Pat Borders

The first American to win both a World Series ring and an Olympic gold medal, Pat Borders played parts of 17 major league seasons (1988-2005) for nine different teams.1 When the Blue Jays won consecutive championships in 1992 and 1993, he caught more innings than any American Leaguer both years and earned 1992 World Series MVP honors.

Patrick Lance Borders was born on May 14, 1963, in Columbus, Ohio. His parents, Mike and Donna (Holbrook) Borders, taught social studies and math, respectively, and later had another child, Todd. Mike played softball into his 60s, and competed against his sons in basketball, Wiffle Ball, and baseball. “He was the biggest influence on me for learning the game,” Borders said.2 Pat attended his first big-league game at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium and saw his favorite player, Reds star Pete Rose.3

When Pat was 9, his family moved to Lake Wales, Florida, about 60 miles east of Tampa.4 He often attended weekend ballgames at a local park, though he said, “I was more interested in chasing after the foul balls and then practicing with them afterward.”5 With his father pitching to him nearly every day, Borders developed his aggressive batting style. “I’d swing at every pitch because there wasn’t any backstop, and if I didn’t swing at it and hit it, I’d have to go chase it.”6

At Lake Wales High School, Borders was an all-state quarterback and football defensive end.7 He also played basketball for the Highlanders before baseball season. Initially, Pat was a designated hitter, as coach Don Bridges recalled that he had “hands of stone.” Following a teammate’s injury, however, Borders switched to third base as a sophomore.8 “He practiced until it was dark. He could never get enough,” Bridges said. Borders also worked hard off the field, describing his early occupations as “[a] lot of shovel work. Digging footers for houses, setting rebar, working a lot of construction jobs and agricultural jobs.”9

As a senior, Borders drove in 36 runs in 25 games and batted .513 with 10 home runs.10 His 29 career homers tied Glenn Davis’s state high-school record.11 Borders played in the 1982 Florida Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Game, where three of his teammates, Dwight Gooden, Ron Karkovice, and Rich Monteleone, became first-round picks in the June amateur draft.12 Borders, on the other hand, planned to attend Mississippi State on a football scholarship.13 That changed after he ripped a series of line drives in front of a Blue Jays scout that spring. Tim Wilken was in Kissimmee only because Toronto had other scouts at the first contest he’d visited in Tampa.14 On Wilken’s recommendation, the Blue Jays drafted Borders in the sixth round.

Borders signed quickly and joined Toronto’s rookie-level Pioneer League club in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He batted .304 with 5 homers in 61 games to help them win the championship. In 1983 he advanced to the Florence (South Carolina) Blue Jays of the Class-A South Atlantic League and rapped 31 doubles to tie for second in the circuit while hitting .274 in 131 contests. Back at Florence in 1984, Borders increased his home-run output from 5 to 12, tied for the SAL lead with 85 RBIs, and was named MVP of the league’s All-Star Game.15 He received the R. Howard Webster trophy, awarded to the top prospect at each Toronto affiliate.16 Realistically, however, Borders’s .864 fielding percentage through three seasons at the hot corner clouded his future. “It became apparent to us he would be a defensive liability at third base in the big leagues,” said Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick.17 Borders wasn’t much better in the outfield and finished 1984 playing first base.

Although Borders led the Kinston (North Carolina) Blue Jays with 60 RBIs in the Class-A Carolina League in 1985, his .261 batting average, 10 homers, and 116 strikeouts in 127 games didn’t impress, considering the Toronto organization’s talented collection of first baseman. “I didn’t think I could compete with Cecil Fielder, Fred McGriff, and Willie Upshaw in home runs,” Borders conceded.18 “I never thought I’d make it to the majors, to tell you the truth.”19 Gillick acknowledged, “We were going to release him. It was (Blue Jays VP Bobby) Mattick who suggested that …we might try him behind the plate.”20 Mattick said Borders “called me in the winter of ’86 and said he would like to try it.”21

