‘BLOW JAYS’: Stephen King mocks Blue Jays after loss to Mariners

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Stephen King isn’t about to let the Toronto Blue Jays — or their fans — forget about Saturday’s heartbreaking Wild Card loss to the Seattle Mariners.

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After the Jays squandered an 8-1 lead and went on to lose 10-9 to the Mariners in a win-or-go-home Game 2, the famed horror author — and noted Boston Red Sox fanatic — poked fun at their historic collapse.

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“Toronto/Seattle Wild Card: My goodness, what an epic squander that was. They don’t call ’em the Blow Jays for nothing,” King, 75, tweeted.

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Jays fans were quick to jump to the defence of their beloved club.

“What a disappointing tweet from one of my favourite authors,” one supporter wrote. “Instead of building up or praising Seattle, you take the opportunity to s— on the Jays who do not have a history of blowing it in the playoffs since 1992. You’re better than this.”

One critic took a swipe at King’s reputation for writing unsatisfying endings as they jabbed, “That game resembled one of your books; great start, terrible ending.”

The Sun’s Joe Warmington waded into the fray to blame the officiating for Toronto’s loss.

“The Mariners had help from umpire though. Blue Jays’ Whit Merrifield didn’t finish game after being hit in head by Diego Castillo in 5th post Jays celebrating 4 runs. He should have been tossed. Jays should have screamed. Hell, they should have called (Toronto Police Chief James Ramer to) file a complaint.”

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Several commentators took issue with King calling the club the “Blow Jays” (“maybe it’s an American thing?” one person observed), but baseball historians noted that the team acquired the name after Toronto saw a 3.5-game margin over the Detroit Tigers evaporate in the final days of the 1987 season.

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King’s diehard support for the Red Sox didn’t escape the attention of Jays defenders with many dragging his precious team for landing at the bottom of the AL East standings.

“You know who doesn’t call them the Blow Jays? The Red Sox, who lost 16 of 19 games to them this season while being outscored by 70 runs,” one person scolded.

Another added, ” How’d your Boston Red Sox (do)?? I believe the Jays swept them last weekend and they weren’t anywhere near getting into the wild card so I don’t think you have much to talk about.”

Meanwhile, the Mariners, who endure a yearly onslaught of Canadian Jays fans invading T-Mobile Park in Seattle, used a meme of Drake to dump on Toronto. The club’s official Twitter account shared a clip of Drake celebrating the 2019 NBA championship win by his hometown Toronto Raptors before cutting to a video of the Mariners players dancing in the middle of the field at Rogers Centre.

“Make another meme out of this… look at my brothers up there celebrating,” the Grammy winner says in the video.

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Elsewhere, Jays fan and Arrow star Stephen Amell called the loss “the worst in Blue Jays history by any and every conceivable measure.”

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