“Touch ’Em All, Joe”: The Toronto Blue Jays Finally Honour Clarence Edwin (Cito) Gaston, Joe Carter, and his Championship Teammates after a 33-Year Delay
Sometimes a nation honours a historic, earth-shattering achievement right away, and sometimes it takes thirty-three years for the front office to catch up to the fans.
Canadians have always loved Joe Carter and his legendary teammates, keeping the flame of those historic back-to-back victories burning bright across three decades. It is the Toronto Blue Jays organization that was notoriously slow to deliver the official, permanent honour these men so richly earned.
They have finally brought the 1992 and 1993 World Series Champions back to the forefront of a deeply proud, nostalgic nation. Long before the Toronto Raptors unified the country under the “We the North” banner, these iconic baseball teams made Canadians from coast, to coast, to coast beam with unyielding pride. But a definitive question remained for a hesitant management: how do you properly honour a roster that gave so much foundational glory to a city and an entire country?
The Toronto Blue Jays organization, led by Team President Mark Shapiro, answered that question July 18th, 2026 by unveiling a monumental, permanent tribute. The ceremony brought together transcendent team legends including Joe Carter, trailblazing manager Cito Gaston, and Sportsnet’s esteemed broadcaster Hazel Mae. Standing at an imposing 15 feet tall and weighing 6,200 pounds, the massive bronze portrait of Joe Carter perfectly captures the exuberant, gravity-defying leaps heard around the sporting world. It immortalizes the exact micro-moment Carter smashed the historic walk-off home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series to seal the championship. Set upon a premium black granite base, the sculpture also permanently records the iconic televised words of the late Blue Jays announcer Thomas Cheek: “Touch ’em all, Joe! You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!”
On the field during the emotional celebrations, many of Joe’s former teammates—now in their 50s, 60s, and 70s—looked on with deep reverence. They watched as Carter took the microphone to salute a team, an organization, a city, and a nation that backed them completely in their era of brilliance. Our hearts were full as the current superstar face of the franchise, Dominican-Canadian Vladimir (Vladdy) Guerrero Jr., arrived to bridge the generational divide. Vladdy brought out an original “Barrio Jacket”—the team’s contemporary symbol of deep cultural pride, diaspora excellence, and athletic brotherhood—to bestow upon the legend himself.
The garment, which was already absolute fire, was elevated to a completely different echelon of luxury by a stunning, custom piece of textile engineering. Emblazoned across the back in brilliant, red-trimmed gold cursive typography were those same unforgettable words: “Touch ’em all, Joe.” Yes, he certainly did.