That offseason Borders asked former Dodgers and Senators backstop Doug Camilli for assistance. “He had the talent, and he had the desire,” Camilli recalled “Here was a complete athlete who was willing to do whatever it took to get to the majors.”22 Borders said, “The position itself didn’t hold any allure for me, especially getting beat up like catchers do. Once I got into it, I had more fun than any position I ever played.”23 Borders began the 1986 season in Florence but was promoted to the Double-A Southern League in mid-May. In six weeks with the Knoxville Blue Jays, he didn’t play much, and he returned to the Carolina League on June 22 to finish the year with Kinston, now a co-op team featuring players from different organizations. Between three clubs, he hit a combined .339 with 11 homers in 77 games. Borders had caught in only 18 contests prior to joining Kinston, but manager Dave Trembley deployed him behind the plate 27 times and had him block countless balls in the dirt during drills.24

Borders gained more experience in the Florida Instructional League before beginning a fifth straight season at Class A in 1987.25 After only three games with the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League, however, he returned to Knoxville to replace Jeff DeWillis, who’d been summoned to the majors because of Matt Stark’s injury.26 In 94 Double-A games, Borders hit .292 with 11 home runs and caught 77 times as he learned to call pitches and discern hitters’ weaknesses.27 “The whole thing was a lot more complex than I thought,” he admitted.28 The Blue Jays added him to their 40-man roster and sent him to the Dominican Republic for winter ball, where he batted .290 in 56 contests for the Caimanes del Sur.29

In spring training 1988, Borders and four other catchers competed for the chance to back up veteran Ernie Whitt. While Stark and Greg Myers had already tasted the majors, Borders, Francisco Cabrera, and Carlos Diaz were in big-league camp for their first “Class for Catchers” with Blue Jays coach John Sullivan. “[Borders] has impressed me,” Sullivan said. “He receives well, has a strong arm, and has been good in the throwing drills.” Hitting coach Cito Gaston reported, “Bobby Mattick had the catchers working on fielding bunts and he said Borders was the best of the young ones.”30 In Grapefruit League play, Borders hit .373 and gunned down nine of 17 opposing basestealers to win the job as Whitt’s platoon partner.31

Borders debuted on April 6, 1988, at Royals Stadium, and lined a two-run triple to right-center off Kansas City southpaw Charlie Leibrandt in his first at-bat. Although he was charged with a throwing error and a passed ball, he also cut down speedster Willie Wilson trying to steal third and went 3-for-4 with five RBIs in Toronto’s 11-4 victory. “[Borders] definitely has the attitude to be a good one for a long time,” remarked winning pitcher Mike Flanagan.32 On April 14 Borders hit his first homer, a solo shot off the Yankees’ Al Leiter.

“I suppose my one big shock about the big leagues was how quickly the opposition picks up on your weaknesses,” Borders said.33 Nevertheless, he did a solid job, batting .276 with five homers in 41 games before pulling a rib-cage muscle prior to a July 7 exhibition.34 After healing, he spent more than a month on a rehab assignment with the Syracuse Chiefs in the Triple-A International League before rejoining the Blue Jays in September.

Next, Borders joined the Cardenales de Lara for winter ball in Venezuela, explaining, “I wanted to work on picking off runners, being more selective at the plate, and improving things like blocking the plate.” In one game, he picked off three runners – one at each base.35 After hitting .283 with 7 home runs in 60 games, he returned to the United States and worked out with his brother Todd, who’d been drafted as a catcher by the Cubs.36

In 1989 the Blue Jays fired manager Jimy Williams after falling 12 games below .500 by mid-May. During the skipper’s final series in Minnesota, Borders made throwing errors in consecutive losses and deepened a slump that grew to 4-for-46. “That affected my catching, or maybe my catching affected my hitting.” he said. “I was pretty much a wreck mentally.”37 He temporarily lost his platoon job under new manager Cito Gaston, and Toronto still had a losing record when Borders blasted a game-winning eighth-inning grand slam off Willie Hernández on July 7 in Detroit. He finished with a .257 batting average and 3 homers in 94 games as the Blue Jays rallied to win the AL East. In Borders’ only postseason at-bat, he stroked an RBI single, but Toronto lost the ALCS to the Athletics in five games. Four weeks later, Pat married Kathy Sellers, a former college softball and basketball recruit whom he’d first met at a Knoxville Pizza Hut. “Kathy understood me and understood sport,” he said.38

The Blue Jays traded Whitt before the 1990 season. “I like Ernie; he helped me a lot, personally,” Borders said.39 Third baseman Kelly Gruber said Borders deserved to start: “There’s no question in my mind that Pat can play every day.”40 Gaston, however, planned for the lefty-hitting Myers to take over the busier side of the catching platoon. “Greg and I are friends and it’s fine with me,” Borders insisted.41 Borders enjoyed his only career four-hit game on April 30 and started 20 consecutive contests when Myers went on the disabled list in May. On September 2 in Cleveland, he caught Dave Stieb’s no-hitter. By season’s end Borders had started more than half of Toronto’s games and batted .286 in 125 contests. His 15 home runs were his most ever as a professional.

