Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Max Scherzer knows the weight of the world — or, at least, Canada — is on his shoulders in Game 3 of the World Series.
The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer is used to it, making his fifth World Series start of his career Monday night in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. His manager, John Schneider knows it too, so when he was asked what level of madness to expect from his starter, he had a funny answer.
“Wonder how many coaches he’ll knock over tonight,” he said, per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson.
Schneider is, of course, referring to the blowup Scherzer had in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners when the Toronto manager went to take him out of the game in the fifth inning. Scherzer, shall we say, emphatically suggested he remain in the game to finish the frame.
“I thought he was going to kill me. It was great,” Schneider said at the time. “He locked eyes with me, both colors, as I walked out. It’s not fake. That’s the thing, this isn’t fake. He has that Mad Max persona, and he backed it up tonight.”
Scherzer has a slightly more polite recollection of the moment.
“All of the sudden I saw Schneids coming out and I kind of went, ‘Whoaaa, whoa whoa. I’m not coming out of this ballgame.’ I felt too good,” Scherzer said. “We had a little conversation where I basically said that I was willing to stay in the ballgame, just with some other words involved. I knew I was strong. I knew I wanted the ball.”
Of course, Scherzer struck out Randy Arozarena to end the inning. The Blue Jays tacked on three runs in the later innings and won the game 8-2 — a final score not indicative of the intensity of the moment.
Scherzer will square off against Tyler Glasnow in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.
