SERIES #8 - (8) 1993 BLUE JAYS v (9) 1974 ATHLETICS

Two World Series champions square off in our next matchup as the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays take on the 1974 Oakland A's.  This is one of three entries from the Oakland franchise, along with their 1988 and 2002 teams.  For Toronto, this their lone entry in the competition.  It's a battle between the #8 and #9 seeds so it should be a good one.  Let's see how the teams stack up.

1993 Toronto Blue Jays
If you were asked to remember one moment from Toronto Blue Jays history, the moment most of us would remember is Joe Carter's walk-off home run blast off Mitch Williams to give the Jays their second consecutive Fall Classic crown.  Carter's shot was only the second Series-ending home run in baseball history.  Toronto became the first team to win back-to-back World Series crowns since the 1977-78 New York Yankess.

The Blue Jays went 95-67 in 1993, the best record in the American League.   The team was led by a potent offense that featured the top-three finishers in the batting race in John Olerud, Robbie Alomar and Paul Molitor.  Joe Carter added the pop to the lineup, finishing with 33 HRs and 121 RBI.  Molitor actually finished 2nd in the MVP voting, Olerud 3rd.  The team led the league in slugging and stolen bases, was second in runs scored and batting average, and ranked third in on-base percentage and OPS.  The Jays were only shutout once during the entire 162-game regular season.

Pitching was not this team's strong suit, as they finished the season 5th from the bottom of the American League in runs allowed.  The team was led by young All-Star Pat Hentgen, who went 19-9 with a 3.87 ERA.  A solid bullpen though, led by Duane Ward, Danny Cox and Mark Eichhorn, allowed the team to close out games late.

1974 Oakland Athletics
Probably the last true dynasty, if you will, in professional baseball, the Oakland A's of the early 1970's won four straight American League West titles and went to three consecutive World Series from 1972-1974, winning them all.  The 1974 team went 90-72 in the regular season before dispatching the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS three games to one.  They then defeated the Los Angelas Dodgers in the Fall Classic 4-1 in the first World Series played entirely on the West Coast.

Some individual stats from the 1974 A's are worth noting. Catfish Hunter, in his final season with the A's, won the Cy Young award for his 25-12 record and 2.49 earned run average, pitching 318 innings with 23 complete games, including six shutouts. Gene Tenace, despite a .211 batting average, had a .367 on-base percentage. Bill North stole 54 bases. Sal Bando drove in 103 runs. And Reggie Jackson had one of his best seasons with 29 homers, 25 steals, and a .391 on-base percentage.  In the MVP voting that year, Joe Rudi, Bando and Jackson finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, splitting the A's vote and allowing Jeff Burroughs to take home the honor.


PREDICTION
This series promises to be a close, hotly contested battle.  The seedings would indicate that.  Neither team had spectacular regular season records, Toronto finishing with 95 wins, Oakland with "just" 90.  But both of these teams were known for their strong postseason play.  The pitching will definitely favor Oakland, as they led the American League in ERA in 1974.  Toronto, of course, had an offense to be reckoned with.  I could see this series going either way, but in the end I'll predict the A's come out on top.  Pitching usually rules the day in the postseason, and in this spot it's no contest.  The top three Oakland starters in Hunter, Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman, are all better than Toronto's best.  ATHLETICS 3-1

GAME 1
Stadium: Alameda/Network Assoc Coliseum
Game Time: 8:05 PM
Weather: 81 degrees, clear
Wind: 16 mph out

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Toronto 1993 (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	4	0
Oakland 1974 (1-0)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	X		2	6	1
	W: C. Hunter (1-0)   L: P. Hentgen (0-1)

HR: R. Jackson (1, 8th inning off P. Hentgen 0 on, 2 out)

A pitching duel to open up the series as Oakland's Catfish Hunter and Toronto's Pat Hentgen held the teams scoreless through five innings.  The A's mounted a rally in the 6th when Sal Bando singled to open the inning and was moved to third on a double by Reggie Jackson.  Joe Rudi lifted a sac fly to center to plate Bando, and that's all the runs Oakland would need in this one.  Jackson belted a long homer in the 8th for insurance.  Hunter went the distance, scattering four hits.


GAME 2
Stadium: Alameda/Network Assoc Coliseum
Game Time: 8:05 PM
Weather: 79 degrees, clear
Wind: 18 mph left to right

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Toronto 1993 (1-1)	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	1		5	11	0
Oakland 1974 (1-1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		1	6	0
	W: J. Guzman (1-0)   L: V. Blue (0-1) SV: T. Castillo (1)

HR: R. Henderson (1, 3rd inning off V. Blue 0 on, 0 out), J. Carter (1, 5th inning off V. Blue 1 on, 0 out)

Toronto evens the series up in game two behind the strong pitching performances of starter Juan Guzman and reliever Tony Castillo.  Guzman went 5.1 innings, allowing just five hits and one earned run.  Castillo closed out the game, pitching the final 2.2 innings while allowing just one hit.  Ricky Henderson and Joe Carter both went deep off of A's starter Vida Blue.  The series now heads North all even at one game apiece.

