Coming off the franchise’s first World Series title in 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays underwent a serious roster revamp heading into 1993.
Gone were the likes of Dave Winfield, Tom Henke, David Cone, Jimmy Key, Candy Maldonado and Manny Lee. And in came free-agent splashes Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart.
But in that 1992-93 off-season, a dream may have prevented the Blue Jays from losing soon-to-be October hero Joe Carter.
Down in Kansas City, the Royals’ founding owner, Ewing Kauffman, was severely ill, and the club was looking to build a winner for 1993. In their crosshairs were Cone and Carter, two members of the reigning World Series champion Blue Jays who were now free agents and had ties to Kansas City.
“When I became a free agent, I said, ‘I’m only interested in two teams,'” Carter said in Part 4 of the Sportsnet documentary, The Blue Jays Way, commemorating the franchise’s 50th season. “Kansas City, where I live, and Toronto, where we just won a championship.”
(The fourth part of The Blue Jays Way: WAMCO will air on Sunday, Aug. 2, following Toronto’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.)
- The Blue Jays Way documentary on Sportsnet
Sportsnet is giving fans a new way to celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays’ 50th season.
The Blue Jays Way is an in-depth, seven-part original series that documents the winding journey from the franchise’s beginnings to the 2026 run to the World Series.
Check out the fourth part of the documentary, WAMCO, on Sunday, Aug. 2, following Toronto’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals.Broadcast Schedule
Kauffman’s Royals were ultimately able to pry Cone away from the Blue Jays with a three-year, $18 million contract, which included a then-record $9-million signing bonus.
“They made a fair offer,” Cone said in The Blue Jays Way. “They wanted me back. I loved it (in Toronto), but I’m from Kansas City. And I was a huge Ewing Kauffman fan.
“He came to me and said, ‘I want to bring you home, and I’m going to give you $9 million.'”
Carter, however, needed more convincing to part ways with the Blue Jays.
“Kansas City made a great offer, and I remember talking to (Toronto general manager Pat Gillick) and (president) Paul Beeston,” Carter recalled. “They made an offer, and I said, ‘Well, I’d like a no-trade clause.’
“They said, ‘If we sign you, it’s because we want you. Not to trade you.'”
The then-32-year-old Carter was coming off a 1992 campaign in which he finished third in American League MVP voting after crushing 34 homers and driving in 119 runs while posting an .808 OPS.
So, even though Toronto clearly wanted to keep Carter’s bat in the middle of its lineup, it didn’t budge on the no-trade clause request.
“The reason we didn’t give him a no-trade is because we’d been involved with so many on the other side…,” Beeston said in the documentary. “So, we didn’t give no-trades.”
With an offer sitting on the table from both clubs, Carter had a difficult choice to make. Should he take the Royals’ offer, which included an additional year and a no-trade clause? Or should he return to the Blue Jays and run it back in hopes of repeating as world champs?
But thanks to a well-timed message in the night, Carter’s departure from Toronto ended up being a nightmare that never came true.
“I had a dream. I loved playing basketball. And so I’m dribbling a basketball, walking to the ballpark with Devon White,” Carter said. “We get to the stadium, and it’s completely dark. I’m dribbling my basketball up there, and all of a sudden we get to the ballpark, and the lights come on, and it says, ‘Welcome to the SkyDome.’
“I woke up the next morning, and I’m like, ‘We’re going to Toronto.'”
Carter inked a three-year, $19.5-million deal to stay with the Blue Jays that included an option for a fourth season.
From there, the rest is history.
Toronto proceeded to run away with the AL East title in 1993, clinching the division with a 95-67 record and a seven-game advantage over the New York Yankees.
Carter remained a bona fide run producer in Toronto’s iconic “WAMCO” lineup, serving as the cleanup batter with White, Roberto Alomar, Molitor and John Olerud hitting on either side of him.
The five-time all-star hit 33 doubles and 33 home runs, collected 121 RBIs and posted an .802 OPS on his way to a 12th-place MVP finish.
But Carter could have hit .120 with six homers, and his Fall Classic heroics would have made his free-agent deal with the Blue Jays worth every penny.
By now, you know the story. With the Blue Jays trailing the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 in Game 6 and holding a 3-2 series lead, Carter came to the plate against closer Mitch Williams.
Blue Jays stars Paul Molitor and Rickey Henderson stood on first and second as Carter worked a 2-2 count before connecting with a down-and-in fastball for what still stands as the second-ever walk-off home run to end a World Series.
“You throw me that pitch, 99 out of 100 times, I’m going to hook it into the third-base dugout,” Carter said. “When I looked up, I saw the ball, but it got lost in the bank of lights in left field. And so, jumping up and down, I knew I hit it hard enough, but didn’t know if I hit it high enough.
“As I’m jumping up and down, I see the ball go over the left-field wall, and the first thing I thought about was, ‘Stop jumping and touch all the bases.'”
A similar thought occurred to Blue Jays play-by-play radio voice Tom Cheek, who delivered his iconic call, encouraging Carter to complete his trip around the bases without missing a bag.
“Touch ’em all, Joe. You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life.”
It remains one of the great moments not just in Blue Jays lore, but in Canadian sports history, as Carter brought a second consecutive World Series title north of the border. For the Royals, however, it represents a significant “What if?” for a franchise that wouldn’t return to the post-season until 2014.