1992 World Series
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| Dates: | October 17 – October 24 | |||||||||
| MVP: | Pat Borders (Toronto) | |||||||||
| Television: | CBS, simulcast in Canada on CTV | |||||||||
| TV announcers: | Sean McDonough and Tim McCarver | |||||||||
| Radio: | CBS, CJCL as host broadcaster in Canada on the Blue Jays radio network | |||||||||
| Radio announcers: | Vin Scully and Johnny Bench on CBS, Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth on CJCL. | |||||||||
| Umpires: | Jerry Crawford (NL), Mike Reilly (AL), Joe West (NL), John Shulock (AL), Bob Davidson (NL), Dan Morrison (AL) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers: | Blue Jays: Pat Gillick (GM), Roberto Alomar, Dave Winfield. Braves: none. |
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| ALCS: | Toronto Blue Jays over Oakland Athletics (4–2) | |||||||||
| NLCS: | Atlanta Braves over Pittsburgh Pirates (4–3) | |||||||||
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The 1992 World Series was the first Series ever with games played outside the United States,[1] following the 1992 regular season. It pitted the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays against the National League champion Atlanta Braves. Toronto defeated Atlanta, four games to two, marking the first time a team based outside the United States won the World Series.[2]
Contents |
Background [edit]
The Blue Jays made it to the Series after beating the Oakland Athletics in six games in the American League Championship Series. The Braves were in their second consecutive series after again knocking off the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games in the National League Championship Series.
Summary [edit]
AL Toronto Blue Jays (4) vs. NL Atlanta Braves (2)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 17 | Toronto Blue Jays – 1, Atlanta Braves – 3 | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 2:37 | 51,763[3] |
| 2 | October 18 | Toronto Blue Jays – 5, Atlanta Braves – 4 | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 3:30 | 51,763[4] |
| 3 | October 20 | Atlanta Braves – 2, Toronto Blue Jays – 3 | SkyDome | 2:49 | 51,813[5] |
| 4 | October 21 | Atlanta Braves – 1, Toronto Blue Jays – 2 | SkyDome | 2:21 | 52,090[6] |
| 5 | October 22 | Atlanta Braves – 7, Toronto Blue Jays – 2 | SkyDome | 3:05 | 52,268[7] |
| 6 | October 24 | Toronto Blue Jays – 4, Atlanta Braves – 3 (11 innings) | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 4:07 | 51,763[8] |
Matchups [edit]
Game 1 [edit]
Saturday, October 17, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Tom Glavine (1–0) LP: Jack Morris (0–1) Home runs: TOR: Joe Carter (1) ATL: Damon Berryhill (1) |
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| This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2011) |
Braves fans had plenty to worry about in regard to both starting pitchers. Tom Glavine's post-season career had been less than stellar, including giving up eight runs in the second inning of Game 6 of the NLCS against Pittsburgh. Entering Game 1, Glavine's career post-season record was 1–5 despite two starts where he had pitched well and only given up one earned run each time. Glavine was 0–2 in those starts. In addition to Glavine's struggles in the postseason the Braves would face Toronto ace Jack Morris in Game 1. The Braves were more than familiar with Morris, having faced him three times in the 1991 World Series. Then pitching for the Minnesota Twins, Morris started three games and defeated Atlanta twice. The second of those wins was in the decisive seventh game, when Morris pitched a ten-inning complete game shutout on his way to earning Series MVP honors. However, Morris' 1992 postseason had not gone particularly well. He lost Game 1 of the ALCS against Oakland despite a complete game, and gave up five runs in the third inning of Game 4 but ended up with a no-decision after Toronto rallied for an extra-inning victory.
Glavine gave up a home run to Joe Carter in the fourth for the first run of the Series, while Morris shut the Braves out for five innings. In the sixth, with two runners on and two out Damon Berryhill golfed a Morris pitch over the right-field wall for a three-run homer. It was all the offense Atlanta needed, and the Braves took the game by a 3–1 count. Glavine went the distance for the victory, only giving up four total hits. In taking the loss, Morris suffered his first career World Series defeat in his sixth start, with one no-decision. It would not be his last.
