1993 ALCS recap

Just as 1968 had marked the end of an era in which the World Series was the only postseason round, the 1993 postseason was the end of an era that featured only a League Championship Series (excepting the 1981 strike-shortened season) to reach the Fall Classic. No one could know that at the time, of course, but this was a last chance for either Toronto or Chicago to get to the World Series in just one step.

The Blue Jays already had delivered Canada's first World Series championship, and after winning the first two games of the 1993 ALCS in Chicago's modern ballpark on the south side, the door was wide open for an opportunity to pour it on with another title run. General Manager Pat Gillick had continued to add major new parts to the Toronto roster to avoid complacency, bringing in future Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor, as well as All-Star ace Dave Stewart. Henderson had been ALCS MVP for Oakland in the 1989 series victory over Toronto, and Stewart had been ALCS MVP for the A's 1990 sweep of the Red Sox.

Although Henderson was 0-for-6 leading off for Toronto in the opener -- and just 3-for-25 in the series -- Molitor picked up the slack in his first postseason since the 1982 World Series with Milwaukee. He was 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs as the designated hitter in Toronto's 7-3 Game 1 victory. Stewart led the way in Game 2, earning the decision there and also in the decisive Game 6 for his second ALCS MVP Award.

Tim Raines was brilliant for the White Sox in the series, batting .444 (12-for-27) with five runs, and his 4-for-5 effort atop the Chicago order in Game 3 sparked the White Sox to a 6-1 victory behind Wilson Alvarez. Then Raines was 3-for-5 in Game 4, leading the White Sox to a 7-4 win. Suddenly it was 2-2 and the road team had won every game in the ALCS up to that point.

But every Toronto player hit safely in a Game 5 victory at SkyDome, and the Blue Jays put it away the next game en route to their second consecutive Fall Classic. White Sox slugger Frank Thomas batted .353 in the series with a homer, but he could not do enough to lead his club into the World Series. In fact, it was the first of his only three postseasons, all of which stopped short of the Fall Classic.

Path to the ALCS: Toronto (95-67) won the AL East by seven games; Chicago (94-68) won the AL West by eight games

Managers: Cito Gaston, TOR; Gene Lamont, CWS

MVP: Dave Stewart