Blue Jays’ Tom Henke shares Duane Ward appreciation, perspective on teammate’s sudden passing

It was supposed to be a weekend full of celebration but tragedy struck on Sunday morning (Jul. 19) when news broke of Duane Wards sudden passing. The former Toronto Blue Jays' reliever who was a part of both of the team's World Series championships passed away at the age of 62. He was in Toronto to take in the celebration of the team's unveiling of the Joe Carter statue and commemoration of the World Series titles.

Ward was a huge part in the team's best run through the late 80's and early 90's. He joined Toronto in 1986 and by 1988 he broke out as one of the league's premier set up men in front of the team's closer, "The Terminator" Tom Henke.

From there, they formed a formidable duo as the team went on to win three division titles (1989, 1991, 1992) with Ward in front of Henke, and getting passed the Oakland Athletics in '92, winning it all by beating Atlanta in that year's World Series. Ward then took over as the team's closer in '93 when Henke left in free agency.

Henke spoke to Sportsnet reporter Shi Davedi after hearing of Wards passing last weekend. He said the news came as a shock, considering they had all been hanging out with Ward the night before. As part of the ceremony, members of the championship team were paraded out on the back of trucks in pairs, but Henke went out alone since Ward was missing.

Henke said, "Nobody knew where he was at and there was a search going out. I said a few prayers. It really hasn't set it in yet. I would have never guessed it. He looked a little tired, but that was it. It was a long trip for him (from his Las Vegas home to Toronto). He said he was kind of tired and was going to go to bed and get some rest for the next day. It was quite a shock.”

Henke says he and Ward formed quite a duo and a special friendship, despite them being polar opposites personality wise. “I was really easygoing. That's what helped me in the pressure of the job that I did. And Duane was very intense, very hard working and I've never seen him ever not ready to go in and pitch.

We were in constant conversation in the bullpen. Wardo was a bit superstitious, and he had to have me play catch with him every day. So he would seek me out before batting practice to loosen up. We'd play catch together. It was something we had together for a long time on the field."

Ward and Henke paved the way for what a dominant bullpen looked like

During his years in the Blue Jays bullpen, Ward compiled a 2.98 ERA with 121 saves and struck out 657 batters in 634.1 innings pitched over 434 games between 1988 and 1993. Before Henke left, the pair of relievers were trusted by Blue Jays' manager Cito Gaston on an almost nightly basis to completely stifle the opponents at the end of the game.

In today's game, you might see three or perhaps four guys in a bullpen who "shorten the game." But in the 80's and 90's most teams basically trusted their starters to go at least seven or eight innings and then they would turn to their one closer while a bunch of role players made up the rest of the bullpen. Henke says, he and Ward contributed to changing that aspect of the game.

"We had a heck of a duo going,” said Henke. “It changed the game a little bit as far as your starters didn't have to go eight, nine innings anymore. Wardo would go in and pitch the seventh, eighth and I’d finish the ninth, or he’d pitch the seventh and I’d pitch eight, nine. Hopefully it gave the team a good feeling. I know the opposition felt that way, that we’d better get Toronto before it got to the seventh inning because you’d have Ward-Henke coming in and 90 per cent of the time, it was lights out.”

For Blue Jays fans of a certain generation there is no denying how important Ward's contribution was to those two banners hanging high above the field at Rogers Centre. While it is incredible sad that he's no longer with us, Henke, and the rest of the Blue Jays did take some solace in the fact that they got to spend one last time with one of their closests friends.

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