Berryhill's home run marked the first runs Morris had given up in the World Series since a Terry Pendleton home run in the bottom of the third inning of Game 4 of the 1991 Series. Morris pitched an additional 3 1⁄3 innings in that game, all ten in Game 7, and the first 5 2⁄3 innings of this game to run his scoreless innings streak in the World Series to 19.
Game 2 [edit]
Sunday, October 18, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Atlanta | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Duane Ward (1–0) LP: Jeff Reardon (0–1) Sv: Tom Henke (1) Home runs: TOR: Ed Sprague (1) ATL: None |
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Before the game started, during the performance of the National Anthems of the United States and Canada, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard accidentally flew the flag of Canada upside down[9][10] The Corps apologized for the error and took pains to carry the flag properly prior to Game 3 in Toronto after insisting that they would be honored to do so.. On top of that, Canadian rock/country musician Tom Cochrane sang the Canadian national anthem incorrectly. Instead of singing the line "...from far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee...", Cochrane instead sang a lyric that was in a previous version of the song: "...O Canada, we stand on guard, we stand on guard for thee...". Not only did Cochrane substitute the archaic lyric, he also did not sing it correctly, as the lyric said "we stand on guard, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee" before it was changed.
The pitching match-up featured former Met David Cone, acquired by the Jays in an August trade, against the Braves' John Smoltz, with whom he had been battling for the National League strikeout lead at the time of the trade. Cone had 214 strikeouts when he was traded by the Mets to the Blue Jays for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson, and due to baseball rules involving players switching leagues his total was frozen at that number while Smoltz continued to earn strikeouts. Smoltz finished the season with 215 strikeouts to top Cone, but Cone led the major leagues with a combined total of 264 strikeouts (finishing 23 ahead of his nearest competitor, Randy Johnson).
A controversial call was made by umpire Mike Reilly in the top of the fourth inning with Atlanta leading 1–0 after David Justice scored on a wild pitch from Cone. Roberto Alomar was at third base with John Olerud batting. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Smoltz threw a ball that skipped past Damon Berryhill. Alomar broke for home plate while Berryhill fielded the ball. Smoltz, the ball, and Alomar got to the plate at around the same time and Smoltz tagged Alomar. Reilly called Alomar out to end the inning, but replays shown by CBS showed that Alomar's hand had clearly touched the plate before Smoltz was able to apply a tag.
In the top of the fifth Pat Borders and Manuel Lee both reached base in front of Cone, who had already singled earlier in the game. Cone responded with his second hit of the game (only the third hit for a pitcher in the World Series since 1979) to drive in Borders and cut the Atlanta lead to 2–1. Lee then scored on a single by Devon White, tying the game. The Braves rallied in the bottom half of the inning as Deion Sanders provided a spark. With one out, Sanders singled. He then immediately stole second, and after Borders made an errant throw he got up and ran to third. Cone then walked Terry Pendleton, then gave up the go-ahead run when David Justice singled in Sanders. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston then pulled Cone in favor of David Wells, who gave up the fourth Atlanta run when pinch hitter Brian Hunter's sacrifice fly scored Pendleton.
Toronto made another rally in the eighth inning. After Alomar doubled to left with one out, Joe Carter and Dave Winfield hit back to back singles, the second of which scored Alomar and cut the lead to 4–3. Smoltz was then lifted in favor of Mike Stanton, who retired Olerud, and then closer Jeff Reardon struck out Kelly Gruber to end the threat.
The Jays entered the ninth trailing by the one run Reilly had cost them and turned to their bench, which the team had nicknamed "The Trenches". After a walk to Derek Bell, Toronto reserve infielder Ed Sprague drilled a pitch from Reardon, then baseball's all-time saves leader, to left for a two-run homer. The play was called by legendary Blue Jays announcer the late Tom Cheek, who said "Watch him hit a homer.", during Sprague's at bat.
