TORONTO (Oct. 18) — A Guinness world record was established early Saturday by baseball folks here in Canada: Most geniuses born in one night. Blue Jays manager John Schneider got devoured and expectorated by the local and national media for evidently ignoring two fail–safe arms in his bullpen. Instead, he opted for the powder–keg that was Brandon Little. KABOOM!! A narrow lead (2–1) over Seattle in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series became a lop–sided defeat; patently, a turning point in the best–of–seven clash between 1977 expansion teams. For the first time in these playoffs, Toronto faces elimination. Sunday, on home turf. If the Mariners win either of the two remaining matches at Rogers Centre, our country’s World Series dream will end.

All Schneider did on Friday night was pick the wrong poison.

As you continue reading this blog, I will take you back 33 years to the night the Blue Jays won their first of consecutive baseball championships. In 1992 and 1993, manager Cito Gaston had a blessed advantage over most teams — a pair of high–leverage, front–line relievers. Duane Ward and Tom Henke comprised, easily, the best set–up/closing act in the Major Leagues. Turning to either in a clutch situation was a no–brainer for Gaston. If there are any pitchers like Ward and Henke in the current Toronto bullpen, an introduction would be courteous.

Once Little imploded, the knives were out. Suddenly, in the interpretation of every Blue Jays observer, Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez were direct descendents of Ward and Henke. Either pitcher was preferable to Little and would have surely snuffed out Seattle’s comeback attempt. I’m assuming, of course, it’s the same Jeff Hoffman that gave away leads like Christmas candy late in the regular schedule. And, the same Seranthony who appeared in “relief” of Little on Friday night, only to serve up the game–winning grand slam to Eugenio Suárez.

The Little–Dominguez combo went home run, walk, walk, hit–by–pitch, home run.

EUGENIO SUAREZ BEGINS HIS TROT AROUND THE BASES AFTER LAUNCHING A GRAND SLAM AGAINST THE BLUE JAYS IN THE EIGHTH INNING FRIDAY NIGHT. LINDSEY WASSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ward and Henke almost never threw away important moments. From personal recollection, I can safely tell you this bullpen is not that bullpen. Not even close. Gaston, more than three decades ago, had quite a luxury at his disposal. Schneider, for all his adherence to team analytics, doesn’t have a single “sure” arm. Not one. Every time a Blue Jays starter is pulled from a game, it’s coin–flip time. There is no predicting how the relief arms will fare. Regular season or playoffs. What we can surely say is that relief pitching has been the Achilles heal of the 2025 Blue Jays, a team that came together elsewhere, quite suddenly and spectacularly, as spring turned to summer.

There should be no astonishment that the flimsy bullpen fell apart in a clutch playoff circumstance. What other element of the team would be expected to wither? No person out there can credibly suggest that Hoffman and Dominguez — had they been called upon ahead of Little — would have silenced the Mariner bats. For my money, Schneider made a far–worse decision by pulling Trey Yesavage from his no–hit attempt against the Yankees. On that occasion, the opposing team was lifeless. The Pinstripers were being outscored 21–1. Yesavage was striking out virtually every New York batter. Suddenly, Schneider had a brain wave (or was following team protocol from above) and yanked Yesavage with a 12–0 lead that became 13–7 by game’s end. Killing the no–hit drama that built inside the Dome while providing the Yankees oxygen required to extend the series back home in Game 3.

If Yesavage had been left on the mound, the Blue Jays would have steamrolled the demoralized Bombers.

Game 4 would never have been required.

There was no–such assurance for Schneider on Friday night at T–Mobile Park. It was another game of bullpen Russian Roulette. Either of Hoffman or Dominguez could have imploded as spectacularly as Little. All Blue Jays fans know that. But, the five–run bottom of the eighth shifted the very foundation of this series. And all, apparently, because of the Toronto manager. Even if saddled, throughout this 2025 season, with grenades in his relief corps.

MOST–TREASURED ITEMS, THREE DECADES LATER

Next Thursday night will, quite amazingly, mark 32 years since Joe Carter tomahawked a Mitch Williams delivery into the left–field stands at SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), providing the Toronto Blue Jays their second World Series conquest in as many seasons; walking off the Philadelphia Phillies in the ninth inning of Game 6.

Up in the home radio booth — and still annoyed over his banal description of the first championship moment, in Atlanta, one year earlier — Tom Cheek gained immortality by exclaiming “touch ’em all, Joe… you’ll never hit a bigger home run!” When Tom died of brain cancer in October 2005, he took with him a call that ranks, north of the border, alongside Foster Hewitt roaring “Henderson has scored for Canada!” in Moscow on Sep. 28, 1972.

Pictured, below, are four of the most–coveted items in my collection: the large scrapbooks I put together during the Blue Jays playoff and World Series runs in 1992 and 1993. As you can see, these heavy, cardboard–bound items (with thick–stock paper) were large enough to hold full broadsheet pages, such as those in the Toronto Star. They had to be ordered from Coles, the bookstore chain that eventually became Chapter’s/Indigo. Given that I covered all playoff rounds on radio for The FAN–590, I was able to collect out–of–town newspapers while traveling to Oakland and Atlanta (1992); Chicago and Philadelphia (1993). They, too, are preserved in these scrapbooks.

THE ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER PAGES IN THESE SCRAPBOOKS ARE FROM THE TORONTO STAR, TORONTO SUN, GLOBE AND MAIL, USA TODAY, OAKLAND TRIBUNE, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, ATLANTA JOURNAL–CONSTITUTION, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, CHICAGO SUN TIMES AND PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. I DOUBT YOU’LL FIND SUCH A COLLECTION ELSEWHERE. 

