www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 052014 092014 Editor Chrös McDougall Copy Editor Nicholas Cafarelli Interior Design and Production Kazuko Collins Cover Design Kazuko Collins Photo Credits Chris Bernacchi AP Images cover Hans Deryk AP Images title Ed Reinke AP Images 4 29 33 43 top and middle Rusty Kennedy AP Images 7 Mark Duncan AP Images 9 37 Gray Mortimore Getty Images 10 Diamond Images Getty Images 12 42 top Mitchell Layton Getty Images 15 John Swart AP Images 16 24 Eric Risberg AP Images 19 42 bottom Lou Requena AP Images 20 Scott Macdonald AP Images 23 42 middle 47 Doug Mills AP Images 27 Ron Frehm AP Images 31 John Dunn AP Images 34 Tom Uhlman AP Images 39 JP Moczulski The Canadian Press AP Images 41 Chris O’Meara AP Images 43 bottom Winslow Townson AP Images 44 Library of Congress Control Number 2014933086 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gerstner Joanne 1971 Toronto Blue Jays by Joanne Gerstner p cm Inside MLB Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-62403-488-6 1 Toronto Blue Jays Baseball team Juvenile literature I Title GV875 T67G47 2015 796 357’6409713 dc23 2014933086
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Living a Dream 4 Chapter 2 Baseball Comes to Toronto 10 Chapter 3 Learning to Win 16 Chapter 4 Success at Last 24 Chapter 5 Rebuilding to Get Back 34 Timeline 42 Quick Stats 44 Quotes and Anecdotes 45 Glossary 46 For More Information 47 Index 48 About the Author 48
CHAPTER 1 LIVING A DREAM
S omething this special usually only happens in baseball movies or dreams Or maybe this was something Toronto Blue Jays slugger Joe Carter imagined when he was a kid playing baseball with his friends Everybody wants to be the hero of the World Series Carter made the dream happen in 1993 The 1993 Blue Jays were in the midst of a tremendous run One year earlier they had beaten the Atlanta Braves to become the first Canadian team to win the World Series The people of Toronto have long loved their professional hockey team the Maple Leafs But after the 1992 World Series the Blue Jays and the sport of baseball were becoming just as popular The Blue Jays came back even stronger in 1993 During the off-season they added vet eran pitcher Dave Stewart and future Hall of Famers desig nated hitter Paul Molitor and outfielder Rickey Henderson The Blue Jays brought in veteran designated hitter Paul Molitor for the The Blue Jays brought in veteran designated hitter Paul Molitor for the 1993 season He became the 1993 World Series Most Valuable Player 1993 season He became the 1993 World Series Most Valuable Player LIVING A DREAM 5
