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
Seven Blue Jays players were selected to the 1993 All-Star Game Those players ultimately led Toronto to a 95 67 season and another American League AL East Division title The fall in Canada is usu ally spent gearing up for the upcoming hockey season But baseball fever hit Toronto as the Blue Jays went back to the postseason After beating the Chicago White Sox 4 2 in the AL Championship Series ALCS the Blue Jays returned to the World Series The oppos ing Philadelphia Phillies had finished last in the National League NL East in 1992 But they surged to the top in 1993 and then defeated the Braves to reach the Series After five World Series games the Blue Jays had a 3 2 lead All they had to do was win Game 6 and they would defend their title Things looked good for the Jays until the seventh inning The Blue Jays had a 5 1 lead going into the inning They came out of it losing 6 5 The Phillies held onto that lead going into the bottom of the ninth If the Blue Jays wanted to come back they would have to beat the Phillies best relief pitcher Mitch Williams The man nicknamed Wild Thing had a wild delivery and a near 100-mile-per-hour fastball The fans at SkyDome in Toronto worried that their team might have to wait until Game 7 to win their second World Series Then Henderson led off the inning with a walk After Devon White flied out Molitor singled to center Now it was Carter’s Joe Carter watches as his hit sails over the outfield fence for the game winning home run in the 1993 World Series 6 TORONTO BLUE JAYS
