Duane Ward Traded His Blues for...Other Blues
The move was for the birds, though the Braves made it work, too
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1986 Fleer Update Duane Ward (#U-125) - Card of the Day
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For a Hall of Famer, Duane Ward has been about as quiet as a guy can get. I mean, it’s probably been quite a while since you gave him much thought, right?
And that’s understandable, considering it’s been nearly 30 years since he threw his last major league pitch and almost 32 since he threw one that really mattered.
But, man, for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there weren’t many pitchers in baseball who mattered more to their teams than Ward did to the Toronto Blue Jays. Even so, his diamond life was supposed to unfold in a completely different manner.
After drafting him with the ninth overall pick out of Farmington High School in New Mexico in 1982, the Atlanta Braves were set on grooming Ward as a starter. They stuck with that plan for about four seasons, too, and Ward made steady progress through the Atlanta system.
He also flashed his impressive 95-mile-per-hour fastball on a regular basis.
Even as he climbed the minor league rungs, though, Ward’s results didn’t turn a lot of heads: his best full-season record was 11-10 at Double A in 1985, and he never posted an ERA below 4.20 at any one stop.
Control seemed to be at least part of the issue, as Ward racked up more walks than strikeouts in the upper reaches of the minors. By the end of the 1985 season, he had also spent time in an unfamiliar role, though at a higher elevation — specifically, relieving in four games for Triple-A Richmond, posting an 11.81 ERA for Atlanta’s top farm team.
But also by the end of 1985, the Braves looked like they might be developing into a 100-loss team, so it wasn’t all that surprising when Ward showed up on the big league roster the next spring. He made his debut on April 12, 1986, pitching a scoreless eighth inning in a loss against Houston in the Astrodome.
Ward would go on to make ten total appearances for the Braves through early June, all in relief. In 16 innings of work, he struck out eight and walked eight, while allowing 13 earned runs for a bloated 7.31 ERA.
The silver lining to that run was that Ward didn’t even turn 22 years old until the end of it. He was still young, even by prospect standards, and had time to build on a shaky start.
As it turned out, he’d get the chance to do just that…but not in Atlanta.
Because, while the Braves were trying to stay out of the National League West cellar, the Toronto Blue Jays were struggling to stay in the race for the American League East title, which they had won for the first time ever in 1985. Their starting pitching, in particular, had slipped from a decided strength the year before to something like league average in 1986.
And so, on July 6, the Jays shipped veteran Doyle Alexander to the Braves in exchange for Ward. That trade of course had long legs for the Braves, helping them to become a quasi-dynasty in the 1990s.
Before John Smoltz ever thought about leaving Michigan, though, Duane Ward went about settling in with Toronto. The right-hander spent most of the rest of the summer with Triple-A Syracuse, then made his Blue Jays debut in late September, tossing two innings of 13.50-ERA ball.
Yikes.
That fall, apparently impressed with his minor league showing and brief toe-dips into the big league waters, Fleer cleared space for him in their 1986 Update set. That’s the card you see above, where Ward sports a Braves uniform for the only time in a major set.
(That card also gives you a pretty decent glimpse into the timeline of showing a player with the “right” team on a card back then: Ward was in Atlanta in April and May, in the minors in June, and traded to the Blue Jays in early July.)
Back on the diamond, Toronto gave the 23-year-old a three-game April 1987 look before sending him back to Syracuse for the summer. Making 43 relief appearances and three starts, Ward was finally able to put together a solid full-season line that included a meager 2-2 record, but with a 3.89 ERA and 14 saves.
That earned him a trip back to Toronto in September. And, though he posted a 6.94 ERA in 11.2 innings across 12 appearances, it was enough.
Ward was done with the minors and opened 1988 as a member of the Toronto bullpen, mostly setting up for closer Tom Henke. Overall, Ward went 9-3 with a 3.30 ERA and 15 saves of his own.
Over the next four seasons, Ward would establish himself as one of the best non-closing relievers in the game, though he continued to pick up the occasional high-leverage appearance. He chipped in 114.2 innings and 15 saves, posting a 3.77 ERA, when the Jays won the division in 1989 and was a full run better (with 23 saves) when they topped the East again in 1991.
Then, in 1992, Ward went 7-4 with a sparkling 1.95 ERA with 12 saves, then pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in the World Series as the Jays took their first title. When Henke departed as a free agent after the season, manager Cito Gaston already knew who he’d turn to for ninth-inning duty in 1993.
That summer, as the newly-minted Jays’ closer, Ward went 2-3 with a 2.13 ERA and tied for the American League lead in both games finished (70) and saves (45). He followed up with two saves in each the American League Championship Series and the World Series.
Ward also got the win in the deciding Game 6, thanks to Joe Carter’s heroics.
At just 29 years of age, it looked like Ward was ready to settle in for a long and productive run as a major league closer, but his arm had other ideas.
Sidelined by biceps tendinitis and a torn rotator cuff, Ward missed all of 1994 (as opposed to just missing the last two months like every other player, thanks to The Strike).
The righty spent that year and the spring of 1995 rehabbing his wing, and he made it back to Toronto for four appearances in May and June. But after giving up ten runs in 2.2 innings over four appearances, Ward was done with the Jays.
He signed as a free agent with the Cubs the following offseason and spent at least some of 1996 trying to gain traction in the Chicago minor league system. But a 10.29 ERA in eight appearances at two levels wasn’t traction enough, and Ward was done in pro ball at 32.
Well, as a player, anyway.
In retirement, Ward has continued to work with the Blue Jays: organizing charity events and baseball camps, serving as a youth instructor, and even spending time in the broadcast booth. And, in 2020, he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Not a bad run for a guy who started his big league career as a “setup man” for what many consider one of the most lopsided trades ever.
Roy Duane Ward was born on May 28, 1964.
He Lost It in B.J.’s Sun, Maybe?
The very last batter to face Ward in the majors was Brewers catcher B.J. Surhoff, who singled home Darryl Hamilton in the top of the seventh at the SkyDome on June 22, 1995. That put Milwaukee up 7-0 and brought Danny Cox in to relieve Ward.
You might remember Surhoff as part of the vaunted rookie card class of 1987. One of his RCs was the flashing yellow number you see above, part of the 100-card Classic Travel Update “Yellow” Series. Read all about that card and Surhoff’s other fairer cardboard fare right here.
The 1993 World Series…in Full VHS Glory!
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