If you're old enough to remember October 23, 1993, you know exactly where you were when Joe Carter sent that pitch into the left field seats at SkyDome.
"Touch 'em all, Joe! You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!"
The Toronto Blue Jays announced that Carter will receive the franchise's first-ever player statue outside Rogers Centre on July 18th. Let me repeat that - the FIRST player statue in Blue Jays history. And who better than the man who delivered one of the most iconic moments in baseball history?
Carter's walk-off, three-run homer off Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series didn't just win a championship. It ended the Series on a walk-off homer for just the second time ever, and it capped back-to-back titles for the Blue Jays.
This wasn't just a home run. This was a moment that transcended baseball. Kids in Canada grew up imitating that swing. That leap. That pure joy as Carter rounded the bases with his arm raised.
The statue unveiling on July 18th will be a celebration not just of Carter's career - five All-Star selections, 396 career home runs - but of what he represents to an entire generation of Blue Jays fans. He's the symbol of Toronto baseball at its absolute peak.
Thirty-three years later, that home run still gives you goosebumps. Now it'll be immortalized in bronze for generations to come.
That's what sports is all about, folks.