 
ORIGINAL FRONT PAGES OF THE TORONTO STAR THE MORNING AFTER THE 1992 (LEFT) AND 1993 WORLD SERIES TRIUMPHS. THE TICKET–STUB ON THE ’93 PAGE WAS COURTESY MY LATE FATHER, IRV, WHO ATTENDED THE “TOUCH ‘EM ALL!” GAME WITH HIS ACCOUNTING COLLEAGUES.

THE CO–BIGGEST HIT IN BLUE JAYS HISTORY CAME OFF THE BAT OF ROBERTO ALOMAR (ABOVE), A HOME RUN TO RIGHT FIELD AT THE OAKLAND COLISEUM OFF DENNIS ECKERSLY THAT TIED GAME 4 OF THE 1992 ALCS. JAYS HAD TRAILED, 6–1, BUT PREVAILED IN EXTRA INNINGS. IT WAS EASILY THE TURNING POINT OF THE SERIES… AND CLUB HISTORY. FRONT PAGE IN SAN FRANCISCO, BELOW.

 
FRONT PAGES (ABOVE) OF THE TORONTO STAR AND TORONTO SUN THE MORNING AFTER THE BLUE JAYS ELIMINATED OAKLAND IN GAME 6 TO WIN THEIR FIRST AMERICAN LEAGUE PENNANT.

 
THE INFAMOUS “FLAG FLAP” IN ATLANTA PRIOR TO GAME 1 OF THE 1992 WORLD SERIES (GLOBE AND MAIL, TOP–LEFT) WHEN THE CANADIAN FLAG WAS DISPLAYED UPSIDE DOWN BY THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS COLOR GUARD.  AND THE FRONT OF THE TORONTO STAR SPORTS SECTION THE DAY AFTER ED SPRAGUE HAD THE “OTHER” BIGGEST HIT IN BLUE JAYS HISTORY — A PINCH–HIT, TWO–RUN HOMER OFF ACE RELIEVER JEFF REARDON IN THE TOP OF THE NINTH THAT PROVIDED THE VISITORS A 5–4 VICTORY IN GAME 2. HAD THE BLUE JAYS LOST BOTH OPENING MATCHES AT OLD FULTON–COUNTY STADIUM, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE UPENDED THE BRAVES.

 
WITH A 3–1 LEAD IN THE WORLD SERIES, TORONTO COULD HAVE WON ITS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP (OCT. 22, 1992) ON HOME TURF. BUT, IT WAS NOT TO BE AS JACK MORRIS FAILED TO DELIVER. LONNIE SMITH’S GRAND SLAM SEALED A 7–2 ATLANTA ROMP AND SENT EVERYONE BACK SOUTH.

ORIGINAL COVER (ABOVE) OF THE OCT. 25, 1992 TORONTO SUN, HOURS AFTER THE BLUE JAYS DEFEATED THE ATLANTA BRAVES AND BECAME THE FIRST TEAM FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES. BELOW (LEFT): FRONT PAGE OF THE TORONTO STAR SPORTS SECTION. AND, FRONT COVER OF THE ATLANTA JOURNAL/CONSTITUTION.

 
AND, THE GOALTENDING LIST CONTINUES TO GROW…

Cayden Primeau, on Tuesday night, became the 81st man to tend goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs since the club’s last Stanley Cup triumph (May 2, 1967). Here is the chronological order, beginning on Oct. 14, 1967. How many names do you recall?

JOHNNY BOWER, BRUCE GAMBLE, AL SMITH, MARV EDWARDS, GERRY McNAMARA, JACQUES PLANTE, BERNIE PARENT, MURRAY McLACHLAN, GORD McRAE, RON LOW, DOUG FAVELL, DUNC WILSON, EDDIE JOHNSTON, PIERRE HAMEL, WAYNE THOMAS,  MIKE PALMATEER, PAUL HARRISON, JIRI CRHA, CURT RIDLEY, VINCENT TREMBLAY, JIM RUTHERFORD, MICHEL (BUNNY) LAROCQUE, BOB PARENT, RICK ST. CROIX, ALLAN BESTER, KEN WREGGET, BRUCE DOWIE, TIM BERNHARDT, DON EDWARDS, JEFF REESE, MARK LaFOREST, PETER ING, DAMIAN RHODES, GRANT FUHR, FELIX POTVIN, RICK WAMSLEY, DARREN PUPPA, DON BEAUPRE, MARCEL COUSINEAU, GLENN HEALY, CURTIS JOSEPH, COREY SCHWAB,

YES, CUJO IS STARTING TO AGE. BUT, HE’STILL THE BEST LEAFS GOALIE OF THE POST–1967 ERA.

TOM BARRASSO, SEBASTIEN CENTOMO, ED BELFOUR, MIKAEL TELLQVIST, TREVOR KIDD, JEAN-SEBASTIAN AUBIN, ANDREW RAYCROFT, SCOTT CLEMMENSEN, VESA TOSKALA, MARTIN GERBER, JUSTIN POGGE, JEAN-SEBASTIEN GIGUERE, JONAS GUSTAVSSON, JOEY MacDONALD, JAMES REIMER, BEN SCRIVENS, JUSSI RYNNAS, JONATHAN BERNIER, DREW MacINTYRE, GARRET SPARKS, FREDERIK ANDERSEN, JHONAS ENROTH, ANTOINE BIBEAU, CURTIS McELHINNEY, CALVIN PICKARD, MICHAEL HUTCHINSON, KASIMIR KASKISUO, JACK CAMPBELL, DAVID RITTICH, PETER MRAZEK, JOSEPH WOLL, ERIK KALLGREN, MATT MURRAY, ILYA SAMSONOV, JETT ALEXANDER, MARTIN JONES, ANTHONY STOLARZ, DENNIS HILDEBY, CAYDEN PRIMEAU.

EMAIL: HOWARDLBERGER@GMAIL.COM