Come the end of the Toronto Blue Jays' season, veteran outfielder George Springer's batting gloves will have a new home -- but they won't be going far.
Springer's Hartford Whalers-themed batting gloves will be going to the hall of fame -- not the Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York, but the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
The 36-year-old outfielder's gloves pay homage to his since-departed childhood team. Springer is a native of New Britain, Connecticut, located approximately 20 minutes southwest of the state's capital of Hartford. Born in 1989, Springer was a child during the final years of the Whalers in Connecticut, with the franchise playing its last game in Hartford in 1997 before relocating and rebranding to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Evidently impressed by the tribute, the Hockey Hall of Fame requested Springer's gloves once the season comes to a close.
Springer is entering the postseason on the back of a resurgent 2025 campaign. He finished the regular season with 32 home runs, 84 RBIs and a .560 slugging percentage, all personal bests since his run of three straight All-Star Games from 2017-19. With his help, the Toronto Blue Jays won the AL East for the first time since 2015.
The Blue Jays will play their first game of the 2025 playoffs on Oct. 4, against the winner of the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox wild-card series.