Atlanta tried to rally in the ninth. After Mark Lemke flew out, Toronto closer Tom Henke hit pinch hitter Lonnie Smith with a pitch. Ron Gant came in to pinch run for him and, after Otis Nixon recorded the second out, he stole second. Sanders then walked to put the winning run on base and Pendleton, an NL MVP candidate, came to the plate. Pendleton had led the majors with a .391 average with runners in scoring position and two out. However, he popped out to Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber to seal the victory for Toronto. Gruber then angered Braves fans and players by mocking the "Tomahawk Chop" as he left the field.[11]
Game 3 [edit]
Tuesday, October 20, 1992 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Duane Ward (2–0) LP: Steve Avery (0–1) Home runs: ATL: None TOR: Joe Carter (2), Kelly Gruber (1) |
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| This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2011) |
Before this game, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard offered to hoist the Canadian flag once more in order to make amends for the inverted flag incident of Game 2. Likewise, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police flew the flag of the United States.
As Game 3 moved across the border (for the first Canadian Classic) the question still remained of the Blue Jays' ballpark benefit. Before this series, the Blue Jays had previously only gone 3–6 in the postseason in their home park, with two of those wins coming in the 1992 postseason.
In the fourth inning, the first big defensive play of the Series nearly resulted in a rare World Series triple play and another bit of World Series history was made. With Deion Sanders and Terry Pendleton on with nobody out in the top of the inning, Devon White made a leaping catch of a deep fly ball off the bat of Atlanta's David Justice. As White made the catch and crashed into the wall Sanders and Pendleton got crossed up on the bases, and Pendleton ran past Sanders to result in an automatic out. Sanders remained stuck between second and third as Kelly Gruber received a relay from first baseman John Olerud and began chasing him back to second. Gruber lunged at Sanders and appeared to tag him on the heel just before he got back to second, and television replays confirmed he did, but umpire Bob Davidson called Sanders safe. In the bottom half Joe Carter homered off of Braves starter Steve Avery, with the hit scoring the first ever World Series run in Canada.
The Braves would tie the game in the sixth when Sanders ripped a double into the right-field corner and scored on a Justice single through the right side. They then took the lead in the top of the eighth. Otis Nixon led off the inning and reached on an error after Gruber misplayed a line drive off his bat. Nixon then stole second and with two out stood on third. Juan Guzman then walked Justice to pitch to Lonnie Smith, who delivered with a single that scored Nixon but also ended the inning as Justice was tagged out going to third. In the bottom of the inning Gruber made up for his gaffe in the top half and broke a long hitless streak with a game-tying home run.
The top of the ninth inning saw the first World Series ejection since 1985.[11] Sid Bream led off the inning with a single and then was lifted for pinch runner Brian Hunter. With a 2–2 count on Jeff Blauser, Hunter tried to steal second. Blauser attempted to check his swing as Pat Borders threw out Hunter at second. Toronto shortstop Manuel Lee jumped up and told Borders to appeal to first base umpire Dan Morrison to see if Blauser swung. Morrison ruled he did. Braves manager Bobby Cox picked up a batting helmet and threw it out of the dugout to protest the strikeout call on Blauser and was immediately ejected by umpire Joe West. Shortly thereafter Duane Ward struck out Damon Berryhill to end the inning.
Avery started the bottom of the ninth for the Braves and gave up a single to Roberto Alomar. Acting manager Jimy Williams pulled Avery from the game in favor of Mark Wohlers, who issued an intentional walk to Carter after Alomar stole second. After Dave Winfield bunted the runners into scoring position, Williams brought in Mike Stanton to pitch to Olerud. The Blue Jays sent up Game 2 hero Ed Sprague to pinch hit, and he was walked intentionally to load the bases. Again, Williams came out and called for a new pitcher, this time Game 2 loser Jeff Reardon. Facing Candy Maldonado with one out, Reardon gave up his second consecutive game-winning hit as Maldonado singled to center. Alomar scored from third and Tomahawk Chopped his way to the plate as Gruber had done with the last out in Game 2. Ward took his second consecutive win while Avery was saddled with the loss.
