| 1988 Toronto Blue Jays | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | East | |
| Ballpark | Exhibition Stadium | |
| City | Toronto | |
| Record | 87–75 (.537) | |
| Divisional place | 4th | |
| Owners | Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | |
| General managers | Pat Gillick | |
| Managers | Jimy Williams | |
| Television | CFTO-TV (Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver) The Sports Network (Fergie Olver, Buck Martinez) | |
| Radio | CJCL (AM) (Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek) | |
| ||
The 1988 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 12th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing in fourth (tie-breaker went to Milwaukee) in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. This was their last full season at Exhibition Stadium before moving to their new home in June of the following year.
Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1988 season. [1]
| October 6 | Player rights to Tom Filer sold to the Milwaukee Brewers. |
| October 15 | Odell Jones granted free agency. José Segura granted free agency. |
| October 23 | Released Charlie Moore. |
| November 9 | Garth Iorg granted free agency. |
| November 22 | Craig McMurtry granted free agency. |
| December 7 | Joe Johnson drafted by the California Angels in the 1987 MLB Rule 5 draft. |
| January 22 | Juan Beníquez granted free agency. |
| January 25 | Re-signed free agent Juan Beníquez to a one-year, $400,000 contract. |
| January 26 | Signed amateur free agent Graeme Lloyd to a contract. |
| February 22 | Signed free agent Mark Ross from the Pittsburgh Pirates to a contract. |
| March 24 | Signed free agent Sal Butera from the Minnesota Twins to a one-year, $100,000 contract. |
| March 25 | Player rights of Willie Upshaw sold to the Cleveland Indians. |
| AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | — | 53–28 | 36–45 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 1 | 50–31 | 38–43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 2 | 47–34 | 40–41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 2 | 45–36 | 42–39 |
| New York Yankees | 85 | 76 | 0.528 | 3½ | 46–34 | 39–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 84 | 0.481 | 11 | 44–37 | 34–47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 107 | 0.335 | 34½ | 34–46 | 20–61 |
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |
Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1988 regular season. [3]
| April 7 | Signed free agent Doug Bair from the Philadelphia Phillies to a contract. Signed free agent Frank Wills from the Cleveland Indians to a contract. |
| May 31 | Released Juan Beníquez. |
| 1988 Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches
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April
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May
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June
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July
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August
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September
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| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Ernie Whitt | 127 | 398 | 100 | .251 | 16 | 70 |
| 1B | Fred McGriff | 154 | 536 | 151 | .282 | 34 | 82 |
| 2B | Manuel Lee | 116 | 381 | 111 | .291 | 2 | 38 |
| 3B | Kelly Gruber | 158 | 569 | 158 | .278 | 16 | 81 |
| SS | Tony Fernández | 154 | 648 | 186 | .287 | 5 | 70 |
| LF | George Bell | 156 | 614 | 165 | .269 | 24 | 97 |
| CF | Lloyd Moseby | 128 | 472 | 113 | .239 | 10 | 42 |
| RF | Jesse Barfield | 137 | 468 | 114 | .244 | 18 | 56 |
| DH | Rance Mulliniks | 119 | 337 | 101 | .300 | 12 | 48 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Liriano | 99 | 276 | 73 | .264 | 3 | 23 |
| Rick Leach | 87 | 199 | 55 | .276 | 0 | 23 |
| Cecil Fielder | 74 | 174 | 40 | .230 | 9 | 23 |
| Pat Borders | 56 | 154 | 42 | .273 | 5 | 21 |
| Sil Campusano | 73 | 132 | 41 | .218 | 2 | 12 |
| Sal Butera | 23 | 60 | 14 | .233 | 1 | 6 |
| Juan Beníquez | 27 | 58 | 17 | .293 | 1 | 8 |
| Rob Ducey | 27 | 54 | 17 | .315 | 0 | 6 |
| Alexis Infante | 19 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Lou Thornton | 11 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Flanagan | 34 | 211.0 | 13 | 13 | 4.18 | 99 |
| Dave Stieb | 32 | 207.1 | 16 | 8 | 3.04 | 147 |
| Jim Clancy | 36 | 196.1 | 11 | 13 | 4.49 | 118 |
| Jimmy Key | 21 | 131.1 | 12 | 5 | 3.29 | 65 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 28 | 98.0 | 4 | 8 | 5.69 | 67 |
| Jeff Musselman | 15 | 85.0 | 8 | 5 | 3.18 | 39 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Cerutti | 46 | 123.2 | 6 | 7 | 3.13 | 65 |
| José Núñez | 13 | 29.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.07 | 18 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Henke | 52 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 2.91 | 66 |
| Duane Ward | 64 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 3.30 | 91 |
| David Wells | 41 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4.62 | 56 |
| Mark Eichhorn | 37 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4.19 | 28 |
| Tony Castillo | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 14 |
| Frank Wills | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.23 | 19 |
| Doug Bair | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 8 |
| Mark Ross | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 4 |
The 2001 Toronto Blue Jays was the franchise's 25th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 80 wins and 82 losses.
