4 Million Memories

I'm not exactly sure where this video came from and how it came into my possession, but it's always fun to take a walk down memory lane.

The video is narrated by Tom Cheek, so that's always good to hear. The tape starts with Joe Carter's injury in the 1991 ALCS and how that ended the team's chances of beating the Twins and going to the World Series.

Back to before the start of the season, Cheek talks about Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar trade and how that came about (Padres GM Joe McIlvaine is wearing a Toronto All-Star Game cap) and the media's reaction to it at the time (they liked the big trade and having something interesting to write about at the Winter Meetings).

Following this is Spring training footage, and Cheek mentions the acquisition of Devon White while some other players and Cito Gaston talk about how excited they are about the upcoming season. Standard stuff that you'd hear at any team's Spring Training here.

We get some sweet cheesy early 90s music accompanies opening series footage (including Pat Tabler's 1st SkyDome homer!). Also shown is Mark Whiten's walk-off home run on April 12 against the Brewers (boxscore), the reaction is much different than today, it's rather subdued at home plate. I don't know when the throw-your-helmet-off dogpiles that we see today started, but it's interesting to see how ho-hum they were about something like that back then.

They cover Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter in Texas, but follow it up by showing the Jays beat him in Toronto a week later.

A segment talking about how Duane Ward did a good job as closer while Henke was out is next. Ward felt that being a middle reliever or set-up guy was just as important as being a closer. This leads into Henke coming back from injury as he went 16 for 16 in save chances after returning ('Terminator 2 was even better than the original' says Cheek. I disagree.).

On May 29th, attendance reached 1,000,000 and Carter, White, and Alomar all had good games and they beat the A's (the tape says it was a sweep, but looking at the game log, it was the middle game of a 3 game set and it was the only game the Jays won in the series).

Next up, we see David Wells doing well as a starter as the Jays move into first place in June, including his first career complete game against the Angels.

Dave Stieb's injury is covered, and Cheek talks about how the Jays had to rely on Jimmy Key as the ace now, Key describes what that was like and how he performed, including a June 13 2-hit complete game in Cleveland.

This leads into Juan Guzman's call-up as a 24 year old, Pat Gillick describes the situation around his call-up (Stieb's injury mostly), while we see clips of him pitching well.

Staying with the youngsters, a segment on 23 year-old John Olerud and how he helped the team in June and July that season, again with clips of both his offense and defense.

Next up, they talk about Joe Carter's season and how he just had fun out there (smiled a lot), followed by clips of his offense (and a few nice catches in the outfield), Carter describes his hitting style and how he had a great June that year to help the team.

This segues into how the Jays trade for Tom Candiotti, he talks about how he was nervous at first, moving to a first place team and how he got over that by embracing the big crowds and the modern stadium that he didn't have in Cleveland, this being in the days before the Jake.

On July 3, everything is right with the world. The Jays pass 2,000,000 in attendance (fastest in history), Candiotti wins, Jays have 4.5 game lead in the division. This leads into a good run into the All-Star Game (clips of that, more cheesy music) and the team takes 5.5 lead into the break.

We get some All-Star Game footage including Fan Fest, Joe Carter having fun being an All-Star for the first time, Home Run Derby clips of Ripken winning and a few long 450+ foot bombs by Cecil Fielder and then some game clips highlighting the Jays contributions (Key the winner) and the nice reaction Alomar got as the only Blue Jay in the starting line-up.

This leads into an Alomar segment as Carter talks about his feelings on Alomar (felt he was the biggest part of the trade) and how he's the best 2B in baseball and he has good MVP chances. Tom Cheek then talks about how Alomar made the shift from natural grass to Astroturf without a problem and Alomar even mentions how the turf probably helped him, which is weird to hear today after all the bitching there seems to be about the stuff these days (even the updated FieldTurf).

Next up, we move into the season's second half, we see Rance Mulliniks inside the park home run against the Rangers on July 11.

After taking 3 of 4 from the Rangers, the Jays would make a trip down to Kansas City. On July 15 against the Royals, the had a bases loaded, no-one out situation in the bottom of the 11th. Mike Timlin got out of the jam with 2 force outs at the plate and then a runner was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch, and the Jays win in the 12th with Henke nailing it down, and the Jays have an 8 game lead.

