The Jays World Series win sparked 'pandemonium' in Toronto. Could the Raptors do the same?

It was Oct. 24, 1992 and reliever Mike Timlin's throw to Joe Carter over at first base in the11th inningwould markthe final out of the 1992 World Series.

It was alsoa significant moment in baseball history, as theToronto Blue Jaysclinched the seriesover the Atlanta Braves andbecame the first Canadian team to win the coveted championship.

It sent the more than45,000 frenzied fans,who had packed the SkyDome(now the Rogers Centre)to watch the away game on the giant screen,out onto the streets of downtown Toronto, wherethey were joined by thousands more, taking over Yonge Street, waving flags, honking horns, screaming and cheering.

Atthe end, itwasestimated that nearly a half-million people took part in the euphoric celebration.

"It was pandemonium," said retired journalist Allen Garr, who was tasked to reporton the downtown celebrations for the CBC. "I couldn't hear myself speak."

And now, more than a quarter of a century later, the Toronto Raptors are looking to land themselves in a similar situation, tryingto make their own history bybecoming the first Canadian team to win an NBAchampionship.

But would such avictory match the hysteriaof '92?

'Embody the whole country'

"When you compare these two phenomena, I think that a Raptors NBA victory would be equally as big as a Jays World Series win in '92," said CBCSports broadcaster and writerScott Russell.

"I would say it's sort of characteristic of how we see team sport in Canada. We get behind whatever big team it is that's performing and comes to embody the whole country."

The City of Torontois certainly preparing for possible celebrations should the Raptors best the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, a team that's takenthree of the past four championships.

In an email to CBC News,spokesperson Erin George said the city was workingwith Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the Toronto Police Service, the Toronto Transit Commission and other partners to co-ordinate crowd management plans for the finals.

A victory would mean that the Raptors would also become the first Canadian team to win a championship in any one of the four major North American professional sports leagues since the Jays repeated their World Series win in 1993 the same year theMontreal Canadiens took the Stanley Cup.

Michael Thompson, a Toronto city councillor,said he believes a Raptors win would be as equally as important as theBlue JaysWorld Series victory,but that it would likely spark a larger celebration.

"I think today, with respect to the Raptors, the city is overly excited and overwhelmed," he said. "I think we'll be well ahead of that 500,000. I think it'll be closer to the million mark, [people]getting out and wanting to celebrate the Raptors win."

"There's a lot of people who love and die for baseball,and I get that, I appreciate that," said Thompson."Basketball is a game that more people can play. There's more of a connection and this Raptors team has essentially brought the whole country together."

Back in 1992, the Jays certainly had become a source ofnational pride. Following the victory, then prime minister Brian Mulroney relayed a message to the team, saying, "You have united a nation behind you, capturing the imagination of Canadians from coast to coast."

'This is their sport'

Over the years, however, the demographics in the Greater Toronto Areahave changed, with many new Canadians coming to the region with a bigger appreciation for basketball, said Malcolm Kelly, co-ordinator of the post-graduate sports journalism program atCentennial College.

"This is their sport.And this isa humongous deal for them," he said.

Raptors fever has certainly spread across the country. But while some Jurassic Park spinoffs have cropped up across the country, the official public viewing parties of the games aremostlyconcentrated in Ontario and the GTA. And arecent Angus Reid Institute poll found thatclose to equal numbers of Canadians say the Raptors are Canada's team (47 per cent) and Toronto's team (45 per cent).

Bob McCown, the host of Prime Time Sports on the Fan 590 and Sportsnet, said hedoesn't believe the Raptors have the national appeal that the '92 Jays had and the team still has to this day.

"That Blue Jay fan base exists today. If yougo to Seattlewhenthe Blue Jays are there, half the building is Vancouver people," he said.

Still, McCown saidToronto could see a bigger celebration on the city's streetsif the Raptors win the series.

"Theonly difference is the Raptors fan base tends to be younger than the baseball fan base, so Ithink it will be more out of control," he said.

As for Toronto Mayor John Tory, he wouldn't say whether a potential Raptors win would be bigger than the Jaysvictory.

"Any time we win a championship, it's big news and it's a great accomplishment for thecity," he said. "And it bringsjoy to the heartsof fans of all different sports.