1992 Blue Jays see World Series potential in current team

On Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated the 30-year reunion of their first-ever World Series win, all the way back in 1992 with a six-game victory over Atlanta.

About 15 members of the 1992 roster and coaching staff were in attendance at the Rogers Centre in order to recognize the three decades since the team’s iconic championship win.

And with the Blue Jays currently occupying an American League Wild Card spot, the self proclaimed “old heads” think there’s a chance this current roster has the potential to bring another title back to Toronto.

“They’re playing great,” former manager Cito Gaston said of the current Jays. “I think they got a chance to go right to the World Series.”

The actual hyper-recent performance of the team has been tough, as they’ve been outscored 14-0 by the Los Angeles Angels in their first two games of the series. But all things considered on the season, the alumni like the look of the roster, reminding them of the teams when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.

“I hear a lot of people now, they talk about in NCAA Basketball, making the Final Four,” Blue Jays’ legend Joe Carter said. “Or playing in the Super Bowl. I don’t want to get to the Super Bowl. I don’t want to get to the Final Four. I want to win the whole thing. You never hear players say they want to win the World Series, they talk about getting there. I don’t want to just get there, I want to win.”

Carter is best remembered for his 1993 walk-off homer that clinched Toronto’s second World Series title, but he was also involved in the final out of the 1992 win as well.

Reliever Mike Timlin picked up an Atlanta bunt and tossed it to Carter at first, a scene the two recreated on Saturday as part of the ceremonial “final out” pre-game ceremony.

Blast from the past: Timlin to Carter and the #BlueJays win it! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/3rwmHFULwm

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 27, 2022

“They know how important every game is,” Carter said. “We didn’t come to just get to the World Series, our job was to win the World Series.”

Carter came to Toronto in 1991, before making four All-Star games and winning two World Series before leaving the team in 1998, his final pro season.

“When you have the opportunity, you have to take advantage of it,” Carter said. “Because in any game and especially in baseball, you have maybe a five to six year window. You have a chance to really elevate yourself as a team to become a champion. So you take advantage of that.”

Carter isn’t the only one recognizing the talent of the current roster.

“I think partially what’s equivalent to the team here is I think you have a core segment of the team that came up through the organization, that was products of the Blue Jays,” 1992 World Series MVP Pat Borders said. “And then the front office showed you the desire to win by going out and getting any missing piece.”

For former star pitcher Dave Stieb, he’s most struck by Blue Jays Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., all three of whom had MLB-playing fathers in Craig Biggio, Dante Bichette, and of course, Vladimir Guerrero Sr.

“They’re unbelievable,” Stieb said. “The young talent they have, the young kids whose dads played, it’s remarkable to have three of them. They’re [all] good talent.”

Once the actual game got underway Saturday, the Jays alumni were treated to a low-scoring, high-intensity pitching duel as Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani outmanned Alek Manoah to a 2-0 win, with each pitcher going seven innings.

Manoah pitched a gem, tossing eight strikeouts while giving up just four hits and one earned run, but was bested by Ohtani who threw nine strikeouts while allowing just two hits and no runs, while also picking up a pair of walks himself at the plate.

“Every game is Game 7 of the World Series for me,” Manoah said of the pressure of the game. “It doesn’t matter if Ohtani is on the mound over there or Roger Clemens. It doesn’t matter.”

It might not be Game 7, but Toronto and the Angels close out the three-game set with a 10:37 am PT/ 1:37 pm ET first pitch today. Ross Stripling (6-3, 2.84 ERA) gets the start for Toronto, while Tucker Davidson (2-4, 6.23 ERA) is on the mound for the visitors.