Joe Carter expected to be in Toronto to throw first pitch in Blue Jays World Series game
A Toronto Blue Jays legend is expected to return to the city for the upcoming World Series.
We have already seen tons of legendary players return to Toronto for this playoff run, including Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, and Edwin Encarnacion. All those players were superstars from the 2015 and 2016 Blue Jays teams that made it to the ALCS.
Now, two-time World Series champion Joe Carter will be coming to Toronto to cheer on his Blue Jays. The 65-year-old Jays legend confirmed in an exclusive interview with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he was cheering for the Jays in Game 7 and was elated to see them get back to the World Series.
“Theyāve saved me for the last 32 years, Iām due,” Carter said when asked if he was going to throw a first pitch in the World Series. “The city of Toronto is going to be rocking. All of Canada is going to be so pumped up. And, Iām so pumped up… This is going to be a classic.”
Carter etched his name into not only Blue Jays history, but also Canadian sports history, when he blasted a World Series-winning walk-off home run in 1993 to deliver the second-straight Blue Jays title. It was, and remains, just the second-ever walk-off home run to win a World Series.
OTD 30 years ago, Joe Carter touched āem all, and the @BlueJays won their second consecutive #WorldSeries. pic.twitter.com/SrnLlcYymt
— MLB (@MLB) October 23, 2023
In the interview with Nightengale, Carter compared that moment to George Springer’s clutch three-run shot in Game 7 that helped the Jays knock off the Seattle Mariners and punch their ticket to the World Series.
“You look at me. You look at Jose Bautista. You look at Edwin Encarnacion. And now, you look at George Springer,” Carter said.
āIt was like poetic justice. The guy gets hit in the knee, and the fans are booing him. You kidding me? Well, now those fans in Seattle will have a lot to boo George Springer about; heāll be remembered in their history.”
It has yet to be officially confirmed which game Carter will be throwing out the first pitch. Toronto will be hosting Games 1 and 2 of the World Series on Friday and Saturday, with the series then shifting to L.A. for Games 3 to 5.
The Blue Jays will then host Games 5 and 6 if necessary, though you’d think the team would want Carter at one of the guaranteed games at the start of the World Series.
While the back-to-back World Series titles remain an important part of the Blue Jays’ history, Carter recognized that a lot of Toronto fans weren’t even alive to witness those moments. Now, he is excited to watch a new generation of fans and players write their own history.
āNow, those guys donāt have to talk about ā93 anymore.”