This leads us into some clips of great Jays defensive plays through the year, which segues into Devon White segment, highlighting his defense as well as his hitting. Joe Carter talks about how he loves watching him play CF, Key gives him credit for helping the pitching staff, and Pat Gillick talks about how he'd have been happy if White hit .240 and did what he did in centre field, but he exceeded that by hitting .280 with 17 homers out of the lead-off spot.

We move on to August 1, and the Jays are 6 games up on the Tigers for the AL East lead, around which time, Tom Henke saves 25 games in a row for the team. Henke talks about how he'll be proud of it once he's retired, but during the streak, he was just concerned with playing.

The shrinking division lead is covered now, as the Jays get swept by Red Sox at home and their lead starts to shrink as the pitching faltered. A 7 game losing streak ensues and the division lead is only 2 games. Todd Stottlemyre beat the Brewers and things started to turn around. In a short Stottlemyre segment, Cheek talks about how he was starting to deliver on the promise he showed coming up, and Stottlemyre talks about how he liked being seen as a stopper, even though it's not really great being on a team that's going through a prolonged losing streak.

The Candy Maldonodo trade is mentioned next, and he talks about how he felt getting traded to a first place team and how it was a big change.

On August 20, the Jays become the fastest team to reach 3,000,000 in attend, Henke closes out a win, the team's third in a row, and the division lead is 2.5 games. This goes into Cito Gaston's back injury and how Gene Tenace took over as manager when Cito was in the hospital.

We get a segment on how the Tigers were closing in on the Jays (to within 1 game), while the Jays have a series against the Yankees. Alomar wins a game on August 23 in the bottom of the 9th, but the Tigers tie it up the next day. Jays win the last game against New York, and they're still tied for first with Detroit.

The Jays start to turn it around with a series in Baltimore, as Jimmy Key wins his 100th career game, and go to Yankee Stadium and beat the Yankees as part of a 5 game win streak. They go back to Toronto and beat the O's with some late clutch hits and regain a 3 game lead in the division on September 4th.

Next up, we see them go to Cleveland, beat up on the Indians in a 4 game sweep and shake off the Tigers. On a side note, there are lots of Jays fans at the games in Cleveland.

The Tigers falling off the pace let the Red Sox come back against the Jays and the Jays lead over Boston shrunk to 0.5 games while Jays were having trouble on west coast, losing games against the Mariners and A's. Boston was about to tie the Jays, but Jeff Reardon blew a save for the Sox against the Yankees in Fenway while the Jays turned it around in Anaheim and went back home with a 2.5 lead.

On October 2, the Jays become the first team to reach 4,000,000 mark in attendance and Jays win in an exciting bottom of the 9th after the bullpen blows Candiotti's lead and clinch the division with a win over the Angels.

We see the players talk about how great the fan support is (knowing 50,000 are going to be at every game), but this is the end of the video, as the playoffs aren't brought up again (for good reason, I guess).

A nice enough retrospective on a great year, it probably glosses over some of the negative moments of the season (I was 8 at the time, so I can't say I remember much), but it's always nice to take a look back. And, hey, hearing Tom Cheek's voice again is always great.

Do You Remember, Winning In September?

As this season continues its downward spiral, I thought I'd try and make myself feel even worse! September is usually considered the month when baseball's pennant chases heat up and fans with the Extra Innings package adding years of wear and tear onto their remote's 'Go Back' button switching between games. You can excuse Blue Jays fans, though, if they're not so sure what all of this is about. The Jays 16 year playoff drought is well known among baseball fans north of the border, and, although it is not the longest post-season drought in the Majors, I do believe that the Blue Jays have gone the longest without playing one meaningful game of baseball once the calender moves past August.

Since they clinched their 3rd consecutive AL East division title on September 27, 1993, the Jays have not played an important (for them) game deep into the season.

