Blue Jays honour 25th anniversary of WS titles

TORONTO -- Joe Carter still remembers every little detail about his signature moment that resulted in the Blue Jays' winning back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and '93.
Without pausing for even a second, Carter can recite the date, the exact time and the circumstances that surrounded his three-run walk-off homer off Phillies closer Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the '93 World Series.
Carter's photographic memory should hardly come as a surprise considering he has spent the last 25 years talking about that one at-bat. He's still approached on a daily basis by fans in Canada and abroad about how that special moment impacted their lives. It could get tiring after a while, but Carter continues to embrace the notoriety.
"There seems to be one defining moment in everyone's career that they're going to be remembered for," Carter said. "If I was to say George Brett, what's the first thing you think of? Not the Hall of Fame, you think of the pine-tar bat.
"Those are things you're going to have to live with. It sure could have been worse for me. When people think of Joe Carter, they think of the home run. I never get tired of it. The kids coming up now didn't really see me play, so I just say 'Hey kid, Google me. Pull it up on Google and it's right there.' It's fun in that sense."

Carter was on hand Saturday afternoon alongside a countless number of his former teammates as the Blue Jays honored the 25th anniversary of the back-to-back World Series runs in '92 and '93. Former greats such as Tony Fernandez, Pat Hentgen, Dave Winfield, Candy Maldonado, Pat Borders, Mike Timlin and many others were all on hand.
The first 20,000 fans in attendance received a bobblehead featuring John Olerud, Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar, which was more than fitting because all three players finished 1-2-3 in the batting race during that famed '93 season.
Olerud flirted with batting .400 until the middle of August. On this date in 1993 -- Aug. 11 -- he was batting .395 and ultimately finished the year with a .363 average, while Molitor was second at .332 and Alomar was third with .326.

"As I look back at it, I had never hit over .300 before that season," Olerud said. "I got off to a great start. I was really in a good groove, had a good approach at the plate, was hitting everything hard. I just wanted that to last as long as I could.
"I just wanted to hit the ball hard every time I was up and see where the ball went, until about August. In August I think I got to where I thought, I've been doing it for four months, maybe I can finish up the last two months and do it. I think if you get to where your focus is not on just hitting the ball hard and being carefree ... that's when you struggle."
Olerud tailed off a bit at the end of that '93 season, but he still finished the year batting a ridiculous .363/.473/.599 with 24 home runs and 107 RBIs in 158 games. He was a key cog in what will always be remembered as one of the most potent lineups the game has ever seen.
In Game 6 of the World Series against Philadelphia, Toronto's lineup resembled almost a Dream Team of star hitters. Rickey Henderson, Devon White, Molitor, Carter, Olerud, Alomar, Fernandez, Ed Sprague and Borders filled the lineup 1-through-9, and gave an entire generation of Blue Jays fans lasting memories they will never forget.
"It's great to be back," Carter said. "We're guys, we don't keep in touch with each other that much. If we see each other once every two years, for us, that's keeping in touch. With myself, I see a lot of Robbie because we do a lot of things in the city together, but the rest of the guys, guys like Mike Timlin, Tony Fernandez, Candy Maldonado, Olerud I don't think I've seen since the 15-year reunion.
"We lived together for all those years. We accomplished something that, if you told us back in '93 that would be the last time the Blue Jays won the World Series, I wouldn't have believed that. But for us to come back and celebrate, it's really special."