TORONTO — In the four months or so since Edwin Encarnacion signed with the Cleveland Indians, one thing sure has changed: The Blue Jays now reside in the basement of the American League East.

One thing that has not changed, however, is the love the Toronto fan base has for one of the most popular players in franchise history, a man who not only resurrected his own career in the city known as the 6ix, but helped drag the franchise back to ALCS relevance, as well.

Those are just memories now.

When the 34-year-old returned to Rogers Centre to face his former teammates for the first time Monday in the opener of a three-game series — not to mention an important nine-game home stand for the struggling Jays — Encarnacion’s name was in the marquee as the main attraction.

As it should be.

“Eddie did a lot for this town, this franchise, period,” Jays manager John Gibbons said.
“He’s one of the good guys, too.  He helped put baseball back on the map here in Toronto and, really, in the country of Canada. He’ll always be remembered as one of the great players here in Toronto.”

The man with 239 round-trippers in Blue Jays colours was given a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat, which was preceded by a tribute video featuring many of those fence-clearing blasts.

After a couple of deep breaths when he stepped into the box to lead off the second inning, Encarnacion belted a first pitch fastball off Jays starter Marcus Stroman’s leg, adding another single a little later on in the fourth inning to start his return to T.O. in fine fashion.

Sitting in a dugout he’s not at all used to prior to the game with a team translator by his side, Encarnacion admitted to being emotional amidst an odd scenario.

“It feels really weird having played six years with them and now to be playing against them, it feels a little bit strange,” said Encarnacion, who actually played parts of eight seasons in Toronto.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I’m really excited to be here. This is a city that opened its doors to me and gave me the opportunity to have the career that I’ve had.”

Since the news broke just three days before Christmas that Encarnacion was leaving Toronto for Cleveland, many have tried to assign blame, which isn’t exactly an easy thing to do in this situation.

You could talk about the Blue Jays’ all-too-quick, take-it-or-leave-it $80 million offer in early November, one that led them to signing Kendrys Morales for $32 million less than the $65 million the Indians guaranteed Encarnacion, but that would leave out the role his agent, Paul Kinzer, played in misreading a market that, in the end, was not kind to sluggers with little value outside of the batter’s box.

The Jays were the ones shutting the door on Encarnacion’s return by inking Morales as soon as they pulled the offer to their longtime star not long after the free-agent market opened.  Little did anyone know at the time that door No. 1 would end up being the most lucrative.

It took some time for Encarnacion to come to grips with the move to Ohio.

“It took a few weeks to understand what happened,” Encarnacion said. “It was difficult because I was hopeful that the situation would have been different. But after I took the necessary steps to secure my future with the Indians, it got easier.”

Encarnacion tiptoed around the question of whether he holds Jays GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro accountable for the fact he’s not finishing his career in Toronto.
“No, I mean, this is a business,” Encarnacion said. “They did what they needed to do and I did my part and I went to where the door was open to me.”

Wearing an ear-to-ear grin the whole time, Encarnacion spent most of batting practice visiting with Jose Bautista, Gibbons and others prior to the game, as a throng of fans gathered behind the visitor’s dugout to scream his name.

Not only did Bautista lose a productive teammate, he lost a friend and the city lost a fan favourite.

“As a professional, you have to deal with it,” Bautista said. “That’s one of the difficult parts about this sport.”

While Encarnacion was off to his usual slow start with a .217/.349/.377 slash line heading into the series opener, he wasn’t about to dissect his former team’s problems.

“I’m just concentrating on my team and how we’re doing,” Encarnacion said when asked about the Jays’ ugly start. “That’s just how baseball can be, sometimes.”

It’s similar to the lesson Jays fans learned over the winter.

That’s just how this baseball business can be, sometimes.