The Blue Jays are going to their first World Series in 32 years and two with Delaware connections were among those celebrating after Toronto’s American League Championship Series Game 7 triumph over Seattle on Oct. 20.
Now Blue Jays manager John Schneider, the former University of Delaware catcher, and rookie reliever Mason Fluharty, the ex-Cape Henlopen High standout, will take on the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Oct. 24 in Toronto.
Schneider’s and Fluharty’s successes are both rooted in the First State. Here’s what they did in Delaware and the path they travelled to the World Series.
John Schneider
One former University of Delaware player, Dallas Green, has managed a World Series team. The ex-Blue Hens pitcher steered the Phillies to the 1980 World Series title.
Schneider hopes to be the second and, like Green with the Phillies, has had a long association with the Blue Jays.
The New Jersey native starred for the Blue Hens from 2000-2002 after red-shirting in 1999. He batted a career .306 with 23 homers and 139 RBI and was first-team All-CAA in 2002. His UD teams went 117-57.
He was drafted in in the 24th round by Detroit and didn’t sign in 2001 and was chosen by the Blue Jays in the 13th round the next year.
Schneider has been part of the Toronto system ever since. He played six minor-league seasons in which injuries frequently intervened and he batted just .206 but did climb all the way to Triple-A in 2006 and 2007.
“Catch and throw, I could do that,” Schneider said in a 2023 video chat with present Delaware baseball coach Greg Mamula, who was an assistant when Schneider was a UD player. “But the hitting part of it, just not everyone can do it, so it was easy to turn the page.”
He then spent the next 11 years – nine as a manager and two as a coach – in Toronto’s minor league system, winning or sharing three titles, including with Double-A New Hampshire in the Eastern League in 2018. Schneider was elevated to the major-league coaching staff in 2019, first as bullpen coach then as bench coach.
Schneider became interim manager on July 13, 2022, when Charlie Montoyo was fired and, after guiding the Blue Jays to a 46-28 record and the American League wild-card playoffs, was made full-time manager.
He survived some calls for a change in 2024 when the Jays sank to fifth in the AL East but returned to oversee their 2025 drive to the AL pennant, their first since 1993.
Mason Fluharty
Fluharty and the Dodgers have a history.
On Aug. 10 at Dodger Stadium, Fluharty earned his first MLB save by retiring Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts with the bases loaded.
It was quite a rarity, as a pitcher hadn’t retired two former MVPs with the bases loaded since the Padres’ Trevor Hoffman, later a Hall of Fame inductee, with the Giants’ Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent aboard in 2002.
Clutch is nothing new to Fluharty.
Fluharty was a Cape Henlopen High junior when he came on in relief to get the final out when the Vikings won their first state championship in 2018.
He starred on the mound and as a first baseman and outfielder for Cape, paving his way to Liberty University. For the Flames, Fluharty pitched in 51 games, all in relief, while going 6-4 with a 3.47 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings from 2020-22.
The Blue Jays chose Fluharty in the fifth round of the 2022 draft and he climbed quickly through the Toronto system. Before this year, the lefty went 9-10 with a 3.47 ERA in 114 minor league appearances, all in relief, with 172 strikeouts in 140 innings.
He was a reliable and busy reliever this year for Toronto, going 5-2 with a 4.44 ERA in 55 games with one save. He struck out 56 in 52⅔ innings.
In the postseason, Fluharty has thrown 4⅓ innings in seven games with a 6.23 ERA but seven strikeouts.
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
