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Toronto Blue Jays: The lasting impact from back-to-back World Series titles

By David Morassutti

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 23: Joe Carter #29 of the Toronto Blue Jays is held aloft after hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series, four games to two, against the Philadelphia Phillies on October 23, 1993 at the Toronto Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 23: Joe Carter #29 of the Toronto Blue Jays is held aloft after hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series, four games to two, against the Philadelphia Phillies on October 23, 1993 at the Toronto Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images) /
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There have been many sporting events that have united the country of Canada but the back-to-back World Series victories put the Toronto Blue Jays on another level.

For years, the Toronto Maple Leafs owned the city of Toronto as the main sports attraction in town. There was only the Toronto Argonauts as the only other professional team until 1977 when the Toronto Blue Jays became the second Canadian MLB team.

In 1985, the Blue Jays finally won a divisional title but were unable to make it to the World Series losing to the Kansas City Royals. It wasn’t until 1989 that the team was able to find sustained success with Cito Gaston at the helm.

In that time the Blue Jays made a franchise-altering trade with the San Diego Padres sending Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff in exchange for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar. Not too long after, they were able to bring in Devon White and that’s where the fortunes of the franchise changed.

At the time, the Blue Jays were one of the hottest tickets in town becoming the first MLB team to draw four million fans during a season. A big part of that was the Rogers Centre (then known as Skydome) was capable of holding over 50,000 fans during sellouts.

Winning their first World Series title in 1992 brought a new reputation for the game in Toronto because at the time, the team was craving for a winner and the Blue Jays delivered. Below is a video of the reaction from fans after the Blue Jays won the game in the 11th inning against the Atlanta Braves.

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It was a moment of relief for this city after coming short numerous times and finally, the fanbase could cling to a winning team. Despite Tom Henke blowing the save in Game 6, the team rallied and persevered refusing to let the moment slip from their fingers.

Of course, the first World Series win is going to be memorable but 1993 was able to top it because of the drama behind it. How many times are you reminded of Carter’s walk-off home run off of Mitch Williams, or see played back constantly?

Many call it the apex of the Blue Jays as a franchise because after becoming the first Canadian team to bring it up north, they weren’t content winning it only once.

The team is holding a 25th anniversary day with a bobblehead giveaway and a ceremony before first pitch and for a moment, the struggles of the 2018 Blue Jays are put aside to remember how much the sport took over the city and the country at the time.

In 2015, that feeling returned and unfortunately, it didn’t have the desired ending but fans who were not around to witness the buzz from those World Series wins got a taste of the passion. It was also a reminder of those who were around that the Blue Jays still remain near and dear to the hears of fans.

Hopefully, it won’t be long until they can find that passion with a winner and maybe the crop of promising young prospects can bring that to them. One thing that the team can count on is supporters turning out when it matters.

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