“[Borders] is getting to where he’s an above-average catcher,” remarked Sullivan. “He’s one of the best throwing catchers in the league.”42 Through his first three seasons, Borders had nabbed 41.2 percent of attempted basestealers and gained confidence handling pitchers. “We came up at the same time and we roomed together, so Pat never had a problem coming to me and saying do this or do that,” observed Todd Stottlemyre. “But I think it took a little longer for him to go to [veterans] Jimmy Key or Dave Stieb and tell them what they should be doing.”43 In 1991, however, Borders began the season 0-for-21 at the plate and cost Toronto a game on April 17 with a 10th-inning throwing error and passed ball. He also missed time after being steamrolled by Robin Ventura in a home-plate collision and entered the All-Star break batting .213 without a home run.44 Borders rebounded to finish at .244 in 105 games and claimed the full-time job with a strong second half. Four of his five homers came in the final month, including a three-run shot off California’s Jim Abbott to snap a scoreless tie in the 10th inning on September 24. The Blue Jays won their division and Borders started all five games of their ALCS loss to the Twins.

Borders made his first Opening Day start in 1992 and went deep in Detroit. In Toronto’s home opener, he blasted a game-tying homer off Baltimore closer Gregg Olson in the bottom of the ninth. Nevertheless, for the second straight season, his name was mentioned in trade rumors involving the Padres Gold Glove catcher Benito Santiago. “Last year, it bothered me a lot,” Borders confessed in the summer of ’92. “But his year, it kind of helped me, knowing that someone else might want me. I learned not to let that stuff bother me.”45 In 138 games, he batted .242 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs as the Blue Jays repeated as division champs.

In October Borders caught every postseason inning for Toronto. He hit .318 in the six-game ALCS as the Blue Jays bested the Athletics to claim the franchise’s first pennant. With the pivotal Game Three tied, 2-2, in the fourth inning, Borders leaped to corral right fielder Joe Carter’s throw and complete a momentum-shifting double play by holding onto the ball when 6-foot-5 Mark McGwire crashed into him attempting to score. “That was really the difference in the ballgame,” Carter said.46 In the World Series against the Braves, Borders batted .450 (9-for-20), including a homer off Tom Glavine in Toronto’s 2-1 victory in Game Four, and a game-tying RBI double against John Smoltz in Game Five. Although Atlanta baserunners swiped 15 bases in 18 tries, Borders cut down pinch-runner Brian Hunter with Game Three deadlocked in the ninth inning and threw out the fleet Otis Nixon with Toronto protecting a one-run advantage in Game Six. Borders was voted the Most Valuable Player after the Blue Jays prevailed in six games.

Lake Wales erected “Home of Pat Borders” signs around town, but the catcher nixed the idea of a welcome-home parade in his honor, agreeing to a ceremony to have a youth field named after him instead. “He hasn’t changed a bit,” remarked Bridges, his high-school coach. “He’s a very soft-spoken and withdrawn type.”47 Borders lived next to his parents and drove the same 1980 Ford Bronco that he’d owned since high school. He donated the van that he received for his MVP performance to his local YMCA.48 “Winning the MVP goes way beyond anything I ever thought I’d accomplish,” he said.49 In January the Blue Jays rewarded him with a two-year contract for $5 million.50

By appearing in 138 games, Borders was the AL’s busiest catcher for the second straight season in 1993, and he hit .254 with career highs in RBIs (55) and doubles (30). In the ALCS against the White Sox, he extended his record postseason hitting streak for catchers to 16 games.51 The Blue Jays repeated as champions, with Borders batting .304 (7-for-23) in six World Series games against the Phillies. “The best thing about Pat is that when you have a runner on third and the score tied in the ninth inning, he will call for a pitch in the dirt, because he has confidence he can block it,” Stottlemyre observed. “A catcher like that gives a pitcher confidence that he can throw any pitch at any time.”52 Borders insisted, “I’m average. If I don’t block pitches, they’ll find someone else who can. It’s more like I’d better do it.”53

