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Toronto Blue Jays:
Flying under the radar in the AL East
The Toronto Blue Jays have enjoyed a great
deal of success north of the border since getting into the mix
people like to call Major League Baseball. Since 1977 the Blue
Jays have only finished out of the top three in the American
League East 11 times. During the early ’90 is when the
Blue Jays were dominating the American League. From 1991-1993
the Blue Jays averaged 94 wins and kept three straight divisional
titles away from the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox. In 1992
everything the Blue Jays organization worked for culminated into
a World Series berth. The Blue Jays found themselves opposite
an Atlanta Braves team that had just come off of an emotional
NLCS win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Jays dismissed the
Braves in six games and became the first Canadian franchise to
win a World Series, but it wouldn’t be the last. The next
season the Jays propelled themselves into the World Series, but
this time they went toe-to-to with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The series opened up in Toronto and the teams each came out with
a win. When the series shifted out to Philly the pitching staffs
decided to take a break. In games three and four a total of 42
runs were scored; Toronto won both games the first with a 10-3
score and the second 15-14. The Phillies took the final game
in at home 2-0 behind Curt Schilling’s five hit shutout.
In Toronto the Jays found themselves down two in the bottom of
the 9th with two men on and Joe Carter stepped up to the plate.
The 2-2 pitch from Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams would be replayed
endlessly on ESPN. Joe Carter took the Williams pitch over the
left field fence. That marked the first time since the 1977-78
Yankees that a team had won back to back World Series.
The big bat in the Toronto lineup is none other than
first baseman Carlos Delgado. The two time All-Star batted
.302 with 42 home runs and an absurd 145 runs batted in. The
other All-Star in the line-up is center fielder Vernon Wells.
The 25 year old hit for a .317 average and hit 33 round trippers
and batted in 117 runs.
The Blue Jays have had four of the past eight American League Cy Young Award
winners on their team. Roy Halladay was the latest Blue Jays Cy Young winner.
He won the award by pitching his way to a 22-7 record with nine complete games
and a 3.25 ERA. He’s joined in the starting rotation by Miguel Batista,
Pat Hentgen, Ted Lilly, and Justin Miller.
The SkyDome is a luxurious stadium and has facilities
that are totally unique to the stadium. It features SkyDome
Hotel which has a view of the field where one can get a room
and watch the game. The 15 year old stadium also showcases
the earliest retractable roofs in the majors. It also displays the largest
video screen in North America and the dimensions are 110
ft. wide and 33 feet high.
Are you a Toronto Blue Jays Fanatic? Check out TorontoBlueJaysFanatics.com!
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