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The world in 1993, Blue Jays last playoff appearance

By Keegan Matheson |
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Sep 19, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) slides into home plate ahead of the tag from Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart (23) during the eighth inning in a game at Rogers Centre. The Boston Red Sox won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays have clinched a spot in the MLB playoffs. For a fan base that’s waited 22 long years to read those words, this can mean many things.

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Some of you have grown into fatherhood or motherhood since Joe Carter made contact in 1993, now watching the Blue Jays give your son or daughter their first glimpse of playoff baseball in Canada. The majority of you have likely changed jobs, moved a handful of times and found yourselves in a different place in entirely. The 1993 seasons and 2015 seasons now give Blue Jays fans a point ‘A’ and ‘B’ to draw lines between.

I fall into a large demographic of fans aged 18-to-30, call it the new generation of Blue Jays fans if you will. While I’m now drifting into the latter half of that spectrum, many fans within it had their interest in baseball first sparked by those championship teams in the early 90s. For us, point B is bringing point A full circle and back to a childhood memory.

Much has changed in the world around, us too. For starters, in 1993, you wouldn’t be reading this on the internet. It was April of ’93 that CERN announced the World Wide Web would be made available for public use without charge. What a time to be alive.

Over the next few pages, we look back that the world in 1993. Whether those were your college days, your 40s or your first days of Kindergarden, there’s a memory in that time for all of us. “…Touch em’ all, Joe. You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!”

Next: What were we watching and reading in '93?

May 4, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors fans in Jurassic Park outside of the Air Canada Centre before game seven of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Movies, Television & Literature

Theatres in 1993 were dominated by the dinosaurs with Jurrasic Park topping the box offices. With the Jays roaring through the World Series, the popularity of that film would be heavy in the minds of voters when the Toronto Raptors chose their team name as they joined the NBA in 1995. Taking a look at the 2015 box office, I notice that the top grossing film could have a good omen for the current Jays. It’s Jurrasic World. Some things are too perfect to be coincidental. 

1. Jurassic Park
2. Mrs. Doubtfire
3. The Fugitive
4. The Firm
5. Sleepless in Seattle

Though we can all agree that the Robin Williams classic Mrs. Doubtfire was 1993’s film of the highest order (can’t we?), it didn’t take home any of the top honors at the Academy Awards the following year. Schindler’s List took home the Oscar for Best Picture while Tom Hanks was awarded Best Actor for his work in Philadelphia and Holly Hunter won Best Actress for her performance in The Piano.

Some other movies released that year that you may still be enjoying are Free Willy, Wayne’s World 2, Sister Act 2 and John Candy’s classic Cool Runnings.

Sanka mon, whatcha smoking?
I’m not smoking, I’m breathing!

On the small screen, Seinfeld took home Best Comedy at the Emmys, finishing its fifth season as the Blue Jays marched towards October. Best Drama went to Picket Fences while the cult classic X-Files made it’s television debut.

The New York Times bestseller list was dominated by Robert James Waller in 1993, with his novel The Bridges of Madison County enjoying two lengthy stints at number one. The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to the great American novelist Toni Morrison.

Next: What did we have in the boom box that year?

Aug 14, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Music recording artist Drake (Blue Jays jersey) attends the match between Roberta Vinci and Serena Williams (not pictured) during the quarter finals of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament at Aviva Centre. Williams defeated Vinci. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Music & Video Games

It was Eric Clapton’s world in 1993. His album Acoustic took home the Grammy for Album of the Year, while the lead single Tears in Heaven scooped up Record of the Year and Song of the Year. This wasn’t enough to earn Clapton the top spot in album sales, though.

Topping that list in ’93 was a movie soundtrack! Whitney Houston’s soundtrack to The Bodyguard was in every home, with the famous single “I Will Always Love You” sitting atop the Billboard charts for the first two months of the year. Second in album sales that year? Kenny G’s “Breathless”. If you’re confused, ask your parents. They owned it. I guarantee it.

The first single to claim top spot after the Blue Jays hoisted the World Series Championship? Meatloaf’s “I’d Do Anything For Love”. The long version, I hope!

