1992 World Series

1992 {{{country}}} Series
File:World Series Logo 1992.png
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston 4 Atlanta Braves Bobby Cox 2
Dates	October 17, 1992–October 24, 1992
MVP	Pat Borders (Toronto)
Umpires	Jerry Crawford (NL), Mike Reilly (AL), Joe West (NL), John Shulock (AL), Bob Davidson (NL), Dan Morrison (AL)
Broadcast
Television	CBS & Simulcast in Canada on CTV
TV announcers	Sean McDonough, Tim McCarver
Series

Template:WorldSeriesRt The 1992 World Series was the first Series ever played outside of the United States of America. It pitted the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays against the National League champion Atlanta Braves. Toronto defeated Atlanta, 4 games to 2, marking the first time a non-United States based team ever won the World Series.

A faux pas occurred when a United States Marine Corps color guard erroneously displayed the Canadian flag upside down during the opening ceremony of the second game. Speculation ensued amongst some Canadians that the flag was flown upside down as a deliberate insult to Canada, although most agreed the act was unintentional. The Corps apologized for the error and took pains to carry the flag properly prior to Game 3 in Toronto after insisting that they would be honored to do so.

The Blue Jays made it to the Series after beating the Oakland Athletics in six games. The Braves were in their second consecutive series after again knocking off the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games.

Summary

Game 1

October 17, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	X	3	4	0
W: Tom Glavine (1-0)   L: Jack Morris (0-1)
HR: TOR – Joe Carter (1)  ATL – Damon Berryhill (1)

Braves fans had plenty to worry about in regards to both starting pitchers. Tom Glavine's post-season career had been less than stellar, including giving up eight runs in the second inning of game six of the NLCS against Pittsburgh. Entering game one, Glavine's career post-season record was 1-5 despite two starts where he had pitched complete games and only given up one run each time. Glavine was 0-2 in those starts. Jack Morris had shut the Braves out for ten innings in the last game of the 1991 World Series with the Twins and won the MVP.

Morris, in fact, shut the Braves out for five innings to stretch his shutout string over Atlanta to fifteen innings. Glavine gave up a Joe Carter homer in the fourth. But with two outs in the sixth, catcher Damon Berryhill golfed a Morris pitch over the right-field wall for a three-run homer that was all Atlanta needed to win game one by the score of 3-1. Glavine went the distance for the victory.

Game 2

October 18, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	2	5	9	2
Atlanta	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	5	1
W: Duane Ward (1-0)   L: Jeff Reardon (0-1)  S: Tom Henke (1)
HR: TOR – Ed Sprague (1)

Before the game started, during the performance of the National Anthems of the United States and Canada, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard accidentally flew the flag of Canada upside down. On top of that, Canadian rock/country musician Tom Cochrane sang the Canadian national anthem improperly. The section of the song which is to be sang as "...from far and wide, oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee..." was instead sung as follows: "...oh Canada, we stand on guard, we stand on guard for thee..." (Cochrane was actually singing the pre-1980 words for O Canada).

The pitching match-up featured former Met David Cone, acquired by the Jays in an August trade, against the Braves' John Smoltz, the man who had beaten Cone out for the NL strikeout title by one (because Cone was traded to the American League). Cone got two hits, only the second and third hits by AL pitchers in the Series since 1979, and pitched well, but he left the game trailing 3-2 and was replaced by David Wells.

A controversial call benefited the Braves. In the top of the fourth inning, with two out and Roberto Alomar on third, John Smoltz pitched a ball in the dirt to John Olerud, which got away from catcher Damon Berryhill. Alomar decided to run home. The ball rolled only about 10-15 feet away from the plate, and Berryhill fielded the ball and threw it to Smoltz who ran over from the mound to cover the plate. Umpire Mike Reilly called Alomar out, ending the inning (even though replays during the CBS telecast clearly showed the sliding Alomar touch the plate before Smoltz applied the tag). The score remained 1-0 after the fourth and eventually became 4-3 for the Braves after 5th inning rallies by both teams and Alomar scoring on a Dave Winfield single in the 8th.

The Jays entered the ninth trailing by the one run Reilly had cost them. After a walk to Derek Bell, Toronto reserve infielder Ed Sprague drilled a pitch from Braves closer Jeff Reardon, then baseball's all-time saves leader, to left for a two-run homer. The play was portentously called by Blue Jays announcer Tom "Pops" Cheek, who infamously said "Watch him hit a homer" during Sprague's at bat.

Atlanta tried to rally in the ninth, bringing MVP candidate Terry Pendleton to the plate with two on and two out. Pendleton had led the majors with a .391 average with runners in scoring position and two out. However, he popped out to Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber to steal the victory for Toronto. Gruber then angered Braves fans and players by mocking the "Tomahawk Chop" as he left the field.

Game 3

October 20, 1992 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	9	0
Toronto	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	3	6	1
W: Duane Ward (2-0)   L: Steve Avery (0-1)
HR: TOR – Joe Carter (2), Kelly Gruber (1)

Before this game, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard offered to hoist the Canadian flag once more in order to make amends for the inverted flag incident of Game 2. Likewise, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police flew the flag of the United States.

