Note: This article was originally published on the Toronto Star on October 24, 1993

So it’s America’s favorite pastime. So they created the game. But we own it.

Blue Jay fans threw decorum to the wind last night and let it all out in celebrations across the country.

Just ask any of the estimated one million fans who flooded Yonge St. and the downtown core north to St. Clair Ave. early today to take part in the history-making victory — the first time a championship has been decided outside the United States.

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Outside the HMV record store on Yonge St., fans leapt in the air at Joe Carter’s winning run at the bottom of the ninth inning.

At the moment of victory, a SkyDome security guard was on the way to pull down a fan at the stadium’s main entrance. The fan had climbed on to a bicycle rack to get closer to a speaker broadcasting Carter’s hit.

As the guard grabbed the man, the home run came.

Seconds later, the security guard and the man he was about to arrest were hugging and dancing all over the front of stadium, screaming, “Jays win! Jays win!”

As the fans poured out of the stadium, bottles of good Canadian brew appeared miraculously, as well as hip flasks and bottles of whisky.

People ran to telephones outside the stadium. Front St., at both exit points of the SkyDome, was blocked by a horde of screaming fans a few minutes after the victory.

Outside the dome, souvenir hunters were offering Game 6 World Series ticket stubs for $10 apiece.

Firecrackers went off as the mob flowed toward Yonge St. One driving lane on Front was kept clear by police motorcyclists driving two abreast.

Cars full of fans from the suburbs and out of town plowed into the city core yesterday, packing Yonge St. shortly after the game started.

Firecrackers went off through the eighth and ninth inning while drunks were being helped to their feet by passersby.

The party mood turned sour after the gutsy Phillies tied the game and moved ahead with the winning run 6-5. But pandemonium broke out on Carter’s incredible winning run.

The bedlam that blocked traffic was increased when a laser light show began on the CN Tower and people stopped to gawk.

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Sharon Lee said she had hugged a complete stranger.

“I don’t know who he is, but I’m just so happy, “ Lee said.

Her friend suggested the man had looked like Carter.

“I think I’m going to have a complete fit,” said fan David Martin on Yonge St. last night. “What a way to win a game!”

“Jays are the best,” screamed Peter Flamino, 19. “This year’s series feels even more euphoric than the 1992 championships.”

Tony Buruto said he never doubted the Jays would rally. “We’re Number 1,” he screamed hoarsely. “We’re out here all night it’s even better than last year.”

“This is the best game I’ve ever seen,” said Jim Monroe, an assistant district attorney from Canton, N.Y. “Now I know how people feel when they win a lottery — this is better.”

Monroe was carrying a yellow placard with the words, “Molitor vs the Phillies.”

Signmaker Ken Reid brought two homemade replicas of the 1992 and 1993 World Series pennants to the game with him.

“Hollywood couldn’t have written a better ending, “ he exulted. “If Joe Carter decided to run for prime minister, he’d probably win.”

Dozens of fans brought bottles of champagne into the SkyDome with them in anticipation of a Jays’ win and wasted no time in popping corks on the bubbly.

Dozens of other fans got bathed in the stuff. Some appreciated it. Some didn’t.

Tina Pulin, who watched the game on Yonge St. with roommate Tina Rubino, said she was “very nervous, but I knew they were going to do it.”

Rubino wasn’t so confident. “I thought they were going to lose. I thought they were getting too confident. It’s amazing.”

Fans roamed up and down Yonge St. and Nathan Phillips Square slapping each other on the hand and chanting, “We are the champions,” and waving Canadian flags.

Cars were jammed on Yonge St. and neighboring Bay St. as fans stuck their head outside cars, stood on cars, and even left cars abandoned in the middle of the road as they joined the celebrations.

With files from Dale Brazao, Philip Mascoll and Peter Edwards.