Toronto had younger, cheaper options available – including power-hitting backup Randy Knorr, lefty slugger Carlos Delgado, and defensive specialist Sandy Martínez – and assistant GM Gord Ash acknowledged, “We believe that catching is a position we can trade.”54 Borders retained his job in 1994, but the Blue Jays finished under .500 for the first time in a dozen years. He was batting .247 with 3 homers in 85 games when the season ended prematurely in August because of a players strike. That offseason, although it meant they would not receive any compensation when Borders left, Toronto declined to offer him a contract because, Ash explained, they knew he would accept anything to remain with the Blue Jays. “I was very happy here,” Borders confirmed.55

When the strike was finally settled in April 1995, Borders signed a one-year, $310,000 deal with the Royals on the first day that camps opened to returning regulars to platoon with lefty-hitting Brent Mayne.56 In 52 games for a poor Kansas City club, he hit .231 with four homers before he was traded to the contending Astros on August 11. With Houston, Borders hit .114 in 35 at-bats, but he appeared only once in the last 23 contests after lefty-hitting Rick Wilkins joined the team in September.

A free agent again, Borders signed with the Cardinals for 1996 and started on Opening Day. He’d slipped to third string behind Tom Pagnozzi and Danny Sheaffer by June 15, however, when he was traded to the Angels. On June 29 Borders enjoyed his only two-homer game in the majors, but he was traded again on July 27 – to the White Sox to replace injured catcher Chad Kreuter. Overall, Borders appeared in 76 games for three teams in ’96 and batted .277 with 5 home runs. He said that his bat speed and arm strength had finally recovered from his heavy workload of 1992 and 1993. As for playing for five teams in two years, he remarked, “It’s educational. You learn a lot. It helps you as a player.”57

Borders joined the Indians in 1997, a strong club that already had All-Star backstop Sandy Alomar. “I knew what my role was going to be,” Borders said. “I’ll take anything I can get.”58 Cleveland advanced to the seventh game of the World Series before falling to the Marlins, but Borders didn’t see any postseason action after batting .296 with 4 homers in 55 regular-season contests.

He returned to Cleveland in 1998 and appeared in 54 more games, including both ends of a July 21 doubleheader when Alomar was hurting. “I don’t think it even crossed his mind that he would be playing 18 innings, but that’s his mentality,” observed Indians second baseman Jeff Branson.59 Cleveland made the playoffs again, but Borders was left off the postseason roster in favor of rookie Einar Díaz. When manager Mike Hargrove asked him to remain with the team anyway, Borders agreed.60

Once a devoted weightlifter, Borders stopped in his mid-30s. “It was starting to hurt me,” he explained. “I think it was slowing me down, slowing down my arm and my swing.”61 To extend his career, Borders retuned to the minors for the first time in 11 years, spending most of 1999 with the Buffalo Bisons of the Triple-A International League, other than a half-dozen July appearances for the Indians. After he was released on August 31, he signed with the Blue Jays and started at DH the following night in Toronto. Borders homered off the Twins’ Eric Milton in the seventh inning, prompting the fans at SkyDome to demand a curtain call. “It’s really not my style,” he said after tipping his cap. “I’m embarrassed about it.” In six games for the Blue Jays, he went 3-for-14.62

Borders considered retirement, but his family encouraged him to keep playing. “It’s a game you can never master or conquer,” he reflected. “Every situation presents a different challenge. You’re always making adjustments either as a hitter or calling a game as a catcher. That’s what makes it so interesting.” Although he didn’t appear in the majors for the first time in 13 years in 2000, the 81 games he caught for Tampa Bay’s Triple-A Durham Bulls affiliate were his most since his first stint with Toronto. Bulls outfielder Jim Buccheri observed, “He’s 37 going on 19.”63 Devil Rays minor-league director Tom Foley said, “Having Pat Borders is like having an extra coach.”64

When Borders was invited to try out for the United States Olympic baseball team that summer, he recalled, “I wasn’t gonna go, but Kathy kicked my butt and said I should just go do it. And she was right.”65 Professionals were allowed to play in the Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, but with the big-league season ongoing, clubs were reluctant to send stars or top prospects. Other than manager Tom Lasorda, Borders was one of the United States’ more recognizable names. In the Americans’ only loss, to the favored Cubans, Borders was hammered in a thunderous home plate collision.66 He batted .429 (6-for-14) in the Olympics, including 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in the Gold Medal game, when the USA defeated Cuba, 4-0.67 “I’ve never had more fun than that time,” Borders said. “It really was not like anything else I had ever been a part of.”68

