Toronto Blue Jays playoff hero Joe Carter was recently asked how the current Blue Jays postseason teams would compare to the Blue Jays World Series winning teams he was a member of in the early 90’s. Say it ain’t so Joe.
The former slugger unequivocally believes the 1992/93 teams would beat the current cast of Jays players. Carter went one step further to explain how the World Series teams would do whatever it takes to win rather than relying on the three-run homer that the currently contingent routinely does to secure victories.
"They wouldn’t beat us — that’s for sure. I mean, come on, we were World Series champs those two years. I think the biggest difference in the two teams are we were very good at playing small ball. We were able to do whatever it takes, meaning advancing the runners, bunting the guys over, stealing bases, playing good defence, fundamentally doing the right things and not just living off the three-run home run."
Joe Carter spent seven seasons north of the border with the Blue Jays after being acquired in the 1990 blockbuster trade with the San Diego Padres that saw Carter and Roberto Alomar come to Toronto in exchange for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff.
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The outfielder would go down in Blue Jays folklore after hitting the biggest home run in franchise history in the 1993 World Series off Philadelphia Phillies closer Mitch Williams. The walk-off homer in Game 6 won the Blue Jays their second consecutive title.
During the interview with Mark Daniel of the Toronto Sun to promote the upcoming Joe Carter Classic Charity Golf Tourney, Carter also went into detail about the Blue Jays recent postseason Achilles heal.
"I think the last couple of years, that’s been the Jays biggest downfall. If you good back to a lot of situations, they weren’t able to advance the runners and that’s what wins you ballgames. The three-run homer is great, but you’re not always going to hit home runs. That’s something we did in ’92-’93. We gave ourselves up, we hit the ball the other way and we did whatever it took to win the ballgame. That’s why the ’92-’93 teams would win. We’d definitely win."
It is pretty hard to compare any team with the likes of those All-Star laden World Series teams that had gamers like Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, Roberto Alomar Jack Morris to name a few.
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However, Carter’s words ring true as the Blue Jays lacked the necessary small ball and were easily exposed by the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians during the postseason.