Here's how many games behind the division leader they've been on September 1 every season since:

1994 - N/A (they were 16.0 games behind the Yankees when the season ended)
1995 - 22.5
1996 - 13.5
1997 - 21.0
1998 - 28.0
1999 - 11.5
2000 - 5.5
2001 - 14.0
2002 - 24.5
2003 - 15.5
2004 - 27.5
2005 - 12.5
2006 - 12.0
2007 - 11.5
2008 - 14.5

So, in 15 years, they've gone into (approximately) the last month of the season single digits behind the division leader only once. A lot of this is a product of the division, of course. The '98 Yankees already had 99 wins on September 1 and were 19 games better than anyone else in the American League.

Obviously, we also have the wild card to look at. In 1999, the Jays went into September 1.5 games behind the eventual winner, Boston. They won their first 4 games in September, to bring them within 3 (although they trailed Oakland by a game, as well) before losing 10 of their next 14 games and eventually finished 10 games back (and 3 behind the A's). September 1, 2000 saw Toronto 1.5 games behind Cleveland for the AL Wild Card, but the rest of the way they went 12-16 and finished well back of Seattle (8 games), who overtook the Indians down the stretch. The Jays did hang around 3 games back, or so, around the middle of the month, but the Mariners finished 19-9 down the stretch to distance themselves from the field. So, on September 2, 2000, when they were 1.5 games out of the wild card position, that's the closest they've been to a post-season position late in the season. At this time, the Jays were promptly swept at home by Oakland (who passed them in the standings and who eventually won the AL West) and lost 2 of 3 to Seattle (also at home) and never really recovered.

I mentioned earlier the longer play-off droughts in baseball. Those belong to Montreal/Washington (1981), Kansas City (1985), and Pittsburgh (1992).

Obviously, the Expos are remembered for having the best record in baseball when the '94 strike hit. After a mediocre '95 season following their post-strike fire sale, the Expos rebounded with a very good season. On September 1, 1996, the Expos were 0.5 games behind the Dodgers in the wild card chase. As late as September 19, the Expos shared the wild card lead with the Padres (who would trade the NL West lead with the Dodgers back-and-forth down the stretch before San Diego took the title) but went into a bit of a funk and finished the season 3-6, eventually finishing 2 games back of the Dodgers. The 2003 NL Wild Card was a fun race to watch. In late August, as many as 5 teams were tied for the lead and 3 teams were less than 2 games back. On September 1, however, the Expos entered the month 4 back and never mounted much of a charge, finishing the season 12-11, 8 games behind the eventual World Series champion Marlins. In the franchise's first season in Washington, 2005, the team somehow entered September 3 games behind the Phillies, who had the lead at that point in time. They got as close as 1.5 games behind Houston (the eventual winner) on September 5, but faded a bit down the stretch and finished 8 games off the wild card pace.

Another one of baseball's long droughts belongs to the Kansas City Royals, owner of one winning season since the '94 strike. That season was 2003, where they got off to a very hot start, faded a bit, but rebounded at entered the last month of the regular season 2 games behind the AL Central division leading White Sox. On the 3rd of September, the Royals closed the gap between them and co-division leaders Chicago and Minnesota to 1 game, but lost 3 of their next 4 (including being swept in a double header by the Angels) and a 13-14 record down the stretch wasn't enough to keep pace with the red hot Twins and KC finished 7 games back, ultimately. But hey, they still finished 40 games ahead of the Tigers.

The next long playoff drought belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have not had a winning season since they went 7 games with the Braves in the '92 NLCS, finishing up their 3rd straight NL East division title. As awful as the Pirates have been since Sid Bream slid in safe, the Pirates entered September 1997 2.5 games behind NL Central leader (and eventual champ) Houston. They closed within 1.5 games on the 2nd, but the Astros finished 7.0 games ahead of the Buccos.

So, the Blue Jays and the Pirates are the only teams since 1993 who have not had a day in September where they had a chance to move into at least a tie for a playoff position. Though, I guess since the Pirates' chance was in '97, they beat the Jays out by a season. Congrats. Just for fun, the latest into a season the Jays have held on to a post-season position was July 14, 2000 when they were tied for the division lead with the Yankees (they last had the outright lead on the 6th of that month).

Other teams who've had a tough go of it are the Orioles (AL East champions in '97, no winning seasons since) and the Reds (NL Central champs in '95 and no post-season appearances since, but they did have a 1 game playoff for the wild card to the Mets in '99, which they lost).