Game 4 [edit]
Wednesday, October 21, 1992 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Toronto | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 2 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Jimmy Key (1–0) LP: Tom Glavine (1–1) Sv: Tom Henke (2) Home runs: ATL: None TOR: Pat Borders (1) |
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| This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2011) |
Having decided on a three-man rotation for the series, Game 1 winner Tom Glavine took the mound for Atlanta in Game 4. Toronto countered with veteran starter Jimmy Key, who had not made a start in the postseason and only pitched once, in relief, to this point. After giving up a lead-off single to Otis Nixon in the first inning, Key picked Nixon off first base and gave up only three hits over seven innings.
In the third inning, the Blue Jays scored their first run when Pat Borders hit a solo home run. They added a second run in the bottom of the seventh, which would prove decisive, when Kelly Gruber scored on a single by Devon White with two out.
The Braves attempted to rally in the eighth when Ron Gant led off with a double. He advanced to third on a bunt single by Brian Hunter and then scored on an infield groundout by Mark Lemke with one out. That proved to be the end for Key, as Duane Ward came in for his third consecutive appearance. He struck out the first batter he faced, Otis Nixon, but the pitch got away from Borders and the speedy Nixon was able to reach base, with Hunter advancing to third. Nixon then stole second to put runners in scoring position, but Ward got Jeff Blauser to ground out to John Olerud to end the threat.
Tom Henke earned his second save of the series by shutting down the Braves in the ninth. Key won his first postseason game since 1989, and this win proved to be his last as a starter for the Blue Jays. Glavine pitched his second complete game for the Braves in the Series in a losing effort.
Game 5 [edit]
Thursday, October 22, 1992 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Toronto | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: John Smoltz (1–0) LP: Jack Morris (0–2) Sv: Mike Stanton (1) Home runs: ATL: David Justice (1), Lonnie Smith (1) TOR: None |
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| This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2011) |
Down three games to one and facing elimination,[2] the Braves returned John Smoltz to the mound for Game 5, who was still seeking his first World Series win. Jack Morris, who had lost Game 1 of the series, was given the start for Toronto. Before the game Terry Pendleton, who had seen a 3–1 lead evaporate in the World Series before (having been a member of the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals), reminded his teammates that the possibility still existed that they may win the series.
Entering the game, the Braves' three, four, and five hitters had not gotten an extra base hit in the entire series. That changed in the first inning, as with one out and Otis Nixon on third base, #3 hitter Pendleton doubled to right field to score the first run of the game. In the bottom of the second Pat Borders tied the game with a two-out double to score John Olerud.
The fourth inning saw the Braves #4 hitter get his first extra base hit of the series, as David Justice hit a home run to give Atlanta the lead. But again, Borders struck in the bottom half to tie the game with an RBI single to score Olerud.
In the fifth inning, the Braves blew the game open. With two out, Nixon singled, stole second, and then scored on a single by Deion Sanders. Pendleton then hit a ground-rule double, forcing Sanders to stop at third base. Morris then walked Justice to load the bases, duplicating what the Blue Jays had done in the eighth inning of Game 3. However, the move backfired as it had in the third game and in a game where the #3 hitter and #4 hitter had finally gotten extra base hits, #5 hitter Lonnie Smith got his and put the game out of reach with a grand slam home run to extend the Braves' lead to 7–2. Morris was pulled after giving up the grand slam, with Smith being the last batter he faced in a postseason series; he did not pitch in the 1993 postseason for the Blue Jays after being injured late in the season and retired after the 1994 season. Smoltz pitched six innings to get his first World Series win, and Mike Stanton pitched the final three to earn a save.
