Wednesday, October 7, 2015

ALCS: Did You Know?

The Jays are stuck at one win in the first game at Rogers. They did manage to win the first two games at home in the 1985 ALCS vs. Kansas, but Toronto fans know how that ended. The American League Championship Series has never been easy for Toronto, really. At home, especially.

The first year in the SkyDome (As it was called) was 1989, and Toronto clinched the AL East with 89 wins. It was a year to remember. And the new ballpark was one-of-a-kind marvel in '89!



But once the American League Championship Series started, reality set in quick. Oakland beat them in the first two games at the Coliseum. Toronto headed home. Oakland took a quick 3-0 lead.

But Blue Jay starter Jimmy Key settled down and shutout Oakland the rest of the way. And the Toronto bats came alive. They just kept strafing the Athletics' pitchers. Storm Davis was nailed for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning alone. The Jays had all the scoring they would need. But they did not let up and won it, going away, 7-3.

Toronto continued their assault on Oakland's pitching the rest of the series. However, it was Jose Canseco's mammoth fifth deck shot off Mike Flanagan in game four that was the talk of the town. Oakland also won the game, 6-5. Toronto has a furious ninth inning in game five, as they tried to send it back to Oakland for games six and possibly seven. Down 4-0, after 7 1/2, they scored once in the eighth inning. But it looked over as the ninth began, and Stew was on the hill. Bell hit a home run. Dennis Eckersley came in, and was nailed for a run to make it 4-3, before the Jays finally surrendered.





In 1991, Toronto got the split with Minnesota in games one and two in Minny. And they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game three thanks to a Joe Carter home run and Candy Maldonado two-bagger. The Twins, however, would not be denied and stormed back to win it in extras. Mike Pagliarulo hit a dramatic pinch hit home run off Mike Timlin to win the game for Minny.



Toronto then dropped games four and five. Minny scored 17 runs those two games. Tough times to be a Blue Jay fan!



Even when they finally pulled through in '92, it wasn't easy. Game one was at home, and Oakland's Dave Stewart got ahead 3-0 before Toronto mounted a comeback. Home runs by Pat Borders and Dave Winfield made it 3-2, and John Olerud singled to centre in the bottom of the eighth. The A's were startled by all this, but won the game in the top of the ninth inning on a solo home run by Harold Baines. Toronto though, won game two thanks to a home run and a double by Kelly Gruber. David Cone pitched well. Taking two of three in Oakland, the Jays were poised for the breakthrough in game six.



A stellar performance from Juan Guzman and their big bats made Toronto 9-2 winners. And as we all know, the Blue Jays won it all over Atlanta in six.



Toronto looked poised for the sweep of Chicago in the ALCS the next year. Perhaps they took a cue from Micheal Jordan, who threw out the first pitch. Just the kind of inspiration the Jays needed. By this point, the Blue Jays had clutch hitters all-around the lineup, and were basically a team of guys who always came through when it mattered, just like Jordan. A sweep? Why not?



Juan Guzman and Dave Stewart (Now a Jay and 7-0 in the ALCS at this point), put Toronto up 2-0 as the Blue Jays won twice on the road. The White Sox however, got a great performance from Wilson Alvarez to win game three in Toronto, 6-1. Todd Stottelmyre tried to right the ship in game four, and carried a 3-2 into the top of the sixth. Here's where future Jay Frank Thomas sent a rocked to centre to tie it. Then Lance Johnson got it just past Devon White in centre for a triple to scored two more. The Jays got a run back to make it 5-4 in the bottom of the frame, but when Roberto Alomar tried to score on Joe Carter single, he was gunned out at the dish. The White Sox added two more runs the rest of the way to Toronto's zero and won, 7-4.



Fortunately, Juan was wonderful in game five at home. He retired the first thirteen men to face him, and Toronto build up a quick 4-0 lead after four. The White Sox first hit was a long one off Juan, as Ellis Burks took him out of the park. Toronto added another run to make it 5-1 after seven, but Chicago felt good at the SkyDome. So good that, after Tony Castillo got 'em 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, they still had a lot of fight in them. Robin Ventura took the Jays bullpen ace, Duane Ward, deep for a two-run shot to make it a 5-3 game. There were two outs, but the Sox got the tying run to the dish as Burks walked on a full count. Ward fanned Bo Jackson to end it.



Dave Stewart pushed his postseason record to 8-0 as the Blue Jays won game six in Chicago, 6-3. Ward gave up another ninth-inning home run, this time to Warren Newson. It just wasn't easy. But Joe Carter, who'd become a household name among baseball fans everywhere in a matter of weeks, put the squeeze on it in right to end it.





Somehow, I think Toronto was glad they weren't heading home until game one of the Fall Classic that year. No more room for ALCS debacles at home.


References

Bingley, Phil, et al. Another World: The Toronto Stars Tribute To The’ 93 Blue Jays. Toronto Star for Doubleday Canada, 1993. Print.

Dan Diamond and Associates & Toronto Blue Jays Club. Toronto Blue Jays Official Guide 1987, 1993, 1994. Print.

Gamester, George, and Gerald Hall. On Top of the World: The Toronto Stars Tribute To The '92 Blue Jays. Doubleday Canada, 1992. Print.

Major League Baseball. World Series Official Programs 1992 & 1993. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Retrosheet. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. <http://www.retrosheet.org/>.

YouTube. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com>.

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