Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays (nicknamed the Jays) is a Major League Baseball team in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. This means that they use the designated hitter rule in most of their games. Its president & CEO is Mark Shapiro, its general manager is Ross Atkins, and its coach and manager is John Gibbons. The team plays 162 games every year, which can be seen on television and heard on radio all across Canada.
The Blue Jays were founded in 1977 and are the only MLB team from Canada or anywhere outside of the United States, but they have not been the only one or even the first. There were also the Montreal Expos, which was formed in 1969, eight years before the Jays. However, the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. in 2004 (becoming the Washington Nationals). As part of the National League, which does not use the designated hitter rule, the Expos became rivals to the Blue Jays. People loved to see the two teams play against each other, since they were the only two MLB teams from Canada.
The first stadium used by the Blue Jays was Exhibition Stadium, part of Exhibition Place, in Downtown Toronto, near the waterfront. The team became popular, and in 1989 they moved to a larger stadium to the east, the "SkyDome". It was the first in the world to have a retractable roof, and is just a few blocks away from the Air Canada Centre and Union Station. The SkyDome hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1991. It is now called Rogers Centre, taking its name from Rogers Communications, a telecommunications company who owns the team.
The Blue Jays won the World Series twice, first in 1992 against the Atlanta Braves and again the next year, in 1993. They won their second World Series on Joe Carter's walk-off home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the last inning of Game 6 on October 23, 1993, for a final score of 7-6. In both of those years, the team won American League East division titles (having the best win-loss record in their division). Others years in which the Jays won division titles were in 1985, 1989, 1991, and most recently in 2015. They also went to the playoffs as a wild card team in 2016.
Toronto Blue Jays Media
The Blue Jays' second game in its inaugural season. Unlike the first game played in a snow storm, this day was bright and sunny with the temperature well below freezing.
Dave Stieb has the second highest number of wins among pitchers in the 1980s.
Left fielder George Bell was named the American League MVP in 1987.
Cito Gaston was named Blue Jays' manager during the 1989 season.
Fireworks at the SkyDome following the Blue Jays' victory in the 1993 World Series.
Blue Jays pitcher Pat Hentgen won the Cy Young Award in 1996.
Bob File pitching for the Blue Jays at Fenway Park during the 2001 season.
After the 2004 season, FieldTurf replaced AstroTurf as the Rogers Centre's playing surface.
Dustin McGowan pitching for the Blue Jays in the 2007 season.
Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay during the 2009 season.
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