1992 World Series Teams
Our decade-by-decade look back at the World Series teams from years ending in 2 continues with 1992! This was the first of two consecutive years that the Blue Jays would win the World Series - although fans watching IN 1992 would have no way of knowing that fact. This time they beat the Atlanta Braves in an exciting six-game affair. Here’s what the victorious roster looked like, color-coded by Fantasy Astrology Sign:
This method doesn’t really work with the way I’ve arranged the images, but I thought I’d talk about the similarities between the two World Series contenders, rathern than just going down the batting order / pitching rotation. First of all, each team had a Capricorn center fielder leading off: Toronto had Gold Glove winner Devon White, with Atlanta featuring Otis Nixon. They also each had a Pisces outfielder batting third in the order: Joe Carter in right field (and DH) for the Blue Jays, and Ron Gant in left field (and center field) for the Braves. Toronto kept the Fish party going with third baseman Jeff Kent, who was traded to the Mets partway through this, his rookie season, in exchange for another Capricorn, starting pitcher David Cone. Both teams also had Leo first basemen, although while John Olerud made the Lions starting lineup (behind his future Blue Jays teammate Paul Molitor on the depth chart), Sid Bream would have to settle for a minor league contract.
Both the Blue Jays and the Braves also had a Taurus pitcher lead the team in innings pitched: Jack Morris and John Smoltz, respectively. But this is part of a bigger story, as Toronto feaured a whopping FOUR key Taurus contributors on their roster. Other Bulls pitchers include their number two in innings pitched, Jimmy Key, and utility/swing pitcher David Wells, who notched 14 starts to go with 27 relief appearances. As it happens, these pitchers threw to a catcher who shared their sign: Pat Borders, who also won the World Series MVP award on the back of a .450 batting average.
Toronto’s top batter was Aquarius second baseman Roberto Alomar, who won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards in the American League. Alomar was one of three Silver Sluggers on the Blue Jays, joining Joe Carter and Libra DH/right fielder Dave Winfield. Toronto’s top starter, in terms of fantasy points, was Scorpio Juan Guzman, although he finished third in innings, behind Morris and Key. The Blue Jays utilized co-closers in 1992, with Sagittarius Tom Henke splitting save opportunities with Gemini Duane Ward. Rounding out the key Fantasy Astrology contributors, we have Virgo outfielder Candy Maldonado, and shortstop Manuel Lee, the top Gemini who actually qualified for the position, although I cheated Keith Miller there in my “official” lineups.
Sticking with the theme of similarities between the two World Series contenders, Atlanta had four Aries players, to go with the four Tauruses on Toronto. Tops among them in terms of fantasy points was lefty Tom Glavine, a co-ace of sorts with Taurus John Smoltz. Another Aries lefty, Steve Avery, battled with Libra Charlie Leibrandt for the Braves’ SP3 slot, while Marvin Freeman served as middle relief depth in a very weak Rams bullpen. On the offensive side, cleanup hitter David Justice also represented Aries, although he was just third on the team in terms of fantasy points.
Atlanta’s offensive points leader was third baseman Terry Pendleton, a Cancer Crab who won the NL Gold Glove at the hot corner. His sign-mate Alejandro Pena got most of the save opportunities for a weak Braves bullpen, whose top scorer – Gemini lefty Mike Stanton – didn’t even crack 750 fantasy points. Only two other Braves players played key roles for their Fantasy Astrology signs in 1992: Deion Sanders had the best points-per-game average of Leo outfielders not named Barry Bonds, but his low full season points total kept him out of my “official” lineups. And Scorpio middle infielder Jeff Blauser bested Jose Offerman’s points-per-game total by 1.2 points, but found himself on the bench because of a deficit of 55 points in his full-season totals.