70 Fun Facts About Toronto Blue Jays

Which brewing company originally owned the Toronto Blue Jays?

Labatt's best-known beer was Labatt Blue, yet Ontario law kept the brewery from selling a single cup at its own team's home games until July 1982, midway through the club's sixth season.

Whose Game 7 homer won the Blue Jays the 2025 pennant?

George Springer, playing on a knee still sore from a pitch that hit him in Game 5, turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win and Toronto's first pennant since 1993.

The Blue Jays' very first game, played in a snowstorm on April 7, 1977, was a win over which team?

Chicago White Sox scored twice in the first inning, but rookie Doug Ault answered with the first home run in franchise history, hit another two innings later, and Toronto won 9-5.

Before SkyDome opened, where did the Blue Jays play their home games?

Exhibition Stadium was a football field converted for baseball on the cold, windy shore of Lake Ontario, and the club's own president later called it "the worst stadium in sports".

In 1976, which existing MLB club nearly relocated to Toronto before a court ruling halted the sale?

San Francisco Giants owner Horace Stoneham agreed to sell to a Toronto group in January 1976, but the new mayor, George Moscone, went straight to court and a local buyer stepped in to keep the team.

Roughly how much did the Blue Jays' founding owners pay the American League for the expansion franchise in 1976?

$7 million in US funds bought the franchise, and the last-place newcomers were a hit at the gate at once: 1.7 million fans came in 1977, a record for a first-year expansion team.

Which manager led the Blue Jays to their first AL East title in 1985?

Bobby Cox turned a last-place club into division champions in four seasons, then left that October to become general manager of his old National League team, which he later managed to 14 straight division titles.

Who managed the Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993?

Cito Gaston was the hitting coach who took over a 12-24 team in May 1989 and won the division that same season, three years before the first of his two titles.

The Blue Jays' 1992 title was the first World Series won by what kind of manager?

An African-American manager had never won the World Series before 1992, and Toronto's skipper had at first said no to the job three years earlier, happy to stay on as the hitting coach.

Which Blue Jays catcher was named Most Valuable Player of the 1992 World Series?

Pat Borders batted just .242 in the regular season, then went 9-for-20, a .450 average, across the six games of the Series.

Whose two-run double in the 11th inning of Game 6 won the 1992 World Series for the Blue Jays?

Dave Winfield, 41, finally shook off "Mr. May", the label George Steinbrenner had pinned on him in New York for coming up short when it mattered.

Which Blue Jay hit the game-tying ninth-inning home run off Dennis Eckersley in Game 4 of the 1992 ALCS?

Roberto Alomar's two-run shot came off that year's league MVP and Cy Young winner and finished a comeback from 6-1 down; Toronto won 7-6 in 11 innings and he was named series MVP.

Which slugger did Toronto send to San Diego with Tony Fernández in the 1990 trade that brought Joe Carter?

Fred McGriff had led the American League with 36 home runs a year earlier, yet it was the pair who came back, Carter and a 22-year-old second baseman, who anchored Toronto's two title teams.

Joe Carter's walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series came against which team?

Philadelphia Phillies had scored five runs in the seventh inning of Game 6 to lead 6-5 and were two outs from forcing a seventh game when Carter homered with two men on.

Which pitcher gave up Joe Carter's series-ending home run in 1993?

Mitch Williams, the closer known as Wild Thing, shook off his catcher's call for a slider and threw a fastball; Carter said expecting the breaking ball was the only reason he kept it fair.

Before Joe Carter in 1993, who was the only player to end a World Series with a home run?

Bill Mazeroski, a Pittsburgh second baseman prized for his glove rather than his bat, led off the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 in 1960 with the score tied and beat the Yankees with one swing.

In 1983 Toronto police charged a Yankees outfielder with cruelty to animals after his warm-up throw killed what?

A seagull was hit by his throw before the bottom of the fifth inning; police booked him after the game, he posted a $500 bond, and the charge was dropped the next day.

Which Blue Jays first baseman, who wore a batting helmet in the field, won the 1993 AL batting title?

John Olerud wore the helmet because a brain aneurysm had nearly killed him in college; in 1993 he was still batting above .400 in August and finished at .363.

The first no-hitter in Blue Jays history, on September 2, 1990, was thrown against which opponent?

Cleveland Indians had spoiled the same pitcher's no-hitter with two outs in the ninth two years earlier, when a grounder took a freak hop over the second baseman; this time he finished a 3-0 win.

Which pitcher won the first Cy Young Award in Blue Jays history, in 1996?

Pat Hentgen had gone 10-14 with a 5.11 ERA the year before; in 1996 he won 20 games and threw 10 complete games for a team that lost 88.

Who won the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in each of his two seasons as a Blue Jay?

Roger Clemens signed after Boston's general manager spoke of the "twilight" of his career, then led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts two years running before asking to be traded to a contender.

Roy Halladay's nickname 'Doc' was a reference to which figure?

Wild West gunslinger Doc Holliday gave the club's radio announcer his pun, and Halladay made the name his own: "Doc's Box" was the stadium suite where he hosted children from a Toronto hospital.

Which Blue Jays left-hander won the 2021 AL Cy Young Award?

Robbie Ray had led baseball in walks in 2020 and re-signed with Toronto for one year at $8 million; he then led the league in ERA and strikeouts and won 29 of the 30 first-place votes.

Who managed the Blue Jays to the 2025 American League pennant?

John Schneider, a catcher who never got past the club's minor leagues as a player, took a team that had finished last with 88 losses in 2024 to 94 wins and first place a year later.

Which Blue Jays radio voice called 4,306 straight games from 1977 to 2004?

Tom Cheek, whose call of the 1993 winner was "Touch 'em all, Joe", never missed a game until his father died in June 2004; the number 4,306 now hangs beside his name at the ballpark.

Which slugger hit a club-record 336 home runs as a Blue Jay?

Carlos Delgado signed as a teenage catcher and ended up at first base; on September 25, 2003, he homered in all four of his trips to the plate in a single game.

Which Blue Jays left fielder was named American League MVP in 1987?

George Bell hit 47 home runs and drove in a league-best 134 runs, yet Toronto was swept on the final weekend of the season and lost the division by two games.

In 1988 a Blue Jay became the first to hit three home runs on Opening Day, all off which Kansas City ace?

Bret Saberhagen gave up all three to a hitter who had spent the spring furious at his manager's plan to make him a designated hitter, and who was batting as the DH that very afternoon.

Which Blue Jay led the majors with 54 home runs in 2010?

José Bautista had arrived two years earlier from Pittsburgh in a minor trade as a utility man; his 54 broke a club record that had stood since 1987.

The Blue Jays' famous bat-flip home run in the 2015 ALDS came against which team?

Texas Rangers had gone ahead minutes earlier when the Toronto catcher's throw back to the mound struck the batter's bat; three straight Texas errors then set up the three-run homer and the flip in Game 5.

Which newcomer was voted AL MVP in 2015, his first season with the Blue Jays?

Josh Donaldson arrived from Oakland in a winter trade, and after hockey broadcaster Don Cherry urged the country to vote, he drew a record 14 million All-Star ballots on the way to the award.

Edwin Encarnación's home run trot, right arm held out stiffly, was known as carrying what?

A parrot is what fans pictured perched on the bent arm he first held out after a grand slam in April 2012; they edited the bird into photos of him and brought toy parrots to the ballpark.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was born in which city?

Montreal was home because his father was then the star of the city's National League team; raised in the Dominican Republic, he came back to Canada at 16 when Toronto signed him.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s 14-year contract extension signed in 2025 was worth how much?

$500 million was by far the richest deal in club history, and he began repaying it within months, as MVP of the playoff series that sent Toronto to its first World Series in 32 years.

In which city did Vladimir Guerrero Jr. win the 2023 Home Run Derby?

Seattle is where he finally won it, four years after hitting a record 91 home runs in one Derby and still losing the final; his father had taken the title in 2007.

Where did the Blue Jays play their 2020 home games because of pandemic border restrictions?

Buffalo, New York, home of their top farm club, got the games only after Canada refused to let the team play in Toronto and Pennsylvania vetoed a plan to share Pittsburgh's ballpark.

In April and May 2021 the Blue Jays played home games at TD Ballpark in which Florida city?

Dunedin is the club's spring-training home, pressed into service while the border stayed shut; Toronto did not see its team at home until July 30, 2021, 670 days after the last game there.

SkyDome was the first stadium in the world to have what?

A fully retractable motorized roof, which opens or closes in about 20 minutes, was the answer to the cold, wind and weather delays that had plagued games at the club's open lakefront park.

What did SkyDome's builders add beyond the outfield, overlooking the field?

A hotel was added to the plans after work was under way, along with a health club, and the extras helped push the stadium's cost to nearly four times the first estimate.

Which Blue Jays closer, an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, grew up just north of Toronto in Markham, Ontario?

Jordan Romano was left unprotected by Toronto in 2018, taken by another club in the Rule 5 draft and handed back three months later; he went on to save 36 games in each of his All-Star seasons.

Which future Blue Jay got the first hit at SkyDome as a visiting player?

Paul Molitor led off the stadium's first game with a double and scored its first run for the visitors; four years later he was the World Series MVP there in a Toronto uniform.

Rogers bought the half-billion-dollar SkyDome in 2004 for roughly what price?

$25 million was about four percent of what the stadium had cost; its debts had forced the province to sell at a loss, a bankruptcy sale followed, and Rogers put its own name on the bargain the next year.

Who was the Blue Jays' mascot from 1979 to 1999?

BJ Birdy was built and played throughout by one man, Kevin Shanahan, who made the first suit as a student; an umpire once threw the bird out of a game for whipping up the crowd over a call.

Which mascot was dropped after the 2003 season, leaving Ace on his own?

Ace was later joined by a little brother, Junior, for Jr. Jays promotions.

Which singer recorded 'OK Blue Jays', the 1983 song fans clap along to during the seventh-inning stretch?

Keith Hampshire had topped the Canadian chart in 1973 with "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and was singing commercial jingles when he cut the team's song, which went gold three years later.

What colour jerseys do the Blue Jays traditionally wear for their Canada Day home game?

Red first appeared on July 1, 1996, on a jersey that carried CANADA across the back in place of every player's name; before the game, members of the Armed Forces carry a giant flag onto the field.

Which nickname belongs to the muscular cartoon jay, drawn beside a large letter, that was Toronto's main logo in 2003?

T-Bird began in 2000 as a spring-training and alternate logo, was promoted to the main mark for 2003 only as a stopgap, and gave way a year later to an all-new design.

Which shade joined black and silver in the Blue Jays' colour scheme from 2004 to 2011?

Graphite, a metallic grey, came with a logo that dropped both the maple leaf and the word "Blue"; in 2012 the club went back to an updated version of its original design.

The Blue Jays' 2024 City Connect uniform, with the Toronto skyline across the chest, goes by what nickname?

Night Mode is meant to evoke the city after dark: its near-black "pitch blue" is taken from the look of Lake Ontario at night, the club's first dark base colour since 2011.

In the 1985 ALCS the Blue Jays led three games to one but lost to which team?

Kansas City Royals would have been out under the old best-of-five format; 1985 was the first year the series ran to seven games, and they won the last three, then the World Series.

Which 1993 expansion team broke the Blue Jays' season attendance record?

Colorado Rockies sold 4.48 million tickets in their first season by playing in the Denver Broncos' football stadium; Toronto had been the first club ever to pass four million, in 1991.

The Pearson Cup, an annual exhibition from 1978 to 1986, pitted the Blue Jays against which club?

Montreal Expos had made Lester B. Pearson, a keen ballplayer in his youth, their honorary president, so the former prime minister's name went on the trophy for Canada's bragging-rights game.

The Blue Jays won the 2025 ALCS in seven games over which team?

Seattle Mariners led Game 7 by 3-1 and were nine outs from the first World Series in their history when a three-run homer beat them; the two clubs had joined the league together in 1977.

Which team beat the Blue Jays in the 2025 World Series?

Los Angeles Dodgers were losing in the ninth inning of Game 7 until Miguel Rojas homered to tie it, and Will Smith's home run in the 11th won it 5-4.

Which team is the Blue Jays' traditional geographic rival, four hours down Highway 401?

Detroit Tigers and Toronto fought over the same division through the 1980s, never harder than in 1987, when Detroit swept the final weekend to win it; the feud cooled once the Tigers changed divisions in 1998.

Which Red Sox second baseman of the 1940s served as the Blue Jays' hitting coach from 1977 to 1981?

Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams's old teammate, tutored the expansion club's hitters through five straight last-place seasons; five years after he left, he was voted into the Hall of Fame.

Which Hall of Fame 300-game winner was a Blue Jays radio broadcaster in the club's first seasons?

Early Wynn had been released one win short of 300 and sat at home until Cleveland signed him the next summer; he got it at 43, never won again, and was in the Hall of Fame by 1972.

Who was the Blue Jays' first employee, hired in 1976 and later the club's president?

Paul Beeston was an accountant from Welland, Ontario, hired to look after the new club's books; he went on to serve two separate terms as its president, the first covering both championships.

Which general manager, in charge from 1978 to 1994, assembled the back-to-back championship teams?

Pat Gillick joined before the first season as assistant general manager and took charge in 1978; after Toronto he built playoff teams for three more clubs and won a third World Series in 2008.

What prompted the Blue Jays to swap their white-panelled caps for all-blue ones midway through 1993?

A five-game losing streak in early July was the cue: the club already meant to retire the white panels the next year, and its equipment manager reckoned a skid was the right time to try the all-blue road caps at home.

Which pitcher suggested bringing back the white-panelled caps for the final home games of 2025?

Jeff Hoffman, the closer, proposed the switch after Toronto had lost six of seven in a tight division race; the team won its first five games in the caps, two of them in the playoffs.

In 2018, Omni Television began airing Sunday afternoon Blue Jays games in which language?

Tagalog broadcasts, billed as the Pinoy Edition, followed the model of the Punjabi edition of Hockey Night in Canada; the response was strong enough that all 27 Sunday games aired that way the next season.

Which channel began carrying Blue Jays games in French in 2011?

TVA Sports gave the microphone to Jacques Doucet, for more than three decades the French voice of Quebec's own departed big-league team; he called Blue Jays games until he retired in 2022.

Who was announced in 2026 as the first inductee into the Blue Jays' new Hall of Excellence?

Buck Martinez served the club as catcher, manager and broadcaster; as a player in 1985 he tagged out two runners on a single play after a collision at the plate had broken his leg.

The Blue Jays won their first World Series in 1992 by beating which National League club in six games?

Atlanta Braves won the opener, but Toronto took four of the next five, the last in 11 innings, to become the first team from outside the United States to win the World Series.

Which Blue Jay's leaping catch in Game 3 of the 1992 World Series nearly started a triple play?

Devon White. He crashed into the wall to rob David Justice, one runner was called out for passing another, and the umpire missed the tag that would have made it a triple play.

Which Yankee broke up a Blue Jays perfect-game bid with two outs in the ninth in August 1989?

Roberto Kelly doubled after the first 26 Yankees had gone down in order, and Toronto's starter had to settle for a 2-1 win, the closest the franchise has come to a perfect game.

Which team did the Blue Jays face in their 2014 exhibition games at Montreal's Olympic Stadium?

New York Mets. The two games drew 96,350 fans a decade after the city lost its own team, and Toronto went back to play there every spring through 2019.

Which pitcher in 2023 became the first Blue Jay since 2011 to wear number 12?

Jordan Hicks. The club had retired 12 for its Hall of Fame second baseman in 2011, then put the number back in circulation after MLB placed him on its ineligible list in 2021.

In 1984 the Blue Jays and Brewers played a pre-season series under the new dome of which Canadian city?

Vancouver. BC Place had opened the year before as Canada's first domed stadium, and the city's Triple-A Canadians were the Brewers' top farm club at the time.