TORONTO – Before Joe Carter touched them all after his swing secured a second straight World Series title, a moment now immortalized with a statue outside Rogers Centre, general manager Pat Gillick tore up his championship roster.

Gone from the 1992 team that finally pushed the franchise to the pinnacle were Dave Winfield, Jimmy Key, David Cone, Tom Henke, David Wells, Candy Maldonado, Kelly Gruber and Manny Lee, among others. Replacing them were Paul Molitor, Dave Stewart, Darrin Jackson, Darnell Coles, Dick Schofield, Danny Cox and Tony Castillo, with Pat Hentgen, John Olerud and Ed Sprague growing into major roles.

The amount of turnover left Gillick uncertain heading into the 1993 season. As the legacy of those championships was feted with Saturday’s monument unveiling, the Hall of Fame executive said, “I had my fingers crossed on the second team.”

“In '92, I thought we had a really good team. In ’93, because we had let so many players go after the '92 season, I had my doubts that we'd get back,” he said from a suite overlooking the action as the Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0. “So it was not a surprise, but it was a feeling that we were kind of lucky in '93 because the number of players that we did lose. Key was gone, Henke was gone. Cone was gone. That's two-thirds of your starting staff (and a closer). You've got to replace them, so you're always apprehensive (about whether) you're able to do that.”

He did, of course, and Gillick’s manager, Cito Gaston, believes the 1993 team might have been even better than the one before it. Either way, the Blue Jays became the first back-to-back champions since the 1977-78 Yankees, and the challenge they faced in repeating then is akin to the one before the 2026 group, which is seeking a return engagement in the World Series and the one extra win they lacked a year ago. 

At 46-52 in a frustrating season marred by injury and underperformance, the difficulty of what the team did then isn’t lost on the team now.

“To win one World Series, it’s very hard. Super hard,”........

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