Borders could have retired to his farm home with orange groves, 200 cattle, and 100 acres of strawberries and vegetables.69 He and Kathy already had five children: Lindsay, Levi, Luke, Laura Beth, and Leah. (By 2021, their brood would grow to nine with the additions of Lance, Lily, Livia, and Landy Kate).70 Every winter the family voted whether or not Pat should keep playing, and every year the consensus was yes. He spent most of 2001 in Durham but was sold to the Mariners on August 27 and appeared in five games for Seattle in September. From 2002 to 2004, Borders mostly played for Seattle’s Tacoma Rainiers affiliate in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He could still hit, as evidenced by a 6-for-6 performance against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox on May 8, 2003.71 Occasionally the Mariners summoned him to the majors: four games in 2002, a dozen the next year and 19 in 2004. On August 31, 2004, Borders was dealt to the Twins at the trading deadline. In 19 September contests, he batted .286 to help Minnesota win the AL Central. He went 0-for-2 in the Twins four-game ALDS loss to the Yankees to finish his 32-game postseason career with a .315 average.

Borders began 2005 with the Brewers’ PCL Nashville Sounds affiliate but the Mariners purchased his contract on May 19 – five days after his 42nd birthday – after losing former All-Star catcher Dan Wilson to a torn ACL and backup Wiki González to a hamstring injury. Mariners skipper Mike Hargrove had managed Borders in Cleveland and was happy to have him back. “Pat just absolutely loves the game, that’s what I think is cool about him,” said Hargrove. “You get someone like him, with such a positive attitude, and he’s so willing to teach. You talk to him, and he’s willing to give all the information he has. He’s a great presence to have around.”72

When Borders caught Jamie Moyer on May 25 in Baltimore, it marked the first time in major-league history that a team started a battery of 42-year-olds. It would not be the last. Seattle went 8-3 when the ancient Mariners teamed up. In a little more than two months with the team, Borders started 37 games, though Hargrove insisted, “He can’t and won’t play every day. That’s from me. Pat would go out there every day on bloody stumps.”73 On July 27 Borders played his 1,099th and final big-league contest, catching Moyer’s 9-3 victory over the Tigers at Safeco Field. He was released two days later when González returned from the DL. Borders finished his career with a .253 batting average and 69 home runs, and threw out 35 percent of opposing basestealers. “Had it not been for catching, I’d have never made it as far as Double A,” he reflected.74

The Dodgers invited Borders to spring training in 2006, but when he didn’t want to leave home, he realized that he no longer had the desire to play.75 At Los Angeles’s request, he filled in for a few weeks: 20 games with Vero Beach in the Class-A Florida State League and six with the Triple-A PCL’s Las Vegas 51s before retiring on May 26.

Borders assumed full-time father duties, including coaching the baseball team at Lake Wales High School during his son Luke’s senior season. He was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2015 Borders became the manager of the Phillies’ Williamsport (Pennsylvania) Crosscutters affiliate in the short-season New York-Pennsylvania League. He led the Crosscutters to 186 victories over the next five seasons, more than any other skipper in team history. When Borders announced that he would leave to manage the full-season Class-A Clearwater Threshers in 2020, Williamsport surprised him by retiring his number 10. “I’m speechless,” he said.76 Clearwater, merely 85 miles west of Lake Wales, was a welcome destination for Borders, but the Threshers’ 2020 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, Borders was part of the inaugural Highlander Athletic Hall of Fame induction class organized by the community of Lake Wales. That fall, he left the Phillies’ organization after serving as the bench coach for Philadelphia’s Triple-A Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) IronPigs farm club for one season.  

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.ancestry.com, www.baseball-reference.com, and www.retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Baseball was a demonstration sport at both the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics, so official medals were not awarded. As of 2021, Doug Mientkiewicz (2000 Olympics; 2004 Red Sox) is the only other American to win both an Olympic gold medal and a World Series ring. Three Cubans —Orlando Hernández (1992 Olympics; 1998-2000 Yankees), José Contreras (1996 Olympics; 2005 White Sox) and Yuli Gurriel (2004 Olympics; 2017 Astros) – have also achieved the feat.

