Duane Ward, relief hero of Blue Jays World Series champion teams, dies at 62

Duane Ward, who formed one of the most dominant late-inning bullpen combinations and was a crucial part of two Toronto Blue Jays World Series championship teams, died this weekend, the team announced. He was 62. Ward died of natural causes, the Blue Jays said, after arriving in Toronto on Friday, July 17 for a weekend celebration of the franchise's 1992-93 championship teams, a commemoration that included the unveiling of a statue of Joe Carter celebrating his Series-ending Game 6 home run in 1993, which stands 15 feet tall, weighs 6,200 pounds and will stand outside Rogers Centre's gates. Ward was the winning pitcher in that game, pitching a perfect top of the ninth against the Philadelphia Phillies and setting the stage for Carter's iconic home run off Mitch Williams, still the most recent World Series to end on a home run. Ward and closer Tom Henke comprised a dominant eighth- and ninth-inning duo that would be the envy of modern teams, their partnership culminating in a 1992 World Series title in which Ward was nearly untouchable against the Atlanta Braves, striking out six of 12 batters he faced while allowing one hit and one walk in four appearances. Henke saved 34 games that year and was poised to lock down Toronto's first championship, but after taking the torch from Ward in the ninth inning of Game 6, blew the save before Toronto rallied to win it in 11 innings. Henke then signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent, leaving the ninth inning to Ward. And he was up to the task, saving an American League-best 45 games and earning his only All-Star Game nod, finishing fifth in Cy Young Award voting. He pitched in eight more postseason games, saving four of Toronto's eight victories and winning the decisive Game 6. But the heavy workload – Ward pitched in a majors-high 81 games in 1991 – caught up with Ward. He suffered a torn rotator cuff and missed the entire strike-interrupted 1994 season. Ward made it back in 1995 but pitched in just four games. Ward was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020. He finished his career with 121 saves and 679 strikeouts in 666 ⅓ innings.