40 Years Ago Today, The Blue Jays Made Their Debut
Photo credit: Toronto Star Archives
Time flies, eh?!
It was 40 years ago today that the Toronto Blue Jays were born. Well, not born, technically, but they played their first game, a 9-5 win over the Chicago White Sox at Exhibition Stadium in the snow.
It was 40 years ago today that the Toronto Blue Jays were born. Well, not born, technically, but they played their first game, a 9-5 win over the Chicago White Sox at Exhibition Stadium in the snow.
The marquee moment from the game came in the bottom of the first inning when Doug Ault, a 27-year-old journeyman who had never played a full season in the Major Leagues, took Ken Brett deep for a solo bomb to left field.
The Jays didn’t see much success that year, finishing dead last in the American League East with a 54-107 record, but it was the beginning of something great in Toronto.
Plus, everybody got to enjoy this hilarious song. I think it’s better than Sportsnet’s current jam, to be honest.
Here’s a great read from David Singh at Sportsnet, in which he sat down and talked to Paul Beeston about that snowy afternoon.
“Bottom line was baseball wasn’t new to Toronto. Baseball wasn’t something that we didn’t know about. We all had our favourite teams, whether it was Cleveland or Detroit. People knew the game; it wasn’t just something that was being taught for the first time and you had to learn the rules. People played the game and had been to spring training before. They’d seen the game. There was this feeling: “It’s Toronto. It’s ours. We’re in the major leagues. Montreal has the Expos. Now we have the Blue Jays. Let’s play the games.”
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