'That was my flu game': Inside Delgado's historic four-homer night for Blue Jays

When Carlos Delgado arrived at the SkyDome on Sept. 25 for the Toronto Blue Jays' 159th game of the 2003 season, making franchise history was the furthest thing from the slugging first baseman's mind.

Delgado, who sat at 299 career home runs entering the night, was severely under the weather as the 83-75 Blue Jays played out the string on a season that fell short of the playoffs.

"I get to the ballpark; we were playing Tampa Bay that day," Delgado said in Part 5 of the Sportsnet documentary, The Blue Jays Way, commemorating the franchise's 50th season. "I was feeling terrible, so I went out and took batting practice. (Then) I went back inside, changed, took my medicine and went into the trainer's room, and I told my trainer, 'Wake me up at 6:50.'"

What happened next was a moment that still stands on its own in Blue Jays history.

(The fifth part of The Blue Jays Way: Identity Crisis will air on Sunday, Aug. 9, following Toronto's game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.)

Despite his illness and late pre-game nap, Delgado bashed four home runs in a 10-8 win over the Rays, becoming the first Blue Jays hitter and 15th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

"It's the flu game," the now-54-year-old said in the documentary. "It's not only Michael Jordan, Carlos Delgado has a flu game, too."

In that September contest, Delgado wasted little time in shaking off any lasting drowsiness and putting Toronto on the board. In the bottom of the first, the Puerto Rican star drove an 0-1 fastball from Rays starter Jorge Sosa off the second deck in centre field for his 300th career major-league blast.

"I just kept telling myself: Don't try to do too much. Just make contact," Delgado recalled.

The simple approach clearly worked, as Delgado further extended his franchise big-fly record — he remains the only player to hit more than 300 homers in a Blue Jays uniform — and set in motion his career night.

He came back to the plate in the fourth against Sosa once again, and this time launched a 1-0 changeup over the wall in right.

Even with the early homer heroics, Tampa Bay took the lead with a five-run top of the sixth and made the call to the bullpen in the bottom half with Delgado leading off.

"They're bringing in Joe Kennedy," Delgado said. "I think that I was like 1-for-16 or 1-for-17 against Joe Kennedy.

"He used to own me."

Delgado was, in fact, 4-for-32 with five walks and seven strikeouts in his career against Kennedy entering the at-bat. But not even prime Randy Johnson would have been able to get him out on that special Thursday night in Toronto.

Kennedy hung a curveball to Delgado three pitches into the matchup, an offering that was also deposited into the right-field bleachers.

"So, it had to be my day," Delgado joked. "I got a hit off Joe Kennedy."

In the back-and-forth affair, the three-time Silver Slugger found himself tasked with taking his fourth at-bat as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the eighth with Toronto now trailing 8-7.

For this turn through the top of Toronto's order, the Rays tasked closer Lance Carter with preserving the lead.

But Delgado was ready for the moment, diving down to drive a 2-2 changeup deep to centre field, completing his historic night with an emphatic bat toss and fist pump as he entered his home-run trot.

"(Carter) is known to have a really good changeup, so I sat on a changeup the whole at-bat," he said of the fourth blast. "It's probably one of the best balls that I hit in my whole life."

When all was said and done, Delgado finished 4-for-4 with six RBIs as the Blue Jays added two more runs in the eighth before locking down the victory in the top of the ninth.

"The place was electric, and the team couldn't have been happier for him at that time," Pete Walker, Toronto’s current pitching coach and starter that night against the Rays, said in The Blue Jays Way.

"After the fourth one, it was like, 'This is crazy,'" longtime Blue Jays centre-fielder Vernon Wells added. "You just don't see this that often in this game."

Delgado went on to leave the yard once more in that 2003 season, ending the year with 42 round-trippers and an American League-leading 145 RBIs and 1.019 OPS.

His all-star and Silver Slugger campaign led to Delgado finishing second to Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez in MVP voting, earning five of 28 first-place votes.

Since Delgado's quartet of moon shots, six other players have hit four homers in a single game, bringing the all-time list to 21 across MLB history.

But as far as we know, Delgado's is the only one that can draw inspiration from Michael Jordan's 38-point outburst in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.

"That's my four home-run game," he said. "Everyone will ask me (about it), I'll tell them the same story: That was my flu game."