Atlanta's offensive outburst dashed any hopes of the World Series being decided on Canadian ground, which would happen the following year. After winning twice and holding the Braves to three runs the year before, in two starts against the same team in 1992 Morris lost both of his starts and had an ERA above 8.00. Smith's grand slam was the first in the World Series since Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, when Jose Canseco hit one. (It was the first hit in a game by the winning team since Game 6 of the 1987 World Series; Canseco's home run was nullified by Kirk Gibson's famous home run later in the game while Kent Hrbek's in Game 6 put the game out of reach.)
Game 6 [edit]
Saturday, October 24, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 1 | |||||||||
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 | |||||||||
| WP: Jimmy Key (2–0) LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–1) Sv: Mike Timlin (1) Home runs: TOR: Candy Maldonado (1) ATL: None |
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| This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2011) |
For the potentially decisive sixth game, Atlanta turned to Steve Avery for his second start of the Series to try to stave off elimination. Meanwhile, for their potential clinching game, Toronto went back to David Cone as they had in Game 2 in Atlanta. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston elected to do a shuffling of his lineup prior to the game. Instead of playing John Olerud at first base Gaston started Joe Carter in his place, enabling him to use Dave Winfield in right field as he had done in Games 1 and 2 of the Series. However, in those two games Carter was simply moved to play left field instead. Gaston thus decided to go with Candy Maldonado, who started the three games in Toronto in left field, to fill the position.
The Blue Jays got on the board right out of the gate when David Justice misplayed a line drive by Carter to right field scoring Devon White who had singled. In the third, Atlanta's surprise hero of the Series Deion Sanders doubled off Carter's glove and scored when Terry Pendleton hit a sac fly. Toronto untied the affair immediately when Maldonado hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth. Roberto Alomar made a memorable play on a Jeff Blauser ground ball: the ball was grounded to the far right of Alomar, who dove for the ball and recorded the out at first after a quick throw from the knees. The 2–1 score was preserved by solid pitching and defense from the Blue Jays as Cone, Todd Stottlemyre, David Wells, and Duane Ward held the Braves to one run through eight innings. The Braves were just as good defensively as well, and although Avery only lasted four innings, Pete Smith, Mike Stanton, and Mark Wohlers held the Blue Jays in check and kept them scoreless over the next five innings. The score stood 2–1 in favor of the Blue Jays entering the bottom of the ninth, with Toronto needing just three outs to become the first non-American team to win the World Series and the bottom of the Atlanta order (Jeff Blauser, Damon Berryhill, Mark Lemke) due up. Once again the Blue Jays turned to Tom Henke, who was looking for his third save of the World Series and also to continue the Blue Jays' bullpen's success in the postseason. Entering the game, the Toronto bullpen had not given up any earned runs throughout the entire postseason and by the ninth inning that streak had reached 77 consecutive innings. In addition to this, Henke and the relief corps had yet to blow a save in the entire postseason to that point.
Blauser led off the inning with a single and Berryhill, who had not recorded a sacrifice all year, bunted to move him to second. With one out Lemke was called back to the bench in favor of Game 5 hero Lonnie Smith, who after falling behind 0–2 and taking Henke to eight pitches drew a walk to put the go-ahead run on base. With the pitcher's spot following Braves manager Bobby Cox sent up his other posteason hero, Francisco Cabrera. Cabrera had not batted in the World Series to this point but was responsible for the Braves winning the National League pennant, as his single in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the NLCS scored the tying and winning runs in a 3–2 victory.
However, after another eight-pitch at bat, the Blue Jays recorded the second out as Cabrera hit a fly ball to left that Maldonado momentarily lost track of. With Blauser still at second and Smith at first, leadoff batter Otis Nixon took his turn at the plate. The first two pitches were strikes, but on the third pitch Nixon slapped a single to left field. Blauser rounded third and was waved home, scoring without a play as Maldonado's throw in cleared the backstop behind home plate. The Braves had snapped the Blue Jays' scoreless innings streak, causing Henke to blow the save, and now had a chance to win the game as Ron Gant, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement for Sanders in the seventh inning, stepped in. After running the count full, Henke got Gant to fly out to end the threat and for the second time in as many years, Game 6 of the World Series was going into extra innings.
