A former teammate of late Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Duane Ward reflected on their final conversation just hours before Ward was found dead.
“He looked a little tired, but that was it,” former Blue Jays pitcher Tom Henke told Sportsnet in a story published on Sunday, July 19. “It was a long trip for him [to Toronto from Ward’s home in Nevada]. He said he was kind of tired and was going to go to bed and get some rest for the next day. It was quite a shock.”
Ward, Henke, 68, and a group of former Blue Jays teammates were in Toronto for a ceremony to honor their back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.
When Ward didn’t show up for the ceremony on Saturday, July 18, a wellness check was performed. When police arrived on scene, they found him dead. He was 62.
No cause of death has been publicly released.
“It really hasn’t set in yet,” Henke said. “I would have never guessed it.”
Paul Beeston, the current President Emeritus of the Blue Jays, told Sportsnet, “This wasn’t supposed to happen to Wardo.”
“I’m shocked and really, really sad about it,” Beeston, 81, said. “He came up here to celebrate and this was Wardo at his best, he’s got all his teammates around him and he’s celebrating and he passes. … He was with us and was with the guys that he went to battle with. With the guys he smiled with and had fun with. I don’t know what to say. It’s not supposed to happen at 62 years old.”
The night before his death, Ward abruptly left a team dinner with a group of his former teammates, which former Blue Jays pitcher Todd Stottlemyre reflected on after news of Ward’s death.
“We all came together in Toronto for a special celebration and tribute,” he wrote via X. “With my deepest regret I am making this post. We had no idea our Friday night dinner and the photo I posted was going to be the last time we were going to see Duane Ward. From celebration to sadness in a moment.”
Stottlemyre, 61, added, “Without your contribution there would be no BACK TO BACK. Life is short and we will never know when we will be called. Give someone a hug today and reach out to a loved one and tell them how much you love them. Prayers go out to the Ward family. RIP Brother, until we see you again.”
