Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and are the only Canadian team in the league since the Montreal Expos ceased operations in 2004. Established in 1976 as part of the American League's expansion, the Blue Jays played their first game in 1977. Over the years, they have achieved significant success, winning two consecutive World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, making history as the first team outside the United States to do so. Their home games are held at Rogers Centre, which features a retractable roof and is located near the iconic CN Tower.
The team has experienced various ups and downs throughout its history, with notable struggles in the early years followed by a resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many distinguished players have contributed to the Blue Jays' legacy, including Roberto Alomar, Roy Halladay, and José Bautista. Despite fluctuations in performance, the Blue Jays have maintained a strong fan base and continued to compete at a high level, including multiple playoff appearances in the early 2020s. The team is recognized for its vibrant colors of royal blue, navy blue, red, and white, embodying a sense of Canadian pride and community support.
Toronto Blue Jays
Team information
- Inaugural season: 1977
- Home ballpark: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Owner: Rogers Communications
- Team colors: Royal blue, navy blue, red, and white
Overview
The Toronto Blue Jays is a Major League Baseball (MLB) team that plays in the East division of the American League (AL). Created as part of a 1976 expansion of the AL, the Blue Jays first took the field in 1977. Over the course their history, the Blue Jays have won several World Series championships and AL pennants. Heading into the 2020 season, the Blue Jays amassed an all-time record that included 3,383 wins and 3,458 losses for an overall .495 win/loss percentage. Canada’s only MLB team since the departure of the Montreal Expos in 2004, the Blue Jays have long been counted among that nation’s most popular and successful sports teams.
History
The history of the Toronto Blue Jays began with an AL expansion that took place in 1976. At that time, AL officials decided to add two new franchises. One would be the Seattle Mariners. The other—awarded to Imperial Trust, Ltd., the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Labatt’s Breweries—would be based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As the franchise came together, a name-the-team contest was held to determine the club’s name. More than thirty thousand entries were received. The name “Blues” was popular, but the University of Toronto had used that moniker for its various sports teams since the late nineteenth century, so the fledgling franchise decided to go in a different direction. Dr. William Mills, who was among the 154 people who had suggested the name “Blue Jays,” was ultimately selected as the contest’s winner. With that, the Toronto Blue Jays were born.
The Blue Jays made their official MLB debut on April 7, 1977, in a 9–7 win over the Chicago White Sox. While the team enjoyed little on-field success for the remainder of that year, fan support was strong from the outset and never wavered. In fact, a total of more than 1.7 million fans attended a Blue Jays’ game in 1977—breaking the previous MLB record for attendance in an expansion team’s inaugural season.
Despite their popularity, the Blue Jays’ early seasons were regularly disappointing. Through their first five years, the team consistently finished at the bottom of their division. In hopes of rectifying this situation, the Blue Jays hired manager Bobby Cox in 1982. With Cox at the helm, the Blue Jays finally recorded their first winning season the following year. That change in fortune marked the beginning of a long stretch over which the Blue Jays’ play improved considerably. In 1985, the team won a franchise-record ninety-nine games and its first division title before falling to the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
The Blue Jays’ success continued through the rest of the 1980s and into the 1990s, recording winning seasons every year and getting as far in the postseason as the ALCS in 1989 and 1991. In 1992, the Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS to finally win a berth in the World Series. Facing the Atlanta Braves, the Blue Jays fought and won a back-and-forth battle that ended when the Blue Jays scored winning runs in the 11th inning of Game 6. With that, the Blue Jays claimed the first World Series championship in franchise history. Their victory marked the first time in baseball history that the World Series was won by a team from outside the United States. The following year, the Blue Jays achieved another historic feat when they returned to the World Series after beating the Chicago White Sox in the ACLS. In the World Series, the Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to win a second-straight league championship. In doing so, they became the first team to win back-to-back World Series championships since the New York Yankees did the same in 1977 and 1978.
After winning the World Series for the second time, the Blue Jays’ run of success came to an abrupt halt. Through the remainder of the 1990s, the team struggled through numerous losing seasons and failed to earn a spot in the postseason. Even when the Blue Jays started to have winning seasons again in the late 1990s and 2000s, they still did not perform well enough to earn a playoff spot. Ultimately, the team would not clear that particular hurdle until 2015. Prior to that season, the Blue Jays put together a rebuilt roster including key players such as Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. Revitalized, the team finally returned to the postseason and went on a run that took them back to the ALCS. Taking on the Royals again, the Blue Jays battled back from an early two-game deficit only to be eliminated in Game 6. The next year, the Blue Jays put in another winning regular season and once again earned a playoff berth. Returning to the ALCS for the second-straight year, the Blue Jays faced the Cleveland Indians. This time, however, the Blue Jays were outmatched and lost all but one game to the Indians before being eliminated. After that, the team again entered a stretch of losing seasons that saw it finish near the bottom of the AL East and fail to make the playoffs in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Notable players
Several former Toronto Blue Jays’ players have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Chief among these honorees is second baseman Roberto Alomar. The son of All-Star second baseman Sandy Alomar, Sr., the younger Alomar followed in his father’s footsteps, earning a reputation as one of the game’s best players. During his five seasons with the Blue Jays in the first half of the 1990s, Alomar was a standout player who recorded 451 runs, 55 home runs, and 342 runs batted in (RBIs). On top of that, he was one of the key contributors in the team’s two World Series championship runs during that era. Pitcher Roy Halladay spent twelve seasons with the Blue Jays from 1998 to 2009. Despite some early ups and downs, Halladay eventually became one of the most effective members of the Blue Jays’ bullpen. During his run with the team, Halladay threw 1,495 strikeouts and won 148 games. He also won a pair of Cy Young Awards before his retirement from the Philadelphia Phillies in 2013. Sadly, Halladay passed away from injuries he suffered during a plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa, Florida, on November 7, 2017. Left fielder Rickey Henderson briefly played for the Blue Jays in 1993. During more than 44 games with the team, he recorded 37 runs, 35 hits, and 4 home runs. Most importantly, Henderson helped the Blue Jays win their second-straight World Series championship before departing for the Oakland Athletics the following year. First baseman and designated hitter Frank Thomas spent most of his last two MLB seasons with the Blue Jays in 2007 and 2008. In that span, he had 97 runs, 44 home runs, and 133 RBIs. Some other Hall of Famers who played for the Blue Jays include Jack Morris, Phila Niekro, and Dave Winfield.
There have been many other notable Toronto Blue Jays as well. Pitcher Dave Stieb played with the Blue Jays for all but one year of his sixteen-season career. He debuted with the team as a rookie in 1979, playing regularly through 1992 and briefly returning to the team in 1998 after not playing at all for several years. During that time, he recorded 1,658 strikeouts and earned 175 wins. Right fielder and third baseman José Bautista played in Toronto from 2008 to 2017. In that time, he had 790 runs, 288 homers, and 766 RBIs. Shortstop, third baseman, and second baseman Tony Fernandez played a total of twelve seasons with the Blue Jays over three separate stints in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Over the course of his entire tenure with the team, Fernandez recorded 704 runs, 60 home runs, and 613 RBIs. First baseman Carlos Delgado was a key Blue Jays player from 1993 to 2004. In that period, he had 889 runs, 336 home runs, and 1,058 RBIs. Other notable Blue Jays’ players include Jimmy Key, Jesse Barfield, Vernon Wells, and Pat Hentgen.
Bibliography
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