Back to the Grammy Awards, the award for Rap Solo went to Sir Mix-A-Lot for his hit “Baby Got Back”. Michael Jackson took home the Grammy Legend Award while Boyz II Men won Best Performance By and R&B Duo or Group with “End of the Road”. Some Canadian content, too, as Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson took home the Best Pop Peformance By a Duo or Group with “Beauty and the Beast”. Tale as old as time…

Some other albums you might still have on your shelves from ’93 include…

Nirvana  –  In Utero
The Smashing Pumpkins  –  Siamese Dream
Pearl Jam  –  Vs.
Wu-Tang Clan  –  Enter the Wu-Tang
Modern Life is Rubbish  –  Blur
August and Everything After  –  The Counting Crows

For you current or former video gamers, the Super Nintento (SNES) was the pinnacle of technology when the Blue Jays last made the playoffs. Super Mario All Stars and Star Fox were both released for the SNES that year, two absolute classics. SimCity 2000 made its debut that same year, while your local arcade may have unveiled NBA JAM or Mortal Kombat II. My, how far we’ve come!

Next: To the ice, where the NHL caught Teemu fever!

April 13, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne (8) skates a lap following the 3-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche in the overtime period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

On the Ice – The 92-93 NHL Season

Let’s take a look around the three major professional sports in North America at that time, focusing on the seasons either labeled as or ending in 1993. On the ice, that season belong to the Montreal Canadians who took home their 24th Stanley Cup while beating the Los Angeles Kings in the finals.

In February of ’93, Gary Bettman was named Commissioner of the NHL, and the league expanded to include two more franchises in the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning. While Mario Lemieux ran away with the NHL MVP and Art Ross trophy, this was the year of Teemu.

Teemu Selanne lit the league on fire as a rookie for the Winnipeg Jets that season, scoring 76 goals and 56 assists for 132 points. Offense was everywhere in that era, with six different players topping 130 points for the season.

1. Mario Lemieux  –  160
2.  Pat LaFontaine  –  148
3. Adam Oates  –  142
4. Steve Yzerman  –  132
5. Teemu Selanne  –  132
6. Pierre Turgeon  –  132

It’s been so long since the Blue Jays last played October ball that it overlaps with the Maple Leafs being, well, good! Pat Burns earned the Jack Adams Award in the 92-93 season and carried the Leafs to the Campbell Conference Finals with a 44-29-11 regular season record. They were led by a monster season from Felix “The Cat” Potvin, who fell short of Chicago’s Eddie “The Eagle” Belfour in Vezina voting.

Next: On the hard court and gridiron, it was all about dynasties

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former NBA player and current TNT television personality Charles Barkley prior to game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

NFL & NBA in ’93

The Dallas Cowboys made it back-to-back Super Bowl Championships in 1993 with their second straight win over the Buffalo Bills on the big stage. Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith took home the NFL MVP Award while Jerry Rice earned Offensive Player of the Year with 98 receptions for 1,503 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Jerome Bettis, prior to his Pittsburgh Steelers fame, made his name as Offensive Rookie of the Year for the L.A. Rams that season. The great John Elway was the NFL’s passing leader, followed closely by Steve Young and Warren Moon.

On the hard court, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls pulled off their “3-Peat” by defeating Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Championship. Sir Charles took home the league MVP that season.

Number one overall pick Shaquille O’Neal won Rookie of the Year while breaking backboards for the Orlando Magic. One standout from that season was the Dallas Mavericks, who managed an 11-71 record that year. What an accomplishment!

Next: Prime Ministers, Presidents and extras!

February 15, 2015; New York, NY, USA; NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo (left) and former president Bill Clinton (right) sit courtside during the first quarter of the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden.Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Around the World & Extras

It was a time of change in Canada as the Blue Jays rallied the nation. Following the resignation of Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell took over leadership from the 25th of June until the 4th of November. At that point, Jean Chretien was elected as the Prime Minister of Canada. South of the border, Bill Clinton would replace George Bush  in the White House.

  • The sporting controversy of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson still lingered in 1993, as he’d had his two Olympic bronze medals and one gold medal stripped in 1988 after being caught in a doping scandal. Johnson was on the comeback trail in ’93 before being caught doping again, resulting in his infamous lifetime ban by the IAAF.
  • On February 26th of 1993, tragedy struck the United States with the World Trade Centre bombing. Six people lost their lives while over 1,000 were injured and 50,000 had to be evacuated.
  • Czechoslovakia came to an end as the Blue Jays reached the mountaintop, dividing into separate nations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
  • For those of your still nostalgic for 90’s sports entertainment, WWF Monday Night Raw debuted in 1993 featuring everyone’s favorite nightmare-maker: The Undertaker.
  • From Cuba to Quebec and everywhere in between, North America was slammed by the “Great Blizzard of ’93” or “Storm of the Century” that March. The storm brought record cold temperatures to the east coast while dropping over 40 inches of snow on New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Maybe we could hold off on that repeat in 2015.

Next: Three Blue Jays crack Heyman's 25 heroes for 2015!

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