Details Matter: Why the Jays beat the Mariners

To show how far the Mariners have come, particularly regarding the acumen of manager Dan Wilson, we reach back into some club history that you probably won’t see dredged up anywhere else.

As with Wilson, Maury Wills had no managerial experience when he was hired in midseason 1980 to succeed Seatttle’s first field boss, Darrell Johnson. Wills was, however, a seven-time All-Star as a shortstop with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he became a base stealing immortal. It would be of little help.

Following a 20-38 finish in 1980, Wills was fired after a 6-18 start in 1981 for a host of reasons, but primarily because he had a Kingdome groundskeeper re-draw the batter’s box one foot closer to the mound to help one of his hitters, Tom Paciorek. Oakland A’s manager Billy Martin spotted the shenanigans, the umpire chief agreed, the box was redrawn, and Wills was suspended and fined.

His cavalcade of nonsensical decisions moved American League umpire Ken Kaiser to observe, “He was absolutely the worst manager I’ve ever seen. He didn’t know how to argue.”

Wills subsequently revealed in his autobiography that for years he had been a serial abuser of alcohol and cocaine. He never managed in the bigs again.

Fast forward to this week in Toronto. I’m fairly certain Wilson is not a substance abuser, although the alternate batter’s box might have helped. But he has taken almost Wills-ian heat for his bullpen management that set up George Springer’s three-run homer and the Blue Jays’ 4-3 win that denied the Mariners their first World Series appearance.

Calls for his head seem a bit specious, since he was the same guy who was in charge when the Mariners won 17 of 18 games in September, a streak that gave Seattle the AL’s second-best record and a bye from the wild card round. Same guy who out-dueled Tigers manager A.J. Hinch in the Division Series, including a 15-inning Game 5 howler.

The call for his job is understandable, since it seems someone should be held to account for this agonizing shortfall in the crucible that denied relief from a 48-year sports embarrassment. But I’m going to lean toward a simpler notion: The Blue Jays were the better team throughout, especially after 41-year-old Max Scherzer left the career crypt to be a five-inning Cy Young in Game 4.

That game alone was worth his entire $15 million salary. Something similar happened with Springer, 35, who’s getting $22.5 million this year. And around the same time in March when the Mariners rightly were hailed for signing Cal Raleigh, 28, to a six-year, $105 million deal, Toronto gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 26, $500 million over 14 years, the third biggest deal in baseball.

Veteran experience is crucial in playoffs, because details mean a lot. The Blue Jays can afford to purchase it. Toronto is the seventh-largest metro area in North America, and hosts a nation’s only MLB team. The franchise is owned by media giant Rogers Communications, a near-monopoly that recently bought the NHL Maple Leafs.

So how did the gritty little Mariners take them to the seventh inning of the seventh game before falling? Because the Jays were napping in the first two games, both Mariners wins. The Jays’ biggest rival is the New York Yankees, for reasons demographic, cultural, financial and political. Ousting the Yankees 3-1 in the wild card round was a huge deal in the Great White North, also providing three days off before hosting Seattle. No one who hangs at Tim Horton’s wants to admit it, but the Jays lost a little edge.

They regained it, winning four of the final five against Seattle because the lineup is a little deeper, the starting pitchers more experienced, and manager John Schneider believes in contact hitting and sacrifice bunting. Little things from big dollars.

We didn’t have a chance to see whether Wilson argues better than Maury Wills. But I don’t think anyone can argue the better team won.