33 Years Ago Today
I vividly remember that moment. Whether the Blue Jays won or lost, I felt confident we’d be okay. With Pat Hentgen lined up to start game 7 after his impressive outing in game 3, there was reassurance. Still, I’m grateful for how it all turned out. Even after countless viewings, Joe Carter’s ability to keep that ball fair continues to amaze me.
A few years back, I had the chance to interview Hentgen and finally ask him a question that had always been on my mind:
I remember thinking
when Joe Carter came to bat in game 6, “Oh well, even if we don’t win, you would be pitching the next day.” All would be good. Do you ever think about that you could have been pitching game 7?
Oh, of course. That whole day is like, I was charting the game, and I could tell you those numbers were starting to get a little scribbly towards the end there. We were down by 2 going into the 9th. You know Joe pulls those balls all year long and pulls them foul. So when he hit that ball, I was in the corner of the dugout. I’ll never forget it. I had my back to left field. I had my back to the foul pole. When he hit it, I remember just thinking, ‘Stay fair, stay fair’, because I felt it was hard enough hit to go out. And it just stayed fair that day for whatever reason.
But yeah, I thought about how it would have went down. And how you play 174 games or whatever, and it comes down to one game. It would have been pretty exciting, I’ll tell you. I know one thing in those situations: managers never let the starting pitcher get in any trouble. The minute I would have had some trouble going, we’d have had Harry Wholestaff in there. Every guy would have been available.
Thankfully, we never needed that seventh game.
Game 6 got off to a fast start, with the Jays putting up three runs in the first inning.
Devon White worked a one-out walk and raced home on Paul Molitor’s triple. Molitor then scored on a sacrifice fly by Carter.
John Olerud followed with a double, coming around to score on Roberto Alomar’s single.
- The Phillies scored once in the fourth, but the Jays answered in the bottom half: Alomar doubled, advanced on a Tony Fernandez groundout, and scored on an Ed Sprague sac fly. Another run came in the fifth thanks to a Molitor solo home run.
The seventh inning brought trouble. Dave Stewart, after 120 pitches, allowed a walk, a single, and a three-run homer to Lenny Dykstra. Cito Gaston, in his first stint managing the Jays, was slow to pull him from the game.
Danny Cox came on and struggled, giving up three hits, a walk, and two runs while recording just one out. Al Leiter got the final two outs of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth despite a Dykstra walk and stolen base. Duane Ward handled the ninth efficiently.
The final frame was set up perfectly. The top of the order came to bat: Rickey Henderson walked, Devon White drove a deep fly out, and Molitor singled, putting the tying run on second. That’s when the unforgettable happened—Mitch Williams, my all-time favourite reliever, took the mound.
Henderson later said he tried to distract Williams from second base, forcing him to pitch out of the stretch and lose a bit off his fastball. With Rickey representing the tying run, Williams’ attention was split—understandably so. Carter, meanwhile, was always a threat to bring in a run with a sac fly.
Molitor was named series MVP after slashing .500/.571/1.000 with 10 runs, 8 RBI, 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 home runs. Alomar wasn’t far behind, hitting .480/.519/.640 with 5 runs and 6 RBI. Fernandez drove in 9 runs with a .333/.423/.381 line. Ward contributed 2 saves and a win—the clincher in Game 6.
And then there’s Joe Carter. He finished with a .280/.250/.560 slash line and 8 RBI, three of which were pivotal. Interestingly, his 3 sacrifice flies dropped his OBP below his batting average—something I’ve always found odd.
It was truly one of the greatest moments in World Series history, and probably the most significant in Blue Jays lore.
Beyond the home run itself, Tom Cheek’s legendary call made it even more iconic.
I’ll never tire of watching that play.
