Former Blue Jays Reliever Duane Ward Dies Suddenly Amid Team Reunion

 

Former MLB relief pitcher Duane Ward, who played nearly his entire career with the Toronto Blue Jays died suddenly amid a team reunion in Toronto this weekend. He was 62.

A native of New Mexico, Ward is only one of 35 players from the Land of Enchantment to play in MLB. In 1982, the Atlanta Braves selected Ward as their number one draft pick and was the ninth pick in the nation overall.

Ward would reach the big leagues with the Braves in 1986 on the Opening Day roster. However, by July, the Braves would ship Ward to Toronto in exchange for veteran starting pitcher Doyle Alexander. A little over a year later, the Braves would trade Alexander to the Detroit Tigers for another pitching prospect - future Hall of Famer John Smoltz.

As for Ward, he did not establish himself as a big-league pitcher until the 1988 season when he became Tom Henke's setup man out of the bullpen. Yet Ward would get opportunity to close out games and would reach double digits in saves each of the next five seasons including in 1992 when the Jays won their first World Series title against Ward's old franchise, the Atlanta Braves.

Ward's best big-league season came in 1993 when he became the team's closer after Henke signed a free agent contract with the Texas Rangers. That season Ward would save a club record 45 games earning his lone AL All-Star Team selection and a second consecutive World Series title during which he saved 2 games against the Philadelphia Phillies. To this day, no other Blue Jays pitcher has ever recorded 40 saves in a season.

Unfortunately, Ward sustained biceps tendinitis which forced him to miss all of the 1994 season. When Ward returned in the 1995 season, it was clear that he just didn't have his stuff anymore and after only four games never pitched again at the big-league level. In 9 MLB seasons, Ward made 462 appearances (all but two games in relief) and went 32-37 with a 3.26 ERA along with 121 saves. Those 121 saves remain second in franchise history only to Henke who recorded 217 in his eight seasons in a Blue Jays uniform.

After his playing career ended, Ward occasionally worked as a color commentator for the Blue Jays on both TV and radio and was involved with the team organizing baseball camps across Canada. In 2020, Ward was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame with his Blue Jays' teammate John Olerud and Minnesota Twins great Justin Morneau.

The Blue Jays held a moment of silence in honor of Ward prior to this afternoon's game against the Chicago White Sox in the presence of his former teammates who will sadly never see him again. R.I.P.