So, while the playoff drought reaches 16 years and counting, I think perhaps the more embarrassing fact is that almost every team in baseball has had a better shot at playing into October than the Jays have in that time frame, including perhaps 2 of the 3 franchises that are seen as among the worst in recent MLB history.

'93-peat

After dusting off the ol' VCR and popping in the '92 World Series video, I figured I'd do the same for the '93 video, as well (which contains Jim Hughson's great call that inspired the post title after the Jays clinched their third straight AL East title).

Like I said the other day, I remember more about that series than I do the 1992 one, but even then, the memories aren't exactly fresh in my mind.

Obviously, the Joe Carter home run is something I'll never forget. Sitting in my living room while my dad yelled louder than maybe any time I've ever heard him yell as the ball went over the wall has stuck with me for 16 years now and will hopefully stick with me for many more.

I think game 4 is where I really started paying attention (though I do remember the discussion about where Molitor would play and whether or not they'd sit Olerud). I remember Todd Stottlemyre's ill advised slide into 3rd base and my 10-year old self being pretty forgiving (of course he couldn't run the bases well, he wasn't used to it) before being told that if he couldn't run the bases well, he shouldn't try going from 1st to 3rd on a single. I don't remember what time I went to bed that night, but it being a school night, it was long before it was over. I just know that the next morning my dad woke me up and rushed me into the other room where there was a TV in time to see the end of the highlights and the score.

Game 5 also being on a school night, I wasn't able to stay up and watch the potential clincher, but that didn't matter in the end.

Game 6 was obviously the big one, and thanks to whoever it was that put almost the entire 9th inning online.

While watching the '92 video, it seemed to me that Tim McCarver seemed a little better as a colour analyst, at least compared to how he is now, and thought maybe, at one point, he had been half decent. Watching that 9th inning again, I guess I was wrong. That 9th inning also has that awesomely cheesy early-90s Coke video.

The video also highlights what a tremendous douchebag Curt Schilling is. I can understand being nervous, considering the situation, but for him to sit in the dugout, covering his ears and putting a towel over his head while Mitch Williams was pitching was such a prick move.

I also need to mention how awful the turf in Philly looked. It being football season, you can see the outline of the gridiron stretch across the whole playing field. While I may be a bit upset that the place of the Jays' first championship victory no longer exists, I don't think too many people feel the same way about the Vet.

The credits of the video roll over the TV call of the Carter home run, as well as both the home and away radio calls. While the Tom Cheek call is probably the most beloved call about Blue Jays fans (and deservedly so), Sean McDonough's call on CBS is what I always associate with it, probably because that's the call I heard as it was happening. Also interesting is Harry Kalas's call for Phillies radio. I would love to hear Vin Scully's call on the national radio feed, as well, but sadly it's not included here.

I think this video is done better than the '92 one. The segment on game 4 is great, as there is very little narration and instead lets the play-by-play from the TV broadcast tell most of the story. Also, it seems there is less Tim McCarver, which is always a bonus.

Again, it's always great to go back and take a look at why I fell in love with this team and allow myself to be put through the wringer by them every year since then.

Memories of '92

In honour of the Back2Back weekend, I popped in the 1992 World Series video, mostly just to remind me why I like this game and why I'm putting myself through the torture that this season has been since late May.

While I wasn't old enough to appreciate that something special was happening, watching the video still brought back a ton of memories. As I mentioned in the comments of eyebleaf's post, about the only thing I remembered from the video itself was the narrator saying that guys like Ed Sprague and Derek Bell didn't "ride the benches, they worked the trenches", I hadn't realized that had played such a big role in the success of the team. Bell's reaction after Sprague's 9th inning home run is great, I think he's more proud of his trenchmate than he is happy that the team's probably going to win the game.

It's also a little depressing to me that the ballpark where the Jays won their first World Series is now a parking lot. I'm sure Turner Field is a much nicer place than old Fulton County Stadium, but I love watching Dave Winfield's double go down into the corner and bounce off of the bullpen mound and Ron Gant slip on the weird, chalky warning track they had there.

I'll probably pop in the '93 video sometime soon, too. I remember more of that series, even though I still wasn't old enough to appreciate how truly special winning 2 straight championships was. I just hope I don't have to wait another 16 years for the team to get close again.