As Game 3 moved across the border (for the first Canadian Classic) the question still remained of the Blue Jays' ballpark benefit. Both teams went head-to-head for eight innings and held a 2-2 tie going into the ninth. Candy Maldonado put the home team ahead with a game-winning RBI single (on an 0-2 pitch) off of Reardon (again) who was retired for the remainder of the contest despite his career record of three-hundred fifty-seven saves. Roberto Alomar scored the winning run on the Maldonado single and like Gruber in the previous game, Alomar "chopped" his way to home plate. Devon White was the standout in the 2-3 event by making a sensational backhanded grab (against the 400-foot sign) off a David Justice blast with Deion Sanders and Terry Pendleton on base. The snag nearly resulted in a triple play as Pendleton passed Sanders on the base paths for an automatic out but second base umpire Bob Davidson (the same controversial umpire of the 2006 World Baseball Classic) ruled Sanders safe in a rundown by Kelly Gruber despite several replays showing that Gruber had indeed tagged Sanders.

Game 4

October 21, 1992 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	5	0
Toronto	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	6	0
W: Jimmy Key (1-0)   L: Tom Glavine (1-1)  S: Tom Henke (2)
HR: TOR – Pat Borders (1)

This game would mark Jimmy Key's final start as a Blue Jay. Key, a starter during the regular season was relegated to the bullpen during the playoffs and three innings of relief. After giving up a lead-off single to Otis Nixon in the first inning, Key picked Nixon off first base and then proceeded to only giving three hits over seven innings. Pat Borders put the Jays up with a third inning home run. In the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Jays went up 2-0 as Kelly Gruber scored on an RBI single by Devon White. The Braves would score one run in the top of the eighth inning. However, with two runners on in scoring position and two out, Key would be relieved by Duane Ward, who would get out of the inning. Henke relieved Ward and attained the save.

Game 5

October 22, 1992 at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	1	0	0	1	5	0	0	0	0	7	13	0
Toronto	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
W: John Smoltz (1-0)   L: Jack Morris (0-2)  S: Mike Stanton (1)
HR: ATL – David Justice (1), Lonnie Smith (1)

This was Jack Morris' second start of the World Series and would also be his second loss. The Braves third, fourth and fifth batters of the batting order were under a dubious statistic: none of them attained an extra-base hit in the previous four games. This would stand until Terry Pendleton hit an RBI double against Morris in the first inning, bringing home Otis Nixon, who had, himself, doubled earlier in the inning. Justice would hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning to put the Braves up 2-1 for his first extra-base hit of the '92 World Series. However, Pat Borders would tie the game in the bottom of the inning on his second RBI single of the evening. In the fifth inning, the Braves would score five runs, capped by a grand slam home run by Lonnie Smith against Morris. The Blue Jays would not recover, and Smith ended any hopes of the World Series being decided on Canadian ground (which would take place the year after when the Jays won in 1993).

Game 6

October 24, 1992 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Toronto	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	14	1
Atlanta	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	8	1
W: Jimmy Key (2-0)   L: Charlie Leibrandt (0-1)  S: Mike Timlin (1)
HR: TOR – Candy Maldonado (1)

Atlanta's Steve Avery and Toronto's David Cone were the starters in this game. Because Avery was a left-handed pitcher, the Blue Jays started Joe Carter at first base instead of John Olerud. As a result, Dave Winfield was placed in right field to make up for Carter's move to first base. Tied at 1-1 early in the game, Candy Maldonado hit a home run in the top of the fourth to put the Jays up 2-1. Roberto Alomar made a memorable play on a Jeff Blauser ground ball: the ball was grounded to the far right of Roberto Alomar, the second baseman; Alomar dove for the ball and recorded the out at first after a quick throw from the knees. After a good defensive game by both teams, the score remained 2-1 in favor of the Blue Jays heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, with Tom Henke called upon for the save.

Blauser lead off the Braves' ninth inning with a single, and moved to second base after a sacrifice bunt by Damon Berryhill. Henke walked the previous game's hero, Lonnie Smith after getting ahead 0-2 in the count, bringing up Francisco Cabrera, the hero of the NLCS just a week prior. Cabrera hit a rising line drive into left field, however Maldonado made a good jump and caught the ball for the second out. Henke, after working Otis Nixon to an 0-2 count, gave up a double to Nixon, resulting in in Jeff Blauser scoring from second after Maldonado's throw from left field went too far. Ron Gant would fly out to Devon White and the game went to extra innings.

The tenth inning was uneventful. The top of the eleventh inning saw Charlie Leibrandt enter the game for the Braves, the same man who gave up the game ending home run in Game Six of the previous Series to Kirby Puckett. With one out, Devon White was hit by a Leibrandt pitch and Alomar singled to put two runners on base for the Blue Jays. Joe Carter flew out to center field, but the runners could not tag up. Dave Winfield would overcome his post-season futility with a two out, two run double down the left field line, scoring White and Alomar for a 4-2 lead. This was Winfield's first extra-base hit in the World Series.

