Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. more...

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The "Blue Jays" name originates from the bird of the same name. They are nicknamed "the Jays", which is featured on the team's logo and on the front of the home uniform.

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Toronto, in 1977. Originally based at Exhibition Stadium, the team moved to the SkyDome in 1989. In 2005 the SkyDome was bought by Rogers Communications and the name was thereby changed to Rogers Centre. They are the first and only team outside the United States to win a World Series, and the first team to win a World Series in Canada. With the Montreal Expos (also of Canada) moving to Washington, D.C. after the 2004 season, and becoming the Washington Nationals, the Blue Jays are currently the only MLB team outside the US.

Franchise history

1977-1981

The Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976 as one of two teams slated to join the American League for the next season (the other being the Seattle Mariners). Toronto had been mentioned as a potential major league city as early as the 1880s, and had been home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League from 1896 to 1967. The San Francisco Giants were considering a move to the city until the team was purchased by Bob Lurie in 1976. However, the Giants' abortive bid was enough that the city renovated Exhibition Stadium, home of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, to accommodate baseball.

The franchise was originally owned by Labatt Breweries, with Imperial Trust and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as minority owners. The name "Blue Jays" came about when former Ontario Premier John Robarts, a member of the team's board of directors, started talking about a morning routine: "I was shaving this morning and I saw a blue jay out my window". "That's an interesting name," a board member said, and it was the first time anyone had mentioned the words blue jay. It was very likely that the new team would have worn blue in any case; blue has been Toronto's traditional sporting colour since the Toronto Argonauts adopted blue as their primary colour in 1873.

The Blue Jays played their first game on April 7, 1977 against the Chicago White Sox. They won the snowy affair 9-5, led by Doug Ault's two home runs. That win would be one of only 54 of the 1977 season, as the Blue Jays finished in last place in the AL East, with a record of 54-107.

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