#11: “Welcome to Canada, World
Series”, 1992
Atlanta Braves (2) at Toronto Blue
Jays (3)
Tuesday, October 20, 1992
World Series Game 3
SkyDome
I
am a baseball junkie. I have an addiction and it’s collecting baseball games.
Whether it’s on DVD or a digital format, I keep collecting, despite having told
myself many times over the years that the next acquisition will be the last.
And while I have well over 500 games in my collection, Game 3 of the 1992 World
Series is one of my favourite games to watch and re-live the excitement. Every
time I watch this game, while I don’t feel the same emotions that I did when I
saw it live on TV, I do remember those emotions I had back in 1992.
This
was the first World Series game to ever be played outside the United States.
The Toronto Blue Jays had split the first two games of the Series against the
Atlanta Braves in Fulton-County Stadium and would now have the advantage of the
home crowd. They would also have their phenom starting pitcher, Juan Guzman, on
the mound to face Atlanta’s Steve Avery.
After
the pre-game hoopla, that featured a rather comical look by CBS at baseball in
Canada, and Canadian folk singer Anne Murray singing the National Anthem (she
sung at the first every Jays’ game in Exhibition Stadium, too), the crowd of
51,813 settled in to see if the Jays could keep the momentum going after having
won Game 2.
Both
Guzman and Avery cruised through the first three innings. Guzman had only
allowed one single, but ran into trouble in the top of the fourth. Deion
Sanders had an infield hit, while Terry Pendleton followed with a single into
right field. That brought up David Justice to the plate and on the first pitch
of the at-bat, the Braves’ right-fielder drilled a pitch deep into centre-field
that looked like a sure double, maybe more.
But
Toronto centre-fielder Devon White glided back to the ball, got it in his
sights and timed his jump perfectly as the ball settled into his glove and he
banged up against the wall. The runners were on the move, trying to score on
the extra base hit, and were now scrambling to get back to their respective
bases as White fired the ball back into the infield. Sanders, in a hurry to get
back to second, passed Pendleton on the base paths. Pendleton was automatically
out. Jays’ second baseman Roberto Alomar, not knowing Pendleton was out, fired
the relay throw to first base where John Olerud stepped on the bag before
firing over to third to try and nail Sanders in his attempt to advance.
When
Sanders saw third baseman Kelly Gruber with the ball, he retreated to second
with Gruber in hot pursuit. As Sanders approached the bag, Gruber dove forward
and clipped Deion’s foot with his glove, clearly an out and a World Series
triple play. But umpire Bob Davidson, although he was proper position, missed
Gruber’s tag and called Sanders safe. However, despite the missed call, White
had made an unbelievable catch and Guzman would get the final out of the inning
to keep the game scoreless.
In
the bottom of the fourth, with one out, Jays’ right fielder Joe Carter slammed
his second World Series home run over the wall in left to give Toronto a 1-0
lead. The Braves would tie the score in the sixth when Justice again came up to
the plate with Sanders and Pendleton on base. This time, Justice singled to
right, scoring Sanders.
In
the top of the eighth, an error by Gruber would lead to the second Atlanta run,
but the Jays’ third baseman would make up for it in the bottom of the inning
with a solo home run to left field, sending the game into the ninth inning tied
at two.
With
a man on first and none out, the Jays would pull off a strike-him-out,
throw-him-out double play as Atlanta’s Jeff Blauser was called out on a check
swing, while Toronto catcher Pat Borders fired a throw to second to nail Brian
Hunter attempting to steal. This would set the stage for the dramatic bottom of
the ninth.
Alomar
led off with a single. After a pitching change, Alomar would steal second.
Carter would be walked intentionally. Designated hitter Dave Winfield would
drop a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third. After Ed
Sprague was walked intentionally to load the bases, the Braves brought in their
closer Jeff Reardon to face Toronto’s left fielder Candy Maldonado.
A
Reardon curve ball made Maldonado look bad as he fanned on it for strike one.
The second pitch was another curve ball and another poor swing by Maldonado.
Reardon, looking for the strikeout, threw another curve, but Maldonado swung
and lifted a fly ball over the heads of the outfielders, driving Alomar home
with the game-winning run. Toronto won the game, 3-2, and took a two games to
one lead in the Series.
As
CBS play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough said after Alomar scored, “Welcome to
Canada, World Series!”
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