#12: Jays Walk off Angels to win
East, 1991
California Angels (5) at Toronto Blue
Jays (6)
Wednesday, October 2, 1991
SkyDome
After
being competitive for most of the 1980s, and having won two division
championships, the Jays fell short of expectations in 1990s and finished second
to the Boston Red Sox, prompting management to make some serious roster changes
in order to take the next step towards being a World Series Champion.
Gone
were popular players such as George Bell, Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff. They
were replaced by Candy Maldonado, Roberto Alomar, Devon White and Joe Carter.
Long-time ace pitcher, Dave Stieb suffered a season-ending injury early in the
1991 season. But the emergence of Juan Guzman made up for Stieb’s loss, much
more so than the mid-season trade of potential future superstar outfielders
Mark Whiten and Glenallen Hill for knuckle ball pitcher Tom Candiotti.
John
Olerud became the everyday first baseman, while Pat Borders emerged from a
platoon system to earn the first string catcher’s job. And when closer Tom
Henke spent some time on the disabled list, Duane Ward stepped up and showed he
could be a closer at the Big League level.
The
Jays headed into their final home game of the season with a chance to clinch
the A.L. East if front of a sold out SkyDome crowd. The 50,324 fans who made
their ways through the turnstiles, helped push Toronto’s season attendance
total over the 4 million mark, the first time this had happened in MLB history.
Candiotti
started on the mound for the Jays while the Angels, last place in the AL West
sent Joe Grahe to the hill. The Angels line-up featured former Blue Jays,
outfielder Junior Felix and relief pitcher Mark Eichorn, as well as former
Yankee slugger Dave Winfield.
Candiotti
gave up a one-out triple in the first and a two-out double in the second, but
pitched out of trouble and didn’t allow either runner to score. The Jays went
down in order in both innings. The Angels broke the ice in the top of the third
when number nine hitter Kevin Flora walked, stole second, moved to third on a
ground ball and score on a sacrifice fly by Max Venable. Angels up, 1-0.
The
Jays went in order again in their half of the third and the Angels roughed up
Candiotti for two runs in the fourth on a double by Gary Gaetti scoring
Winfield and Lee Stevens, extending their lead to 3-0. It wasn’t looking very
promising for the fans who had come out to see their home team wrap up the
division title.
After
leaving two runners aboard in the fourth, Toronto finally managed to put
together a meaningful rally in the fifth, thanks to the wildness of Angel
hurler Joe Grahe. With one out, Grahe walked Jays’ designated hitter Dave
Parker, Borders and shortstop Manny Lee. White then hit a slow roller to third
and with his speed, he easily legged out an RBI infield single. Alomar then
walked (the fourth of the inning) to close the gap to 3-2. But Carter grounded
into a double play, squashing the rally.
An
inning later, a two-run home run by Maldonado gave Toronto the lead for the
first time in the game, 4-3. The Jays had a chance to add to their total but
again, left two runners on base.
In
the top of the eighth, with Candiotti out of the game, Toronto relief pitcher
David Wells came in to pitch to Winfield. The Angel’s DH took a 3-1 pitch and
drove it over the left-centre field fence for the game-tying home run and
deflated the crowd once again. They would not like what they saw in the top of
the ninth either, when the Angels took a 5-4 lead on a two-out RBI single by
Dave Gallagher. Another single by Ruben Amaro looked like the Angels would
extend their lead but right-fielder Carter threw a bullet and nailed Gallagher
at the plate to keep the deficit at one.
The
Jays had the top of the order up in the bottom of the ninth but would have to
stage their comeback against California closer Doug Harvey. White got an
infield single on the first pitch. Alomar then hit a ground ball that could
possibly have been a double play, but Angels second baseman Kevin Flora,
misfired on his throw to the bag and the ball went down the left field line.
White scored easily and Alomar cruised into second.
With
still nobody out and Carter at the plate, Alomar took off for third and stole
the bag easily. The division-clinching run was not at third base, with still
none out. On the very next pitch, Carter drove a single up the middle to score
Alomar and the Jays had won the A.L. East for the third time.
While
the Jays and their fans thought this trip to the ALCS would be different, what
with the new lineup and all, the results were the same. A loss to the Minnesota
Twins in five games was a very disappointing end to the season after all the
expectations. But the Jays had most of their championship pieces in place. They
would just have to wait another year to see their dreams fulfilled.
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