GAME 3
Stadium: Skydome
Game Time: 8:05 PM
Weather: 60 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: calm

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13		R	H	E
Oakland 1974 (2-1)	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1		5	13	1
Toronto 1993 (1-2)	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0		4	13	2
	W: D. Knowles (1-0)   L: D. Cox (0-1) SV: D. Hamilton (1)

A back-and-forth affair in game three.  Toronto jumped out early with a run in the 1st.  Oakland came back with two in the 3rd and another in the 4th to go up 3-1.  A's starter Ken Holtzman was forced to leave the game in the 3rd with an injury, turning the ballgame over early to the bullpen.  Blue Moon Odom allowed a Jays run in the 4th cut the lead to one.  Oakland plated another in the 7th, but Toronto came back with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game up a four apiece.

Both bullpens were now fully entrenched in the contest.  Duane Ward pitched three scoreless innings in relief, striking out seven batters.  The game headed into extra frames with no scoring coming from either side.  Finally, the A's broke through with a run in the 13th off of Danny Cox to go up 5-4.  After the first two batters reached base off of Darold Knowles in the bottom of the 13th,  Oakland turned to Dave Hamilton, their seventh pitcher of the day, to close it out.  He did just that, getting Devon White to hit into a fielder's choice, then ending the game when Roberto Alomar grounded into a double play.

Both teams combined to leave 30 runners on base.  They also combined for nine stolen bases as both teams were trying to manufacture runs throughout.  Oakland now takes a 2-1 series advantage, putting the Jays one game away from elimination.

GAME 4
Stadium: Skydome
Game Time: 8:05 PM
Weather: 64 degrees, closed roof
Wind: calm

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Oakland 1974 (2-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	5	1
Toronto 1993 (2-2)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X		1	5	0
	W: J. Morris (1-0)   L: C. Hunter (1-1) SV: D. Cox (1)

Facing elimination, Toronto turned to one of the best big-game pitchers of all-time in Jack Morris.  The veteran right-hander was up to the task, out-dueling Hall-of-Famer Catfish Hunter by pitching seven full innings without allowing a run.  Hunter, for his part, was exceptional as well.  He went the distance, allowing only five hits and a single run.  The Blue Jays bullpen closed the game out, pitching the final two innings while only allowing a single hit.  A day after stranding 30 runners, the two teams could only combine for 12 baserunners the entire game.  Series heads to a fifth and deciding game.


GAME 5
Stadium: Skydome
Game Time: 8:05 PM
Weather: 68 degrees, closed roof
Wind: calm

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		R	H	E
Oakland 1974 (2-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	1	0
Toronto 1993 (3-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4		4	8	0
	W: D. Ward (1-0)   L: R. Fingers (0-1)

HR: J. Carter (2, 11th inning off P. Lindblad 3 on, 2 out)

In a game that can only be described as an instant classic, the Toronto Blue Jays win in a way that should seem overly familiar to them.  With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning, up to the plate stepped Joe Carter.  A hanging slider by lefty reliever Paul Linblad later, and the Blue Jays are advancing into the second round of the tournament.  Carter's walkoff grand slam blast measured 501 feet and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

Overshadowed by the late game heroics by Carter was the performance of the Toronto pitching staff.  For the second consecutive game, the Jays shutout the A's, this time through 11 innings of play.  Oakland could only manage a single hit in the contest as starter Pat Hentgen was brilliant.  He was the hard luck loser in the series opener 2-0.  Duane Ward came in and closed out the final 2.1 innings for the victory.  The A's were only able to push a single run across the plate in their final 26 innings of play.  Toronto advances in the most dramatic of fashion.

SERIES RECAP
What a series this one turned out to be.  The seeding of the two teams promised that the games would be close, but nobody could have predicted this outcome.  Surprisingly, pitching ruled the day.  Toronto's staff compiled a 1.44 ERA and only allowed Oakland batters to hit .181 in the series.  Pat Hentgen tossed two gems, including his one-hit performance in the finale.  Jack Morris also held the A's scoreless in his outing.  The bullpen tossed 12.1 innings and only allowed one run.  The Jays were known for their hitting prowess, but it was their pitching that got them into the 2md round.

Several players could take home the MVP honors.  Obviously Hentgen makes a case, allowing only two runs in 16.2 innings of work.  Morris kept the Jays alive with his performance in game four.  Duane Ward pitched 5.1 innings without giving up a single run while striking out eight.  Roberto Alomar went 11-21 and stole two bases. But in the end, how can you not go with Joe Carter?  He hit two homers in the series, with the last one obviously one of the biggest ever.  He had eight of the team's 13 RBI.  Despite the other worthy candidates, Carter gets the nod.

Toronto will have their hands full in the next round as they take on the winner of the #1 seeded 1939 New York Yankees and the #16 seed 2008 LA Angels