter, he hit .260 with 424 home runs and 1,261 RBIs. He had nine seasons of 25+ home runs and six seasons of 100 RBIs or more. He led the American League in RBIs (127) with the Blue Jays in that 2016 season.
In eight seasons with Toronto, he hit .268 with 239 home runs. He was an integral part of Blue Jays teams that got to the American League Championship Series in both 2015 and 2016.
He was up for contention for the Baseball Hall of Fame last year, but only received about one percent of the vote. As a result, he is now off the Hall of Fame ballot.
Next for the Jays...
Toronto can make minor moves to the roster before the official end of the league year, which comes five days after the World Series. Other than that, it's all about planning for the start of the new league year and how they want to handle free agency, which will be important, and also complex because of the league's pending labor issues.
