The 1992-1993 Blue Jays
Here come the Canadians
And we come to the 1992-1993 Blue Jays, the first legitimate baseball dynasty, and the only non-hockey Canadian team.
Categories
Rings
The Blue Jays won consecutive titles in 1992 and 1993. (8/20)
Non-Championship Years
The Blue Jays had been in contention for some time, and won the AL East in 1985, 1989, and 1991, losing in the ALCS each time.
They were under .500 when the strike ended the 1994 season and would not finish above third place until 2006. (5/10)
Peak Performance
The best record they had was 96-66 in 1992. (2/10)
Star Power
These teams included Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson, Roberto Alomar, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, and Jack Morris, most of whom were finishing their careers built up elsewhere. They also had Joe Carter, John Olerud, Tony Fernandez, Al Leiter, Pat Hentgen, Dave Stewart, Todd Stottlemyre, Devon White, Jimmy Key, David Wells, and Duane Ward. (9/10)
Coaching / Innovation
The Jays were managed by Cito Gaston, considered good enough but not quite an innovator. GM Pat Gillick is now in the Hall of Fame. (5/10)
Legacy
These are the only Canadian teams to win the World Series. Probably the first time a team won a championship by spending money on veteran starts. (3/5)
The Competition
In the American League, the Bash Brothers A’s were ending their run (and sent the Blue Jays Rickey Henderson) and the Yankees hadn’t quite come together yet.
Their World Series opponents were the Braves in their first of four World Series appearances in a decade, and the Phillies in a single season run. (2/5)
Achilles Heel
Pretty solid team top to bottom. I guess they were a bit old, and thus fell back rather quickly (4/5)
Bias Check
Joe Carter’s home run to end the 1993 World Series against the Phillies is my most seared negative sports memory. In retrospect, winning the National League was more than I could ask for from that team. But still probably best to go (+2)
Summary
40 points. Not bad for 2 years.