The Braves called on veteran Charlie Leibrandt, who had not pitched in the entire Series and who had not seen action in a World Series since he gave up the game winning home run to Kirby Puckett in Game 6 in the previous year's Series, to pitch the tenth. After retiring Maldonado he gave up a single to Kelly Gruber, but retired Pat Borders and pinch-hitter Pat Tabler to end the threat. The Braves sent up the middle of the order against the Blue Jays in the tenth. After Henke retired Terry Pendleton on a groundout to Carter, Gaston called on Game 4 winner Jimmy Key to make his second appearance of the Series and he induced groundouts to Justice and Sid Bream to end the inning.
After retiring Key on a foul pop for the first out and getting ahead of Devon White 1–2, Leibrandt hit the Toronto leadoff hitter with the next pitch. Alomar followed with a single putting two runners on with one out as Carter stepped in. Meanwhile, closer Jeff Reardon had been warming in the bullpen for some time and Tim McCarver wondered aloud on CBS television as to whether or not Reardon would enter the game to face the Blue Jays' star slugger. However, after his performance gave Avery the loss in Game 3 after his blown save in Game 2, Reardon had not seen action. Cox elected to stick with Leibrandt and his decision paid off as Carter flew out to Nixon in center field. This left the Braves one out away from getting out of the jam, with the next batter being the struggling Dave Winfield. Entering Game 6, Winfield had only recorded four hits in the entire Series and was hitting below .250. He did not do much to this point to help himself either, with Winfield having been retired in four previous at bats.
After working the count full Winfield drove the ball down the left field line for a double, scoring both White and Alomar, and the Blue Jays regained the lead at 4–2. At 41 years of age, Dave Winfield became the oldest player to hit an extra base hit in the World Series.[12] Leibrandt had now given up the go-ahead run in back to back World Series Game 6 appearances. He retired Maldonado on a pop-fly to end the inning but the damage was done and Atlanta now had to come back again in their half of the inning, this time facing a two run deficit.
As they had done in the ninth, the Braves started with a single by Blauser off Key. Berryhill then hit what looked like a double play ground ball to shortstop, but at the last second the ball took a bad hop and handcuffed the normally sure handed Alfredo Griffin, who had come in as a defensive replacement in the tenth. Blauser advanced to third on the error, and with the Braves running low on players pitcher John Smoltz entered the game as a pinch runner for the slow-footed Berryhill. Cox then called for a bunt with Rafael Belliard, who like Griffin entered the game as a defensive replacement in the tenth inning, up for the first time and Smoltz advanced to second. The Braves would score Blauser from third on the next play but pinch hitter Brian Hunter also recorded the second out on a ground ball to Carter.
With the tying run now on third and Otis Nixon once again having a chance to drive it in as he had in the ninth, Gaston went to the mound initially to discuss the situation with Key and his infield. During the course of the discussion, however, Gaston elected to make a pitching change and bring in righthander Mike Timlin from the bullpen to pitch to Nixon. The move, however, seemed to not make much sense at first. Since Timlin was a right-handed pitcher and Nixon a switch-hitter, this would force the Braves' center fielder to switch to what was his stronger side of the plate. Nixon also had a tendency to bunt for base hits to take advantage of his speed and to catch the infield off guard, and since the left batter's box was closer to the first base line this would enable him to get a quicker jump out of the box. Before returning to first base Carter informed Timlin to be aware of the bunt possibility. After fouling off the first pitch Nixon did indeed lay down the bunt but Timlin was ready for it, throwing to Carter in plenty of time to record the final out and preserve the victory for the Blue Jays.[11] Carter initially looked to keep the ball but gave it up to Timlin who pleaded to Carter for the ball saying it was "[his] World Series save." Carter would eventually have possession of the game-winning ball of the 1993 World Series: his Series-ending home run ball.
Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston became the first African American manager to win a World Series.
