Ranking My Favorite #6s in Toronto Sports

 If you've been following the Jays this year, congratulations it's been a really fun season! You also may know that the Jays magic number for the division sits at 6 after a narrow victory against the Rays last night. 6 is coincidentally the number I always chose when playing sports growing up so I've had a unique bond with the number my entire life. With that in mind, I thought I'd pretty much just list guys in Toronto sports who I remember wearing 6 to celebrate the magic number being down to 6. These are all going to be guys from my lifetime who I can actually pull a memory or two from. It's a slimmer list than you'd think, the Leafs retired number 6 for Ace Bailey, some dude who played in the 30s and the NBA retired number 6 league wide in honour of Bill Russell. 

Before we get into that though, the Rays last night got gifted maybe one of the worst calls I've ever seen in an MLB game. In the 3rd inning Brandon Lowe hit a ball deep to right field, Nathan Lukes leaped to make a catch but a fan reached over the wall and caught it first, it was ruled a home run. The umpires went to review it because if a fan reaches into the field of  play it's considered fan interference and an out, not a home run. Since the Rays play in a minor league park, there weren't a lot of angles available, but I still thought you could pretty clearly see the fan reaching over the wall. The umpire came back and announced "there was fan interference, but it would've been a homerun anyway so it's a home run." Lol, lmao even. I don't really get how you could declare there was fan interference but it didn't matter, but that was the call and it earned the Rays 3 runs. Anyway, the entire review I was thinking that a fan really SHOULD be allowed to reach over the wall and make it a home run, that'd be more fun and a neat little advantage for the home team if they have engaged fans out there. I guess I got what I wanted despite the questionable call. The Jays ended up winning so this will be forgotten by tomorrow, but immortalized here! Ok best 6s lets go!

Alec Manoah - Blue Jays - 2021-Present (Kinda)

What could've been! Manoah joined the Jays halfway through 2021 and immediately was awesome. In 20 starts he carried a 3.22 ERA and figured to be a long time staple in the Jays rotation at just 23 years old. The next season was even better, Manoah had a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts and what's even more impressive he had a WHIP below 1 for the season as a starter. Manoah finished 3rd in Cy Young voting that year and at 24 we thought he was the ace of the Jays for the next decade. Not only was he dominant, his demeanor was fun to watch too, passionate and fiery on the mound you could feel his starts had high energy. He would often trash talk batters and rile people up, the type of figure you love to see succeed. Unfortunately for Jays fans everywhere in 2023 Manoah absolutely fell off a cliff. In 19 starts he had a 5.87 ERA and went from walking 2.3 batters per 9 innings a season prior to 6.1 in 2023. Manoah was eventually sent down to figure it out and 2023 was pretty much a wash. 2024 he came back up and was actually pretty decent in 5 starts, but unfortunately again he tore his UCL in his elbow in June and needed Tommy John surgery which would shut his season down completely. This season Manoah returned around July and has pitched in the minors, but doesn't figure to be a part of the big club. If he can return to form this could be a nice rotation piece in 2026, but it sucks to look back at what we thought we had vs what we ended up getting. The story isn't over yet Alec!

Corey Joseph - Raptors - 2016-2017

I remember when the Canada basketball program could only count on Corey Jo and Kelly Olynyk as their NBA contributors in international play. Crazy how far it's come from that. I love Corey Joseph though! Those 2016/2017 Raptors were a fun era and Corey had the Canadian aspect to boost his popularity with the fanbase. Not a guy who was known for being great at anything, Corey was just solid all around and played the game the right way. I still remember a regular season game with the Raptors down, DeRozan drove to the rim and is met by a double team, he kicked the ball out to Corey Joseph who hit a buzzer beater 3 for the win. Other than that, Corey wasn't a super memorable player but still cool that he was Canadian and on the Raptors and was definitely a contributor to some of the most successful Raptors teams of all time. 

John MacDonald - Blue Jays - 2005-2011

Johnny Mac! When I saw he was on the Jays for 7 years I was pretty surprised, not because of his lack of love from the fanbase but more so because he was a utility infielder and those guys rarely stick to one team for such a long time. John MacDonald was an absolute fan favorite on the Jays and a big part of my childhood fan experience. MacDonald was not a good hitter, to say the least. He has a career OPS+ of 59 and a Blue Jays career OPS+ of 63. Despite this, MacDonald had a 16 year MLB career because of 2 things: he was really awesome on defense at any of third base, short stop or second base, like one of the best defenders in the league good. And the other reason is he was just an all around nice dude that people liked to be around. Being a lockerroom guy that can fill in at almost any position really goes a long way in the MLB. His most heartwarming moment with the Jays came on Fathers day in 2010. MacDonald had just lost his father to liver cancer, but was playing on fathers day. He stepped up to the plate, drilled a home run and you could see him crying as he rounded the bases. An all around good guy, one of my favorite players to watch on defense and a name I'll never forget, he's my second favorite number 6 in Toronto sports history. 

Marcus Stroman - Blue Jays - 2015-2019

My favorite number 6 in Toronto sports history! Actually when I started this exercise this was the first name I thought of wearing number 6. Stro's story with the Jays was awesome. At just 5'7, he is shorter than most pitchers, so he coined the term "height doesn't measure heart." I still remember in 2014 when he got called up and was awesome towards the end of the season. 2015 everyone was really excited about our new potential ace pitcher, but in spring training he tore his ACL and figured to be out the entire season. To everyone's surprise, Stroman recovered faster than ever and was able to pitch again in September for the Jays. He was awesome, in the middle of the most fun Jays season we've ever had (maybe until this one?) What was more exciting is Stroman was a big game player. When the playoff lights got bright he was ready to play and although the numbers don't agree that he was better in the playoffs, I remember my eye test told me that. Stroman embraced the city fully, constantly speaking about how much he loved it and how other players should come play in Toronto. In 2019 the Jays were pretty miserable, and they ended up selling at the deadline sending Stroman to the Yankees against his wishes to stay in Toronto. Since then he's had his lockerroom issues and social media outbursts, but to me he's always going to be one of my favorites and I was and still am sad that they traded him back in 2019. Oh well, you'll always at least be Logan's favorite number 6 ever.