“It was awesome. I thought he was gonna kill me. It was great.”
Those were the words of Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider speaking of his mound visit with Max Scherzer in the fifth inning Thursday night. Let’s take some time to talk about a viral moment that will go down in Blue Jays’ lore—and baseball playoff history.
There are a number of takeaways from the Jays’ second straight win to even the American League Championship Series with an 8-2 win over the Seattle Mariners. But none will stand out in Jays’ history more than the ultimate ‘Mad Max’ moment when Scherzer refused to leave the game in the 5th inning.
Facing Randy Arozarena with two outs and a runner on first in a 5-1 Toronto lead, Scherzer had no intentions of leaving the ballgame when Schneider came out to the mound. And he let his manager know, in no uncertain terms, for the world to see.
Scherzer said, in his mind, he was going through how to face Arozarena, and he was shocked to see his manager coming out to the mound.
“All of a sudden, I see Schneids coming out, and it kind of caught me off guard,” said the three-time Cy Young winner. “It was just one of those moments where I wanted the ball… And I basically told him that in a little bit different language.”
‘I’ve been waiting for that all year, for Max to yell at me on the mound’
“I’ve been waiting for that all year — for Max to yell at me on the mound,” added Schneider. “It was awesome. I thought he was going to kill me. It was great. He locked eyes with me, both colours as I walked out. It’s not fake. That’s the thing. It’s not fake. He has this Mad Max persona, but he backed it up.”
Schneider then broke down just exactly how the conversation unfolded.
I tell the starters, if I walk to the mound, you’re coming out. If I jog, you can talk me out of it. I started walking. He just went, ‘NO!’ So I proceeded to jog. Before I got there, he goes, ‘I’m good. I’m f—— good!’ I said, ‘Are you? Are you sure?’ And he went, ‘YEAH!’ And I went, you better f—— execute then. And he said, ‘I f—— will!
Scherzer executed all right, striking out Arozarena to end the inning.
Yes, there was another offensive explosion by Toronto’s reawakened bats, and another superstar performance by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but that Mad Max minute will forever be a ‘signature October moment,’ as Ken Rosenthal called it. Then he added a little more behind-the-scenes color to the moment, that came after Scherzer stormed into the Toronto dugout after the inning-ending strikeout.
Mad Max’s emotions spilled into the dugout after the 5th inning
As the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer blew into the dugout, he raced past his manager and continued yelling.
“I didn’t say anything,” Schneider said. “He was just yelling. ‘I f—— told you! Yeah, I got this s—!”
Then, even more, in the clubhouse between innings. Scherzer had every intention of starting the sixth inning.
“I was going to take him out after the fifth,” Schneider said. “I met him up there because (reliever) Louie (Varland) was getting hot. I don’t know if I can repeat everything. But he was in that little equipment room. I walked in and he said, ‘What the f— are you doing here?’ And I said, ‘Are you good?’ And he goes, ‘Get the f— out of here, I’m good.’
But wait, there’s more. Schneider decided to push the envelope (and seemingly, put his life on the line), even further:
“He always needs to be pushed. I’ve learned that this year. I said, ‘I don’t think you’re f—— good.’ And he goes, ‘I’M F—— GOOD!’ And I went, ‘Ok’.”
It was only after a two-out walk in the sixth that Scherzer was able to give in, as Schneider pulled him after 87 pitches.
Afterwards, Scherzer’s young teammates were revelling in what they’d just seen.
“Coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage said. “Best thing I’ve ever seen,” added catcher Tyler Heineman.
Even the veterans were blown away. “One of the most fun things I’ve ever seen,” said Shane Bieber, a Cy Young winner himself. “Mad Max. In pure form. Pure cinema.”
Scherzer’s mound explosion joins list of Jays’ most unforgettable playoff moments
Joe Carter’s epic World Series-winning home run in 1993; Robbie Alomar’s decisive blow off the seemingly invincible Dennis Eckersley in the 1992 ALCS; Edwin Encarnacion’s Wild Card-winning home run in 2016; Jose Bautista’s legendary bat flip in 2015. Mad Max now joins that select Blue Jays’ lore.
Has there ever been a time in major league history when an explosive mound visit was a defining moment in a team’s playoff run? We might have just witnessed another baseball first.
