While he’ll be wearing a different shade of blue, Bo Bichette will forever be grateful for Toronto, the Blue Jays and their fans.
Hours after his introductory press conference with the New York Mets, Bichette shared a message for Blue Jays fans, thanking them for the near decade of passion and support.
“If I wasn’t going to retire a Blue Jay, then I’m grateful we had Game 7,” Bichette wrote, via Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae. “The moment we shared in that game was just one detail away from all I could have wished for us together.
“I could not wish more that I’d deliver you a championship.”
Bichette and the Blue Jays, of course, came as close as one could come to winning the World Series last season before falling to the now back-to-back champion Los Angeles Dodgers in an 11-inning Game 7.
The 27-year-old won over many people in the baseball world with his heart and determination during the gruelling seven-game series by playing through a knee injury.
Bichette missed almost the entirety of the final month of the regular season with the injury and sat out the ALDS and ALCS before returning for the World Series, where he played second base for the first time and blasted a go-ahead homer in Game 7 — hobbled and all.
“I will carry your show of belief in me when I returned for the World Series for the rest of my life. Thank you,” Bichette wrote.
Bichette officially signed a three-year deal with the Mets on Wednesday, ending his Toronto tenure that saw him start as a second-round pick in 2016 to becoming one of baseball’s best hitters.
“You watched me grow up,” said Bichette. “You lived with my ups and downs. You encouraged me anyways. Thank you.”
Since making his MLB debut in 2019, Bichette has led the league twice in hits, while carrying a career slash line of .294/.337/.469.
