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The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games primarily at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto.
Joseph Chris Carter is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and San Francisco Giants. Carter hit a walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series for the Blue Jays, their second consecutive championship. Carter is one of only two players to end a World Series with a home run, the other being Bill Mazeroski.
Roberto Alomar Velázquez is a Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for sixteen seasons, primarily with the Toronto Blue Jays. He is regarded as one of the greatest second basemen and all-around players. During his career, the 12-time All-Star won more Gold Glove Awards (10) than any other second baseman in baseball history, in addition to winning four Silver Slugger Awards for his hitting. Among second basemen, he ranks third in games played (2,320), fifth in stolen bases (474), sixth in plate appearances (10,400), seventh in doubles (504) and assists (6,524), and eighth in hits (2,724), runs (1,508), at bats (9,073), and double plays turned (1,407). In 2011, Alomar was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first Hall of Fame member to be depicted as a Blue Jays player on his plaque.
Lloyd Anthony Moseby is an American former Major League Baseball player. A center fielder, and good all-around athlete, Moseby's nickname, Shaker, was said to stem from his ability to get away from or "shake" players who attempted to defend him on the basketball court.
José Antonio Bautista Santos, nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies.
Edwin Elpidio Encarnación Rivera is a Dominican former professional baseball designated hitter, third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Chicago White Sox. Encarnación is a three-time All-Star.
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 1997 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 21st season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses. With a massive redesign of their logos and uniforms, the Blue Jays attempted to re-establish themselves in the American League East by signing Roger Clemens via free agency and bringing All-Stars Carlos García and Orlando Merced through trade. Although Clemens rejuvenated himself with the Blue Jays, both Garcia and Merced ended up being flops as dismal overall hitting and an inconsistent bullpen doomed the Blue Jays once again to a last-place finish. 1997 also marked the end of the road for manager Cito Gaston, being fired near the end of the season. Longtime fan-favourite Joe Carter also played in his final season for the Blue Jays, as he was released at the end of the season.
The 1996 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 20th season in franchise history. The season involved the Blue Jays finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. The Blue Jays had a losing record for the third consecutive season.
The 1993 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 17th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing first in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses. They were shut out only once in 162 regular-season games. The Blue Jays would repeat as World Champions and become the first back-to-back champions since the 1977–1978 New York Yankees. The American League Championship Series would see the Blue Jays play the Chicago White Sox. After defeating the White Sox in six games, the Blue Jays would beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, also in six games. The team would not qualify for the postseason again until the 2015 season.
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 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 Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976, as one of two teams slated to join the American League for the following season, via the 1977 Major League Baseball expansion. Toronto had been mentioned as a potential major league city as early as the 1880s, and had been home to the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team of the International League, from 1896 to 1967. They have played their home games at Rogers Centre since 1989.
The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 38th season for the franchise, and the 25th full season of play at Rogers Centre. Pitcher Roy Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Blue Jays before retiring from baseball, citing injuries.
The 2016 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Toronto Blue Jays against the Cleveland Indians for the American League (AL) pennant and the right to play in the 2016 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. The Indians had home-field advantage for the series because the Blue Jays qualified as a wild-card team. The Indians defeated the Blue Jays four games to one.