That would be THE player from the Toronto Blue Jays. Roberto Alomar. Robbie was a young man in 1991, 23-years-old. But he played the game like a 33-year-old would.
1991 was Alomar's first season in Toronto. He'd come over in a blockbuster trade from San Diego in December of 1990. In that trade, Toronto parted ways with Tony Fernandez (Who'd return a few times later) and Fred McGriff in return for 1993 World Series hero Joe Carter and Alomar.
Carter played in Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter. It was on the first of May in Texas. Alomar batted second behind Devon White (Who himself had been acquired in the off-season in another multi-player trade that saw Toronto part ways with Junior Felix). Carter batted in the cleanup slot behind Alomar and Kelly Gruber.
And Gruber drew a walk off Ryan as the third batter of the game. Alomar had grounded out to second for the second out. Kelly was picked off but safe on an error. Carter ended the inning by popping up. The Jays were in for a long night!
By the time Alomar batted again in the top of the fourth, things were not looking up. Actually, Toronto was looking at no runs, no hits. Ryan was humming along, Toronto trailed 3-0, and things looked real bad. Alomar fanned. Alomar whiffed again in the top of the seventh. Gruber followed suit. Carter drew a walk. It was Toronto's second and last baserunner in the game. John Olerud, batting fifth, ended the inning with pop up to third in foul territory.
Alomar then batted in the top of the ninth. Two down, no one on. 3-0 Texas. He batted Ryan to a 2-2 pitch, but then missed the fastball. The 44-year old had his seventh no-hitter. He also had sixteen strikeouts. Alomar, three of those.
Toronto recovered from that setback, however. Ryan faced the Jays three more times that year and Toronto won all three games. Did Alomar get any sweet revenge? A two-run triple in the bottom of the bottom of the third, one week later at home, put the Jays up 2-0. Ryan went six innings and gave up two hits, but Toronto won, of course. Alomar went 2-4 on July 18th vs. Texas. Ryan only lasted 6 1/3 innings. Five days later, David Wells was the pitcher with the shutout. For Toronto, as the Jays beat Ryan, 4-0. But Alomar could manage only a single off Ryan.
Toronto went on to 91 wins in '91. They faced the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS. For Alomar, it was his first taste of postseason play. And he delivered.
Robbie went 2-4 in game one, but Toronto lost 5-4. He did his best to help the Jays, down 5-0 at one point, make a game of it.
(Gotta go to about 27:03 for the action)
The Blue Jays won game two, 5-2. Both of these games were on the road, and Toronto had the next three at home. Alomar had another two hits in the second tilt. Things were looking up heading back to Toronto's Skydome.
But Minnesota eked out a 3-2 win in extras in game three, and suddenly, the home-field advantage was lost as Toronto would have to go back to Twinland to win this. Amazingly enough, that was not necessary, as it turns out.
The Blue Jays lost game four badly, 9-3, despite 11 hits. Alomar had another two. But he wasn't getting the help he needed. Devon White was hitting, but Joe Carter was hurt and now just DH'ing. Joe was 0-5 with three K's in game four.
Alomar gave it his all to try and save the Toronto season. Robbie got two hits, as did Devo. Manny Lee added two of his own. Toronto trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Roberto knocked home Lee with the first Jays' run. They didn't stop there and added two more.
Another two runs scored the next inning as Alomar hit a single. 5-2, Toronto! Is this guy just clutch and awesome when we need him, or what?
But the Twins rallied via a pair of three-run innings. Top of the sixth, three. Top of the eighth, three. It was 8-5, Minny. Alomar drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, but nothing came of it. In the bottom of the ninth, Alomar came up with the bases empty and two outs. Sound familiar? This time, he didn't fan. But he flied out to left to end the Jays' season.
A frustrating series. But Alomar had hit .474 to lead all hitters. It was a sign of things to come from him in the postseason. Robbie made sure the Jays won it all the next two seasons. But even Superman have to battle cryptonite sometimes! Alomar may have been the last out of two bad memories from 1991 for Toronto, but somehow, he always kept the Jays in the game with his bat, legs, glove, speed, and arm. Jays fans knew when he came, that happiness was every time Robbie trotted out to his familiar second base position.
References
1991 Toronto Blue Jays Trades and Transactions | Baseball-Reference.com (Baseball-Reference.com) http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1991-transactions.shtml
1991 Toronto Blue Jays Schedule and Results | Baseball-Reference.com (Baseball-Reference.com)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1991-schedule-scores.shtml
1991 ALCS - Minnesota Twins over Toronto Blue Jays (4-1) | Baseball-Reference.com (Baseball-Reference.com) http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1991_ALCS.shtml
Retrosheet (Retrosheet) http://www.retrosheet.org/
(YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/
1991 was Alomar's first season in Toronto. He'd come over in a blockbuster trade from San Diego in December of 1990. In that trade, Toronto parted ways with Tony Fernandez (Who'd return a few times later) and Fred McGriff in return for 1993 World Series hero Joe Carter and Alomar.
