Champions: Blue Jays and Gaming Club
In the early 1990s, there was no team in Major League Baseball that was more formidable than the Toronto Blue Jays, who were one of only two teams in the last 25 seasons who won the World Series in back-to-back seasons (the other being the New York Yankees, who 'three-peated').
With the estimable (though under-estimated) Cito Gaston on the manager's seat, the Blue Jays made appearances in the American League Championship Series in both 1989 and 1991, falling both times in five games. But the breakthrough came in 1992, when the team emerged triumphant in the World Series, beating the Atlanta Braves in six games and in the process becoming the first team from north of the border to capture a world title.
They weren't finished yet. In 1993 the Blue Jays won the World Series again, this time in much more dramatic fashion. Up three games to two against the Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto found itself trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth and put two runners on base when Joe Carter uncorked a home run off Mitch Williams that produced the 8-6 victory that brought a second title to the city.
Incidentally, those two runners who were on base - Paul Molitor and Rickey Henderson - both eventually made it to the Hall of Fame, as did the team's second baseman, Roberto Alomar. The man who put together the championship teams, general manager Pat Gillick, was also recently enshrined in Cooperstown. Dave Winfield, a part of the 1992 World Series winners, is also a Hall of Famer.
Molitor captured the World Series MVP in 1993, but in 1992, that honor was accorded to Pat Borders, who hit .450 in the Series but was otherwise a rather pedestrian performer in his career, retiring in 2005 with a .253 career average.
Those fans who haven't been following the Blue Jays for very long are used to seeing anywhere in the neighborhood of 20,000-25,000 fans in attendance at the games. But when this team was the envy of the rest of baseball, attendance figures went through the roof - and we mean that almost literally. At SkyDome, this club averaged almost 48,000 in 1990, with 49,000 the year after, 49,732 in 1992 and a high of just over 50,000 per contest in 1993, producing a record attendance figure of slightly over four million for the season.
Not long after this, another notable Canadian brand got its start. Obviously it was one of the pioneers in an industry that has ballooned in terms of popularity.
Credibility and experience are two of the things that mean a lot in the online casino industry, and that is what The Gaming Club brings to the table. People have come to rely on them, and they deliver, with a full menu of casino games that are provided by Microgaming, the leading developer of online casino software in the world, as well as a generous 100% match bonus for all new players. There are no "World Series championships" for online casinos, but if there were, The Gaming Club, which has an average daily attendance that is probably even greater than the Blue Jays had in their heyday, would be contenders every year.