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Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run for Blue Jays turns 20

ian denomme

After a disastrous 2013 season that began with so much promise, Toronto Blue Jays fans could use some cheering up. Wednesday is a good day to celebrate and remember, arguably, the finest moment in franchise history.

Twenty-years ago Wednesday, Joe Carter hit the memorable walk-off home run that won the 1993 World Series for the Blue Jays, their second championship in a row.

There’s been little to cheer about in Toronto since, but that doesn’t take away from the significance of the moment or its place in history. To this day it remains, and will remain, one of the most famous home runs in baseball history. Only one other World Series has ended on a walk-off homer. Bill Mazeroski hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960 to beat the New York Yankees in Game 7.

(It’s worth noting, again, that for his efforts, Mazeroski was honoured with a statue outside PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Rogers Centre has a statue of a former owner.)

The Blue Jays entered the ninth inning of Game 6 in 1993 trailing 6-5. The Philadelphia Phillies needed a win to stay alive and force Game 7. Phillies manager Jim Fregosi called on his closer, Mitch Williams, to finish off the game.

Eccentric Blue Jays outfielder Rickey Henderson led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk. With one out, Paul Molitor singled to bring up Carter.

Everyone knows what happened next.

“Williams’ cut fastball ended up where a slider might have, inside half of the plate, around the knees.

“It wasn’t a bad pitch,” Carter said.

To Williams and the Phillies, it was a horrible pitch.

The ball left Carter’s bat and was deposited over the left-field wall so quickly that it’s difficult to pick up the flight path in replays.

But Carter heard the deafening din in the Skydome about 75 feet down the first-base line and sprang into the first of many leaps. A scrum awaited him at home plate. Iconic scenes are etched in the minds of baseball fans, and Canadians.” (The Kansas City Star)

Like the 1972 Summit Series, or 2010 Olympic gold medal hockey game, Carter’s home run is the kind of sports moment that Canadians remember exactly where they were or what they were doing when it happened.

Most were watching on TV, listening to Sean McDonough’s call for CBS. Many listened on radio to Tom Cheek’s now legendary “Touch ‘em all, Joe” call. And according to Carter many – too many, in fact – say there were there to see it live.

“A lot of [people] tell me they were at the game. I thought the SkyDome only held about 51,000—I’ve had about 350,000 people tell me they were at the game.” (Sportsnet)

The back-to-back World Series championships were the culmination of Blue Jays fandom in Toronto. The Blue Jays were the first major-league team to draw more than four-million fans in a season. More than one million fans crowded Yonge St. for the parades – and heard Todd Stottlemyre famously tell the mayor of Philadelphia to “kiss my ass.”

Finally, one last bit of nostalgia, for those of a certain age, because the 90s were funny:

Where were you on Oct. 23, 1993? Share your memories of Joe Carter’s home run in the comments section.