The 2000 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 24th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses. It was the team's first season with new mascots Ace and Diamond.
The 1999 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 23rd season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 84 wins and 78 losses. The team set a franchise record for most runs scored in a season (883) and hits in a season (1,580). The previous Blue Jays records for most runs scored and most hits in a season were set in 1993 when the Jays scored 847 runs and collected 1,556 hits. Conversely, the Blue Jays pitching staff gave up the most runs of any Blue Jays team since 1979. It was the team's final season with original mascot BJ Birdy.
The 1998 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 22nd season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses, which was their best record since their 1993 World Series-winning season; the 88 wins were not surpassed until 2015.
The 1995 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 19th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 56 wins and 88 losses.
The 1992 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 16th season of Major League Baseball. Toronto finished first in the American League East for the fourth time with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses, closing the season with an attendance record of 4,028,318. Toronto was not swept in a single series all year, becoming the first team in 49 years to accomplish the feat.
The 1990 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 14th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing second in the American League East with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses. It was their first full season in the SkyDome, where an MLB attendance record of 3,885,284 was set that year. The Blue Jays led the division by 1½ games over the Boston Red Sox with one week left in the season. However, they then proceeded to drop six of their last eight games, losing the division title to the Red Sox by a two-game margin.
The 1989 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 13th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing first in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. The Blue Jays' ace pitcher Dave Stieb led the staff with 17 victories, and the team was offensively buoyed by the league's home run king Fred McGriff. Toronto won the AL East pennant in the final weekend of the season against the favored Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays lost the ALCS in five games to the eventual World Series champion Oakland Athletics. It was the team's last season at Exhibition Stadium, before moving to SkyDome halfway into the season. The Blue Jays hit eight grand slams, the most in MLB in 1989.
The 1987 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 11th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing second in the American League East with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses. They had been in first place by 3½ games over the Detroit Tigers with a week left to play, but they dropped their next seven games in a row, capped off by a sweep at the hands of Detroit at Tiger Stadium on the last weekend of the season, and lost the division by two games.
The 1986 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's tenth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses.
The 1985 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's ninth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing first in the American League East with a record of 99 wins and 62 losses. The win total of 99 is a franchise record, and the division title was the franchise's first.
The 1984 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's eighth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing second in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses.
The 1983 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's seventh season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. It was the franchise's first winning season, starting a streak of 11 consecutive winning seasons. It was the team's first season to use the song "OK Blue Jays" in the seventh-inning stretch.
The 1982 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's sixth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses, 17 games behind the American League Champion Milwaukee Brewers. Bobby Cox became the third field manager in team history.
The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season competing in Major League Baseball. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Blue Jays finished both halves of the season in seventh place in the seven-team American League East. Managed by Bobby Mattick, the Blue Jays played their home games at Exhibition Stadium and had an overall record of 37 wins and 69 losses.
The 1980 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fourth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 67 wins and 95 losses. The season represented a turning point as Bobby Mattick became the second field manager in franchise history.
The 1979 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's third season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 53 wins and 109 losses. The Blue Jays were the only American League East team to finish 1979 with a losing record and the loss total of 109 set the franchise mark; it is also the last time as of 2023 the team lost over 100 games in a season. Attendance for the season decreased to 1,431,651.
The 1978 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's second season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 59 wins and 102 losses.
The 1988 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League West with a record of 84 wins and 77 losses.
The 2006 Milwaukee Brewers season was the 37th season for the Brewers in Milwaukee, the 9th in the National League, and 38th overall. They finished the season in fourth place in the National League Central Division and did not make the playoffs.