Potential Retirees Max Scherzer & George Springer Get Huge Send-Offs In Toronto

September 27, 2026
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Although they had already been eliminated from the playoffs, it was a busy day for the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans on Sunday's final day of the regular season. Not one, but two players who have been among the most memorable of the century in the major leagues may have left the field for the final time. And they each got a rousing send-off, four innings apart. 

First it was 37-year-old George Springer who was given a standing ovation by Toronto fans as he was removed from the game in the third inning.

The move came when Springer was lifted for a pinch-runner so that he could be afforded the ovation he deserved from Blue Jays fans. Springer has now completed his six-year, $150 million contract, and retirement is a possibility, he told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. 

It’s emotional to think about it. Very, very grateful to our fans, this team, this organization. Obviously this is not the way that we all wanted it to end. 

We’ll go into the offseason and I’ll see what happens….I’ll sit down with my wife at the end of this year and we’ll discuss whatever’s going to happen.  But I love my family and if that requires me to be with them, I’ll be with them.

Scherzer undecided about whether he'll pitch again 

After that, it was on to another legendary player who could be calling it quits. If it was his last start, 42-year-old Max Scherzer went out with a bang, tossing seven innings of one-run ball, with 7 strikeouts against just one walk, while earning the 224th win of his 19-year career. 

In true Mad Max fashion, he refused to be removed from the game with two outs in the 7th, after 104 pitches. Manager John Schneider came jogging out to the mound, and the two engaged in a playful re-enactment of his infamous World Series rant from last year, before the manager allowed him to stay in to finish the inning.  

But just 10 pitches later, in the top of the 8th, Scherzer was coming out of the game for real—and quite possibly for the last time in his career. But, unlike the Mad Max we've all come to know and love, he would leave with a big smile on his face. And he truly appreciated the love from the Toronto crowd.

Scherzer says he won't make a decision on his future until later in the offseason.
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