Josh Naylor made Canadian history with his seventh-inning bomb for the Seattle Mariners in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mississauga, Ontario native became the first Canadian-born player to hit a home run in a playoff game played in Canada. Naylor grew up just 16 miles away from the Rogers Centre and has now made MLB history in his hometown building.
Only four other Canadian players have hit home runs in their home nation — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Russell Martin, and Michael Saunders. They all did so while playing a home game for the Blue Jays.
Of the four Canadians to hit a home run in Toronto, Naylor is the second to have been from the Greater Toronto Area.
The Toronto-born Martin is the only other Torontonian to do so, hitting the home run for his hometown squad. Saunders hails from British Columbia, while Guerrero Jr. was famously born while his father, Vlad Sr., was playing for the Montreal Expos.
A Canadian player never hit a home run in Montreal before the Expos made the move to Washington DC and became the Nationals in the early 2000s.
Naylor has been a hero for the Mariners ever since they acquired the 28-year-old first baseman from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline. In the regular season, Naylor made a good first impression in Seattle with a .299 batting average, a .831 OPS, nine home runs, 33 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 54 regular season games. He racked up 2.2 wins above replacement after tallying just 0.8 in the first 93 games of the season in Arizona, according to Baseball Reference.
Naylor quietly had a .222 batting average with two extra base hits in six games to start the MLB postseason, but he announced his presence in a big way to open up the ALCS in his home city.