2 Godfrey Jordan, “Thanks, Dad,” Toronto Star, June 19, 1993: F1.

3 Pat Borders, 1993 Donruss Studio Baseball Card.

4 Russ White, “Borders Avoids Celebrity Status,” Orlando Sentinel, January 24, 1993: C10.

5 Jordan, “Thanks, Dad.”

6 “Borders Has Proven He’s Jays’ Top Catcher,” Toronto Star, March 27, 1991: C4.

7 Russ White, “Rising Star: Pat Borders,” Orlando Sentinel, April 2, 1989: C9.

8 Gare Joyce, “The Lifer,” August 2018, https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/pat-borders-blue-jays-williamsport-crosscutters-profile/ (last accessed March 5, 2021).

9 Tom Weir, “Borders, Nearly 42, Awaits Another Big-League Shot,” USA Today, April 12, 2005: C6.

10 Pat Borders, 1988 Topps Traded Baseball Card.

11 In 1986 St. Cloud’s Bruce Kiser hit 34 home runs to establish a new mark. Paula J. Finocchio, “St. Cloud’s Kiser Smashes HR Mark,” Orlando Sentinel, March 25, 1986: B4.

12 Mel Antonen, “Catchers Give GM Hart Coaching Flashback,” USA Today, February 16, 1998: 6C.

13 Joyce, “The Lifer.”

14 Brian Schmitz, “Borders Is Crossing from Obscure to Hero,” Orlando Sentinel, October 24, 1992: B1.

15 “Reds Say Goodnight to Day,” The Sporting News, July 30, 1984: 38.

16 Paul Patton, “Losing Record with Syracuse Prompts Firing,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), September 6, 1984: M10.

17 Milt Dunnell, “Catching Switch Saved Borders from Early Firing,” Toronto Star, August 11, 1990: B3.

18 Larry Millson, “Borders Relaxed More with Each At-Bat,” Globe and Mail, April 8, 1988: A18.

19 Schmitz, “Borders Is Crossing from Obscure to Hero.”

20 Dunnell, “Catching Switch Saved Borders from Early Firing.”

21 Neil MacCarl, “Switch to Catcher Could Put Borders on Fringes of Jays,” Toronto Star, February 16, 1988: B10.

22 White, “Borders Avoids Celebrity Status.”

23 John Lott, “Mariners’ Crash Davis,” National Post (Don Mills, Ontario), August 29, 2001: B13.

24 Bob Elliott, “An Unforgettable Journey,” Toronto Sun, March 22, 2012: S10.

25 Millson, “Borders Relaxed More with Each At-Bat.”

26 “Young Hurler Making Headlines,” Toronto Star, April 21, 1987: F4.

27 Larry Millson, “Borders Bids for Backup Job,” Globe and Mail, February 22, 1988: E8.

28 Campbell, “In Only Three Seasons, Pat Borders Has Progressed.”

29 Pat Borders’ Dominican League Statistics from https://stats.winterballdata.com/players?key=436 (Subscription service. Last accessed March 17, 2021).

30 Neil MacCarl, “Jays Need Major Graduate from Class for Catcher,” Toronto Star, March 2,1988: B2.

31 Neil MacCarl, “Big Test Tonight for Pat Borders,” Toronto Star, April 6, 1988: G2.

32 Millson, “Borders Relaxed More with Each At-Bat.”

33 Frank Orr, “Pat Borders Proves He Belongs in the Big Leagues,” Toronto Star, June 23, 1988: C1.

34 Larry Millson, “Borders Adjusted to Stint in Minors,” Globe and Mail, September 7, 1988: A18.

35 Neil MacCarl, “Winter Ball Helps Jays’ Pat Borders,” Toronto Star, January 24, 1989: C4.

36 Pat Borders’ Venezuelan Statistics from http://www.pelotabinaria.com.ve/beisbol/mostrar.php?ID=bordpat001 (last accessed March 17, 2021).

