Farmington High alum and Blue Jays reliever Duane Ward dies at 62

Duane Ward, the Farmington High School Scorpion who became one of the Toronto Blue Jays’ most accomplished relievers, died of natural causes at 62. His death came as Toronto was already spending the weekend revisiting the franchise’s 1992 and 1993 championships with a statue outside Rogers Centre and a pregame moment of silence for Ward before the game against the Chicago White Sox.

For San Juan County, Ward’s career has long stood as one of the clearest examples of a local athlete reaching baseball’s biggest stage. He pitched for the Blue Jays and won World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, turning a Farmington roots story into a major league résumé that still carries weight in New Mexico sports circles.

Ward had traveled to Toronto on Friday with several former teammates from the Blue Jays’ championship clubs, but he was absent from Saturday’s pregame ceremony that honored the 1992 and 1993 titles and the statue unveiling outside Rogers Centre. The team then held a moment of silence before Sunday’s game, a public acknowledgement of a pitcher whose name remains tied to the club’s most celebrated era.

His October record helped define that run. In a summary of Ward’s postseason work, Sportsnet noted that he posted 4 saves and 1 win in the Blue Jays’ 1993 World Series run. That kind of late-inning performance helped make him a central figure in back-to-back championship seasons and one of the franchise’s most accomplished relievers.

In Farmington, Ward’s rise still carries the kind of local pride reserved for players who moved from high school fields to a championship podium. He is remembered as a Farmington High athlete who made it from San Juan County to Toronto, then helped the Blue Jays win titles that the organization is still celebrating three decades later.