..1 ..2 ..92!
1992 was the first time a World Series had been played internationally, and the first time a Canadian team had participated! ‘92 was an electric year for Toronto: winning 1st in the AL with a record of 96-66 and attendance reaching well over 4,000,000, the table was set for the Blue Jays to win it all!
The Jays lost Game 1 of the World Series, but their comeback in Game 2 was epic! After trailing the Atlanta Braves 4-3 for most of the game, Ed Sprague stepped up to the plate in the 9th inning with one on base and one out. Sprague, who had only hit one home run in the entire regular season, smashed a game-saving, two-run home run to win it for the Jays 5-4!
Back in Toronto, Game 3 resulted in a walk-off win for the Blue Jays courtesy of a Candy Maldonado single, while Game 4 was secured on the back of exceptional pitching by Jimmy Key and Tom Henke. Atlanta then came back with a 7-2 victory facing elimination in Game 5. It all came down to Game 6 back in Atlanta.
Toronto led the majority of Game 6 until the Braves tied it up at 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th inning. The 11th inning hero was Dave Winfield, who drove in two RBI with a double, putting the Jays up 4-2, now they just had to hold on. Atlanta moved runners into scoring position at second and third, driving in one on a grounder up the first base line. With two out and a runner on third, the speedy Otis Nixon stepped up to bat for the Braves. He laid a bunt up the first base line and sprinted from the box, with the runner hustling from third. Mike Timlin, who had just been brought into the game to face Nixon, pounced on the ball and tossed it to Joe Carter at first, just ahead of Nixon. The Blue Jays had won their first ever World Series with a final, extra innings score of 4-3. The celebrations were endless, never before had a Canadian baseball team brought home a World Series. The ‘92 team officially made history and proved to the world that Canadian teams are a force to be reckoned with.
Cito Gaston‘s World Series Ring from 1992, donated by Cito Gaston. Both his 1992 and 1993 rings are on permanent display at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum.
Back and Better Than Ever!
1993 would see the Blue Jays return for another World Series run, having won the AL with a record of 95-67. This time, however, they were pitted against the Philadelphia Phillies. The teams split the first two games in Toronto before hopping a plane to Philadelphia. The bats came alive in Games 3 and 4 for both teams, with Toronto taking Game 3 by a score of 10-3. Game 4 would go down in history as the highest scoring World Series game of all time. By the end of the 7th, Philadelphia was leading 14-9, but the game was far from over! In front of more than 24.5 million television viewers, the Blue Jays came back with 6 runs in the top of the 8th to put the Blue Jays ahead 15-14! This wild game defied all odds: the Blue Jays had scored 15 runs without a single home run, and the game lasted over 4 hours without going into extra innings!
Facing elimination, the Phillies secured the Game 5 win, sending the series back to Toronto for Game 6. This nail-biting game went into the 9th inning with the Blue Jays trailing by a score of 6-5. In the bottom of the 9th, with two runners on base and one out, Joe Carter would step up to the plate. On a 2-2 count, Carter swung on a fastball, sending it directly over the left-field wall, queuing Tom Cheek’s legendary call, “Touch ‘em All, Joe, you’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!” This was just the second time the World Series had been won by a walk-off home run, and the first time it had happened when that team was trailing. It is perhaps the greatest moment in Blue Jays history, and a very apt one to be commemorated with a 50th anniversary statue outside the Rogers Centre in 2026. With one swing of Carter’s bat, the nation erupted into celebration, and the Blue Jays were back-to-back champions!
