TORONTO — More than three decades after hitting the biggest home run in Blue Jays history, Joe Carter is still feeling the love from Toronto.
Carter threw the first pitch to star player Bo Bichette before Game 2 of the World Series when the Blue Jays hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. Carter received a standing ovation from the packed Rogers Center, especially after donning Toronto's home run jacket and jogging around the home bench.
“I've had emotions for 32 years. I come back here so often,” said Carter, who famously hit a three-run homer to win the 1993 World Series. “I get it everywhere I go here in Toronto, which is great. They just appreciate what I've done.”
“I didn't do it myself. I just happened to be in this situation because I was next in line.”
Carter played for the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993 when they won back-to-back World Series titles. The five-time All-Star finished his career with a .259 batting average, 396 home runs and 1,445 runs batted in over 16 years in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto, Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants.
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However, he knows he is best remembered for his game-clinching home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series.
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“It's going to be a rowdy crowd. It's going to be loud,” Carter said at a pregame news conference about an hour before tipoff. “I wish I could go back and be (St. Louis Cardinals acrobatic player) Ozzie Smith right now because I said I kind of run out there and do a spinning backflip, you know, a tuck.
“But at 65, no, it will be a walk. But it will be fun.”
Carter was also at Rogers Center for Toronto's 11-4 Game 1 win over Los Angeles on Friday. After the game, Carter joined Blue Jays manager John Schneider and his staff in the Toronto club's trainer's room.
Schneider said it was a pleasure to pick the brains of Carter and former Toronto coach Cito Gaston, who threw out the first pitch before the first game.
“First of all, you forget how big these guys are, like they're physically there,” Schneider said. “I think that swing is obviously the most recognizable in our franchise.
“So having him be a part of this is just as great as having Sito here yesterday, being able to spend a few minutes with him and exchange some thoughts.”
Carter said there are many similarities between Toronto's championship teams of the early 1990s and this year's club.
“One thing we had in '92 and '93 was the cohesion of the team playing together. Even though we had great players, everyone supported each other,” Carter said. “We had great chemistry in the clubhouse, on the pitch, and every day there was someone different. It wasn't just one guy to focus on.”
“The thing about the 2025 Blue Jays team is you have one through nine and everyone gets through.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
