On Wednesday night, I had an opportunity to be at one of the most memorable Blue Jays home games in recent years. Brett Lawrie connected for his first career hit at the Rogers Centre — a dramatic grand slam that gave Toronto the lead in the ballgame.
After the game, I was thinking if that home run had happened earlier this season, it would definitely have made our Connected Blue Jays Bracketology contest on sportsnet.ca, where we let fans vote on the greatest moments in regular season history.
And I also got to thinking: What other moments are worthy of making the list? So here is my rival Jays Bracketology contest with a few of the most memorable moments in Jays regular season history that were excluded from our original contest.
The Tom Henke Bracket (Best Moment For A White Guy In Glasses)
1. Dave Collins steals his 60th base in 1984
Honestly, how awesome is this? In his prime, Dave Collins looked like a slightly cooler version of Rick Moranis. And yet he still holds the club record for most steals in a season with 60.
2. Rance Mulliniks hits first inside-the-park home run at SkyDome in 1991
Mulliniks was the complete opposite of Dave Collins, in that he had absolutely no speed. He stole just 15 bases in a career that spanned 16 seasons — and this was during the era when base-running was en vogue in Major League Baseball. But despite his obvious lack of speed, Mulliniks managed to hit an inside-the-park home run at the age of 35, in his final full season in the bigs.
The Shea Hillenbrand Bracket (Best Insubordination Tactic)
1. Damaso Garcia burns his jersey in 1986
The wacky second baseman set his jersey ablaze inside the clubhouse at Exhibition Stadium back in 1986. He was traded shortly thereafter, officially giving birth to the term “fire sale” in Major League Baseball.
2. David Wells doesn’t give the ball back to Cito Gaston
When a pitcher is pulled from a game, baseball etiquette demands that he wait on the mound for the manager to come and officially take him out of the game. The pitcher hands the ball to the manager and solemnly walks to the dugout. But on this night in 1991, Wells refused to give the ball back to Cito Gaston, instead whipping it down the left field line in the most obvious show of on-field insubordination in club history. And I love it when two guys with moustaches get into a heated confrontation.
The Fred McGriff Crime Dog Bracket (Best Animal/Bug Related Moment)
1. Glenallen Hill is Spiderman
I’ve always been suspicious of bizarre injuries in sports; they often seem like a classic cover-up for more sinister behaviour. Case in point: Blue Jays outfielder Glenallen Hill, who claims he was having a nightmare about spiders in 1990 which caused him to crash into a glass table and suffer severe cuts and injuries. To his defence, this happened around the time when the movie ‘Arachnophobia’ came out. And it’s a known fact that most John Goodman movies do cause recurring nightmares.
2. Gnats invade SkyDome in 1990
When it first opened in 1989, the SkyDome was hailed as the best retractable-roof stadium in the world. Blue Jays games would never again be delayed by rain or snow. But in the second year of the facility, a game had to be postponed for 35 minutes because of an invasion of gnats that swarmed the entire field and nearly consumed Brewers starter Teddy Higuera. (Side note: As the Ottawa Senators beat reporter, I find it very difficult to make random Teddy Higuera references in my work.)
The Tim Johnson Bracket (Because I Promised To Dedicate A Bracket To Him And Going Back On My Word Would Be Very Hypocritical)
1. Tony Batista needlessly runs to the outfield wall
In 1999, Batista barely beat out an infield single in a home game against the Orioles. But instead of stopping just after first base, Batista inexplicably ran all the way to the outfield wall in right field, some 328 feet away. He then casually walked all the way back to first base. Thankfully, baseball games are in dire need of pointless breaks like this so nobody was too critical of his bizarre behaviour.
2. Joe Carter gives away Derek Bell’s Jeep
On Fan Appreciation Day in 1992, the Blue Jays announced they were giving away a vehicle to one lucky fan. To the utter shock of Derek Bell, he watched as his green Jeep truck was driven onto the field and announced as the vehicle that had been won by a fan. Bell figured out it was a prank when he realized it was Joe Carter driving the truck. No matter what anybody says about his home run in the ’93 World Series, this should be Carter’s legacy with the Blue Jays.
A moment that needs to be re-lived: