Joe Carter Brings Back The Canadian Glory
April 3, 2009 – 10:30 am by Tas Melas
What’s the keystroke for a tingle? Shift and something? After listening to Joe Carter relive memories of those back-to-back World Series championships with the Blue Jays, it’s hard not to be in a good mood. Living in Toronto, I’ve never had a better sporting moment as a fan – although it’s pretty hard to pick between the two. I’d go with the second if I had to though – the first one was sort of expected, the weight of the world was on the team. After winning the first one, it took a hell of a lot of focus to go at another 162 games; when that ball went over the fence to seal number two, it tasted just a little sweeter than the first. Since, Blue Jay fans have had very little to chew on; we all go back and watch our “Oh Canada!” VHS tapes commemorating the titles. For the first time, the members of those teams are getting together (this August in Toronto). Joe Carter joined Mike Wilner on The Fan 590 to tell stories about corralling his old teammates for the festivities, why they had to wait till 2009, and insightful breakdowns of both series clinching plays:
On getting a hold of Pat Borders:
“With Pat Borders, ’cause his name’s not on the list yet, you had to go through his mother. So, you have to go through his mother first ’cause he visits his mom every Friday in Florida. So, I’ve left a couple messages with his mom and I’m sure he got the message, he just hasn’t been forthright in calling me back.”
On why the Jays have put it off until now:
“(Mike Timlin) was the last straw because we had to wait till he was retired. Last year was his last year with the Red Sox, he didn’t get any offers this year, so he was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna come now’ because he’s not working anymore.”
On the final play of the ’92 series where he caught the final out as the first baseman:
“The guy I was playing against at the time was my roommate in Cleveland, so I knew a lot about Otis (Nixon) and how he performed. And, I told Timlin, ‘He’s gonna bunt, so be ready for it.’ And, just those little things, it’s a game within a game. So, you don’t go out there and just play the game but you go out there and think, and I was always a pretty good thinker as far as thinking one or two steps ahead of everybody else.”
On the homerun that won it in ’93:
“I knew something great was gonna happen, I just didn’t know exactly what it was, but come the 9th inning with Rickey (Henderson) leading off, I knew that I was gonna get the chance to come up with the game on the line. I wasn’t nervous, I was excited, like, ‘You know what? This is what baseball is about. This is where I wanna be…’ Was never thinking about a homerun, was just thinking about, ‘Hey, if I get a base hit, put the ball in the gap, Rickey’s gonna score, (Paul) Molitor is gonna be on 3rd, and then the game’s gonna be tied… Just don’t go out there and hit in to a double play, if you strike out, that’s fine, you still got one more out.’ I was thinking something good was gonna happen but never in my wildest dream did I think homerun. Homerun never crossed my mind.”
Listen to Joe Carter with Mike Wilner on the FAN 590 in Toronto
Tags: Baseball, Joe Carter, Mike Timlin, MLB, Otis Nixon, Pat Borders, Toronto Blue Jays, World Series
