Former Blue Jays slugger Joe Carter is headed back to the greatest place he’s ever played baseball.

The five-time all star, who helped propel the Jays to back-to-back World Series wins in 1992-93, returns to Toronto next week for the 8th annual Joe Carter Classic charity golf tournament. The June 14 event brings together sports and entertainment personalities to raise money and awareness for the Children’s Aid Foundation.

“You want to go where you’re appreciated and I’m well aware that I’m appreciated in Canada and I very much appreciate Canadians,” he says down the line from Phoenix, where he’s a special assistant to the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. “It’s a love affair that will last forever.”

This year’s tournament also includes Kurt Browning, Grant Fuhr, Mike Krushelnyski, Derek Lowe, Mark Rypien, Bret Saberhagen and many more.

Before heading north to Toronto, Carter rang up to talk about the city’s baseball resurgence and why the championship team of the early ’90s was better than this year’s Jays.

•First of all, how’s your golf game?

The golf game is getting there. I haven’t played as much as I would have liked to because I’m extremely busy working with the D-Backs and I was in Japan for two weeks, so I’m just getting back in the flow. But I will be good come tournament time next week.

•For the past few seasons, the Rogers Centre has been packed most nights and the Jays are tops in attendance for the American League so far this year. What’s it like for you to see the city embracing baseball again?

It’s good for Toronto. When we were there, we had 50,000 fans every single game and that was unbelievable. At the end and once I retired and came back, I’d see maybe 10,000 people in the Dome and I would think, ‘Wow, this isn’t the way Toronto was supposed to be.’ It’s great now when I can come back and see the place noisy with fans and sold out. That’s the way baseball was meant to be in Toronto.

•Toronto made it to the postseason in 2015 and 2016 and we’re hoping that they make it back there this year. How do you think the current team would fare against the 1992-93 editions of the Blue Jays?

They wouldn’t beat us — that’s for sure. I mean, come on, we were World Series champs those two years. I think the biggest difference in the two teams are we were very good at playing small ball. We were able to do whatever it takes, meaning advancing the runners, bunting the guys over, stealing bases, playing good defence, fundamentally doing the right things and not just living off the three-run home run. I think the last couple of years, that’s been the Jays biggest downfall. If you good back to a lot of situations, they weren’t able to advance the runners and that’s what wins you ballgames. The three-run homer is great, but you’re not always going to hit home runs. That’s something we did in ’92-’93. We gave ourselves up, we hit the ball the other way and we did whatever it took to win the ballgame. That’s why the ’92-’93 teams would win. We’d definitely win.

•When you hit the game-winning home run in the 1993 World Series, did you know in that instant how iconic it was?

When I watched the replay of the home run and saw people’s reactions, then I started to notice how big a moment it was. But you really don’t start to appreciate those things until you’re out of baseball. There’s not a day that goes by where someone doesn’t see me and remind me of what they were doing at that precise moment. To hit a walk off home run to win a World Series, it’s only happened twice. It’s a pretty cool thing, I have to admit.

•Do you wish you had retired as a Blue Jay?

After the 1997 season, they went another way and unfortunately, for me, I ended up with Baltimore and San Francisco. But yes, I wanted to remain in Toronto.

•Can this year’s team still come back and win the World Series?

Anything is possible. The thing is they got off to that terrible start, but they’ve been able to get back in it by playing good consistent baseball. Baseball is a funny game. On any given day, anyone can get beat, so yes, they have a chance to win it all.

•What do you like most about this year’s team?

I like the heart of this team. It’s been great for the Jays to get (Josh) Donaldson back — he looks like he’s going to have another great year. They re-signed Jose Bautista. They don’t give up and that’s what you’ve got to have. Marcus Stroman epitomizes what it’s like to play for that team. He’s part of the heart and soul of the jays. They have a lot of resilience and a lot of heart. I like that.

For more info on the Joe Carter Classic, go to joecarterclassic.com.

MDaniell@postmedia.com

Twitter: @markhdaniell