TORONTO -- Duane Ward, one of the greatest relievers in Blue Jays history and a two-time World Series champion, has died. He was 62.
Ward was in Toronto this week for the Blue Jays’ celebrations to honor those 1992-93 teams, which included Saturday’s unveiling of the Back-to-Back World Series Statue. Ward was noticeably absent from the ceremonies themselves, though, and the Blue Jays announced early Sunday that he passed away in Toronto from natural causes.
“For the entire Blue Jays family, it’s hard," manager John Schneider said after Sunday's 3-0 loss to the White Sox at Rogers Centre. "Player aside and what he accomplished here, you feel for his family and the people around him. Life is hard sometimes. It definitely puts baseball into perspective. Wardo was always the funniest guy in the room and having the most fun, and that rubbed off on everyone. I’m thankful that I got to spend some time with him. He’s one of the great Blue Jays."
So many Blue Jays alumni spoke of Ward on Saturday, all of them still so grateful for the one-two punch that Ward and Tom Henke formed at the back of the bullpen in 1992, before Henke moved on the following season and Ward took over as the full-time closer. Cito Gaston, the legendary manager, has always joked about how easy his job became when those late innings rolled around.
“The 1992 team, we had just about everything going for us. We only played seven-inning ballgames,” Gaston said, “because we had Ward come in, then David Wells or Tom Henke.”
These past few days had been a portal back to the good old days for so many of these players, alumni and executives. From role players to superstars and even the great GM, Hall of Famer Pat Gillick, they all spoke about how much it meant to be back together one more time. Baseball was rarely the topic of conversation, they all said, just a bunch of old friends catching up.
Ward was a beloved teammate in his playing days and beyond. Over the years, he’d expressed that same feeling, and had been photographed with teammates in Toronto in the days leading up to his death.
“It was one family,” Ward said in a 2020 interview with MLB.com. “We would fight for one another and we would fight against each other. When it came game time, it was all for one and one for all.”
What a pitcher. The Blue Jays acquired Ward in a 1986 trade for Doyle Alexander, and once he established himself in the big leagues in ‘88, he and Henke formed a duo that would fit so well in the modern game. They were ahead of their time, two hard-throwing relievers who could take the ball every single day. It was like having two copies of Louis Varland to cover the seventh, eighth and ninth each night.
“Me and Tom got along great. We didn’t have any animosity towards each other, none of that at all,” Ward said in 2020. “I always joked that I couldn’t stand him, he couldn’t stand me, but we were -- it’s a corny phrase -- but two peas in a pod.”
When Henke departed the Blue Jays following the 1992 World Series win, Ward stepped into the closer role as his own after five seasons straight of double-digit saves and 100-plus games behind Henke. In ‘93, he gave the Blue Jays one of the finest relief seasons we’ve ever seen in this city, posting a 2.13 ERA with 97 strikeouts over 71 2/3 innings.
Ward’s 45 saves that season still stand as the single-season franchise record. For over three decades now, Blue Jays closers have been chasing Ward, but no other has even touched 40.
Ward’s legacy feels so permanent in this city, one of the giants of this organization. Just as hitters all chase down the records of Carlos Delgado or starters chase down Dave Stieb and Roy Halladay, everyone who runs out of the Blue Jays’ bullpen is chasing down Henke and Ward.