Carter played in Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter. It was on the first of May in Texas. Alomar batted second behind Devon White (Who himself had been acquired in the off-season in another multi-player trade that saw Toronto part ways with Junior Felix). Carter batted in the cleanup slot behind Alomar and Kelly Gruber.
And Gruber drew a walk off Ryan as the third batter of the game. Alomar had grounded out to second for the second out. Kelly was picked off but safe on an error. Carter ended the inning by popping up. The Jays were in for a long night!
By the time Alomar batted again in the top of the fourth, things were not looking up. Actually, Toronto was looking at no runs, no hits. Ryan was humming along, Toronto trailed 3-0, and things looked real bad. Alomar fanned. Alomar whiffed again in the top of the seventh. Gruber followed suit. Carter drew a walk. It was Toronto's second and last baserunner in the game. John Olerud, batting fifth, ended the inning with pop up to third in foul territory.
Alomar then batted in the top of the ninth. Two down, no one on. 3-0 Texas. He batted Ryan to a 2-2 pitch, but then missed the fastball. The 44-year old had his seventh no-hitter. He also had sixteen strikeouts. Alomar, three of those.
Toronto recovered from that setback, however. Ryan faced the Jays three more times that year and Toronto won all three games. Did Alomar get any sweet revenge? A two-run triple in the bottom of the bottom of the third, one week later at home, put the Jays up 2-0. Ryan went six innings and gave up two hits, but Toronto won, of course. Alomar went 2-4 on July 18th vs. Texas. Ryan only lasted 6 1/3 innings. Five days later, David Wells was the pitcher with the shutout. For Toronto, as the Jays beat Ryan, 4-0. But Alomar could manage only a single off Ryan.
Toronto went on to 91 wins in '91. They faced the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS. For Alomar, it was his first taste of postseason play. And he delivered.
Robbie went 2-4 in game one, but Toronto lost 5-4. He did his best to help the Jays, down 5-0 at one point, make a game of it.
(Gotta go to about 27:03 for the action)
The Blue Jays won game two, 5-2. Both of these games were on the road, and Toronto had the next three at home. Alomar had another two hits in the second tilt. Things were looking up heading back to Toronto's Skydome.
But Minnesota eked out a 3-2 win in extras in game three, and suddenly, the home-field advantage was lost as Toronto would have to go back to Twinland to win this. Amazingly enough, that was not necessary, as it turns out.
The Blue Jays lost game four badly, 9-3, despite 11 hits. Alomar had another two. But he wasn't getting the help he needed. Devon White was hitting, but Joe Carter was hurt and now just DH'ing. Joe was 0-5 with three K's in game four.
Alomar gave it his all to try and save the Toronto season. Robbie got two hits, as did Devo. Manny Lee added two of his own. Toronto trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Roberto knocked home Lee with the first Jays' run. They didn't stop there and added two more.
Another two runs scored the next inning as Alomar hit a single. 5-2, Toronto! Is this guy just clutch and awesome when we need him, or what?
But the Twins rallied via a pair of three-run innings. Top of the sixth, three. Top of the eighth, three. It was 8-5, Minny. Alomar drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, but nothing came of it. In the bottom of the ninth, Alomar came up with the bases empty and two outs. Sound familiar? This time, he didn't fan. But he flied out to left to end the Jays' season.
A frustrating series. But Alomar had hit .474 to lead all hitters. It was a sign of things to come from him in the postseason. Robbie made sure the Jays won it all the next two seasons. But even Superman have to battle cryptonite sometimes! Alomar may have been the last out of two bad memories from 1991 for Toronto, but somehow, he always kept the Jays in the game with his bat, legs, glove, speed, and arm. Jays fans knew when he came, that happiness was every time Robbie trotted out to his familiar second base position.
References
1991 Toronto Blue Jays Trades and Transactions | Baseball-Reference.com (Baseball-Reference.com) http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1991-transactions.shtml
1991 Toronto Blue Jays Schedule and Results | Baseball-Reference.com (Baseball-Reference.com)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1991-schedule-scores.shtml
1991 ALCS - Minnesota Twins over Toronto Blue Jays (4-1) | Baseball-Reference.com (Baseball-Reference.com) http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1991_ALCS.shtml
Retrosheet (Retrosheet) http://www.retrosheet.org/
(YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/
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