Jimmy Key was in to close the game for the Jays after working during the tenth inning. Jeff Blauser got on base once more with a base hit to left field and would move up to third base on a Damon Berryhill single. Pitcher John Smoltz replaced Berryhill as a pinch runner at first. The next play saw Rafael Belliard bunt to move Smoltz up to second, but Blauser did not attempt to score. He did score on the next play however on a ground out to Carter at first, moving Smoltz to third and Otis Nixon appearing again at the plate to tie the game for the Braves. Mike Timlin replaced Jimmy Key to get the final out. After fouling off the first pitch from Timlin, Otis Nixon bunted. Timlin fielded the ball, and threw it to Carter to record the final out.

Notable facts

• In a very rare occurrence, American League president Dr. Bobby Brown presented the World Series Trophy in the place of the commissioner. Just a month earlier, Fay Vincent was forced to resign and was replaced by Bud Selig (then owner of the Milwaukee Brewers) on what was originally perceived to be an "interim basis." Dr. Brown also presented the Blue Jays the trophy in 1993.

• Deion Sanders would've likely had been the World Series Most Valuable Player if the Braves had won. In four games, Sanders batted .533 with 4 runs, 8 hits, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI. In addition, Sanders became the first major leaguer to play in a World Series game and in a NFL game in the same week.

• Jack Morris joined the list of players who won a World Series with at least three different teams (the Detroit Tigers in 1984, Minnesota Twins in 1991, and Toronto Blue Jays in 1992-1993). Ironically, after being the last person the Braves would face in a World Series prior to 1992 (Morris' now famous ten inning shutout in the seventh game of the 1991 World Series), Morris was the starting pitcher for Game 1 of the 1992 World Series.

• At 41 years of age, Dave Winfield became the oldest player to hit an extra base hit in the World Series.

• The final out of the series came on a bunt by Braves outfielder Otis Nixon (an unusual occurrence with two out, but considering Nixon's speed it might not have been as unusual as first thought). The ball was fielded by Blue Jays reliever Mike Timlin who made the easy play to first baseman Joe Carter. Carter initially looked to keep the ball but gave it up to Timlin who pleaded to Carter for the ball saying it was "[his] World Series save." Carter would eventually have possession of the game-winning ball of the 1993 World Series: his Series-ending home run ball.

• This was the first year this particular World Series logo was used. It would be used from 1992 through the 1997 Series, but there were alterations to the color of the logo as time went on.

• The Blue Jays became the first team since the 1984 Detroit Tigers to win the World Series without having home field advantage.

• Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston became the first African American manager to win a World Series.

• At 30 years of age, CBS' Sean McDonough became the youngest man to call all nine innings and games of a World Series (while serving as a full network television employee). Although Vin Scully and Al Michaels were several years younger when they called their first World Series, they were products of the then broadcasting policy of announcers representing the participating teams (a process that ended following the 1976 World Series). McDonough's record would subsequently be broken by FOX's Joe Buck, who at 27 years of age, called the 1996 World Series. Ironically, McDonough replaced Joe Buck's father, Jack, as CBS' lead play-by-play man.

Quotes of the Series

Well-hit to left field, to the wall Deion Sanders...home run Ed Sprague! Off the bench with a pinch-hit two-run homer off Jeff Reardon to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-4 lead! -- Sean McDonough of CBS, calling Ed Sprague's game-winning two-run home run to win Game 2 for the Blue Jays.

...in order to make amends, the United States Marine Corps color guard has been asked to present the Canadian flag again. --Toronto Blue Jays public address announcer Murray Eldon.

Welcome to Canada, World Series! -- Sean McDonough of CBS, calling the end of Game 3.

High in the air, well hit to right field, Carter to the wall...GRAND SLAM Lonnie Smith! -- Sean McDonough of CBS calling Lonnie Smith's grand slam off Jack Morris in Game 5 to force a Game 6 back in Atlanta.

The runners go on the 3-2 to Winfield...down the line, a base hit into the left-field corner! White has scored, Alomar comes around...The ball gets away from Gant..It's a two-run double for Dave Winfield, and a 4-2 Toronto lead! -- Sean McDonough of CBS, calling Dave Winfield's Series-winning double.

Timlin...Nixon bunts, Timlin on it, throws to first...for the first time in history, the World Championship banner will fly north of the border! The Toronto Blue Jays are baseball's best in 1992! -- McDonough calling the final play of the Series.

Pitch on the way ... and it's a bunted ball, first base side, Timlin to Carter ... and the Blue Jays win it! The Blue Jays win it! The Blue Jays are World Series Champions! -- Toronto Blue Jays radio announcer Tom Cheek calling the final play of the Series

External links

• 1992 World Series by Baseball Almanac
• History of the World Series - 1992
• 1992 NLCS|Game 7
• 1992 Toronto Blue Jays
• 1992 Atlanta Braves