37 Dave Perkins, “Borders is Armed with All the Tools Except Confidence,” Toronto Star, June 8, 1989: B3.

38 Joyce, “The Lifer.”

39 Neil MacCarl, “Blue Jays’ Borders Looks Out for No. 1,” Toronto Star, January 4, 1990: B4.

40 Marty York, “New Looks for Jays Tailored to Skydome’s Vast Expanse,” Globe and Mail, March 26, 1990: C1.

41 Larry Millson, “Jays Crush Birds for Best Season Start,” Globe and Mail, April 18, 1990: A13.

42 Neil A. Campbell, “In Only Three Seasons, Pat Borders Has Progressed,” Globe and Mail, March 5, 1991: D10.

43 Campbell, “In Only Three Seasons, Pat Borders Has Progressed.”

44 Dave Perkins, “Cheap Shot Adds to Jays’ Injury Woes,” Toronto Star, May 21, 1991: D1.

45 “Blue Jays’ Borders Emerges as Majors’ Ironman Catcher,” Ottawa Citizen, September 5, 1992: H6.

46 Larry Millson, “Borders Helps the Jays Hold On,” Globe and Mail, October 12, 1992: D4.

47 Marc Topkin, “Blue Jays’ Borderline Hero,” Ottawa Citizen, April 1, 1993: D2.

48 Bob Elliott, “An Unforgettable Journey,” Toronto Sun, March 22, 2012: S10.

49 Pat Borders, 1993 Stadium Club Murphy Baseball Card.

50 “Borders Gets $5 Million,” Globe and Mail, January 20, 1993: C8.

51 Allan Ryan, “Borders Huge Hit in Series Showdown and Gets MVP Nod,” Toronto Star, October 25, 1992: E5.

52 Bill Jauss, “Borders’ Hit String Cut Short,” Chicago Tribune, October 9, 1993: 5.

53 Jack Curry, “Border’s Bat Is Doing the Talking,” New York Times, October 25, 1992: S3.

54 “Borders is Expendable, Blue Jays Say,” Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario) Record, December 2, 1993: C6.

55 Steve Milton, “Borders Says He’s Ready to Adapt to a Life After the Blue Jays,” Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, January 16, 1995: C3.

56 Ben Walker, “Borders Goes to KC in Major Scramble,” Globe and Mail, April 8, 1995: A19.

57 Larry Millson, “Borders’ Crossings Take Him to Cleveland,” Globe and Mail, March 18, 1997: D13.

58 “Borders Fills In, Indians Roll On,” Washington Post, July 6, 1997: D6.

59 Liz Robbins, “Borders Steps Up to Double Duty,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 22, 1998: 5D.

60 Paul Hoynes, “Borders Will Stay for Postseason,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 24, 1998: 2D.

61 Tom Weir, “Borders, Nearly 42, Awaits Another Big-League Shot,” USA Today, April 12, 2005: C6.

62 Geoff Baker, “New and Old Lead Way,” Toronto Star, September 2, 1999: 1.

63 Tom Casey, “Having a Blast: Borders Shows How Game Is Played,” Ottawa Citizen, May 24, 2000: C6.

64 Rodney Page, “Coaching May Be in the Future for Borders,” St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, May 31, 2000: 5C.

65 Joyce, “The Lifer.”

66 Bill Glauber, “Cubans Snap Back at Lasorda, US, 6-1,” Baltimore Sun, September 2, 2000: 22D.

67 Mel Antonen, “Play’s Still the Thing for Borders,” USA Today, May 30, 2001: C8.

68 Joyce, “The Lifer.”

69 Lott, “Mariners’ Crash Davis.”

70 Vinnie Portell, “A Bond Between Brothers,” Oracle (University of South Florida), April 27, 2017, http://www.usforacle.com/2017/04/27/a-bond-between-brothers/ (last accessed March 5, 2021).

71 “Borders Perfect in Rainiers’ Win,” Seattle Times, May 9, 2003: D7.

72 Nick Daschel, “Catcher Knows No Borders,” Vancouver (Washington) Columbian, May 24, 2005: C5.

73 Phil Rogers, “Borders, Moyer: Battery for the Aged,” Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2005: 3-2.

74 Campbell, “In Only Three Seasons, Pat Borders Has Progressed.”

75 Lisa Coffey, “Lake Wales, Family Now Borders for Ex-Catcher,” Lakeland (Florida) Ledger, April 30, 2007, https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20070430/News/608141511/LL (last accessed March 5, 2021).

76 “Cutters Manager Borders Has Jersey Retired,” Williamsport (Pennsylvania) Sun-Gazette, January 16, 2020, https://www.sungazette.com/sports/local-sports/2020/01/cutters-manager-borders-has-jersey-retired/ (last accessed March 18, 2021).