American League president Dr. Bobby Brown presented the World Series Trophy in the place of the commissioner. Just a month earlier, Fay Vincent was forced to resign and was replaced by Bud Selig (then owner of the Milwaukee Brewers) on what was originally perceived to be an "interim basis." Dr. Brown also presented the Blue Jays the trophy in 1993. The last World Series not to be presided over by a Commissioner until this year had taken place in 1919; Selig officially became Commissioner of Baseball in 1998.
It also marked the first world championship for the city of Toronto since the National Hockey League team Toronto Maple Leafs won the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals.
Composite box [edit]
1992 World Series (4–2): Toronto Blue Jays (A.L.) over Atlanta Braves (N.L.)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Blue Jays | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 45 | 4 | |||||||||
| Atlanta Braves | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 44 | 2 | |||||||||
| Total attendance: 311,460 Average attendance: 51,910 Winning player's share: $144,962 Losing player's share: $84,259[13] |
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The 1992 World Series is notable for being one of the few in which the losing team outscored the winning team over the course of the series.
Broadcasting [edit]
At 30 years of age, CBS' Sean McDonough became the youngest man to call all nine innings and games of a World Series (while serving as a full network television employee). Although Vin Scully and Al Michaels were several years younger when they called their first World Series (1955 and 1972 respectively), they were products of the then broadcasting policy of announcers representing the participating teams (a process that ended following the 1976 World Series). McDonough's record would subsequently be broken by Fox's Joe Buck, who at 27 years of age, called the 1996 World Series. Ironically, McDonough replaced Joe Buck's father, Jack, as CBS's lead play-by-play man. Serving as field reporters for CBS's coverage were Jim Kaat (in the Braves' dugout) and Lesley Visser (in the Blue Jays' dugout).
CBS Radio also broadcast the Series nationally, with Vin Scully and Johnny Bench announcing. Locally, the Series was called on WGST-AM in Atlanta by Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Joe Simpson, and Don Sutton, and on CJCL-AM in Toronto by Jerry Howarth and Tom Cheek.
References [edit]
- ^ Bisher, Furman (1992). A Series for the World: Baseball's First International Fall Classic. Woodford Press. ISBN 9780942627053.
- ^ a b Baumeister, Roy F. (1995). "Disputing the effects of championship pressures and home audiences". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68: 645.
- ^ "1992 World Series Game 1 – Toronto Blue Jays vs. Atlanta Braves". Retrosheet. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "1992 World Series Game 2 – Toronto Blue Jays vs. Atlanta Braves". Retrosheet. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "1992 World Series Game 3 – Atlanta Braves vs. Toronto Blue Jays". Retrosheet. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "1992 World Series Game 4 – Atlanta Braves vs. Toronto Blue Jays". Retrosheet. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "1992 World Series Game 5 – Atlanta Braves vs. Toronto Blue Jays". Retrosheet. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "1992 World Series Game 6 – Toronto Blue Jays vs. Atlanta Braves". Retrosheet. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "Canada / Baseball World Series / Flag NBC News broadcast from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive". Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
- ^ Wiebe, Todd J. (2010). "A Flag is Flipped and a Nation Flaps: The Politics and Patriotism of the First International World Series". NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture 18 (2): 108–113.
- ^ a b c Major League Baseball Presents: 1992 World Series. Dir. Mike Kostel, Rich Domich. Perf. Len Carlou, Tim McCarver, Sean McDonough. Videocasette, DVD. Major League Baseball Productions, QVideo, 1992, 2002.
- ^ Nemec, David; Flatow, Scott. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures (2008 ed.). New York: Signet. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0.
Notes [edit]
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (November 2011) |
- Forman, Sean L. "1992 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Statistics and Information. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
External links [edit]
- 1992 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
- 1992 World Series at Baseball Almanac
- 1992 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
- The 1992 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
- History of the World Series - 1992 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.
- 1992 NLCS|Game 7 and World Series memories from MLB.com
- 1992 Toronto Blue Jays and 1992 Atlanta Braves at baseballlibrary.com
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