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Toronto Blue Jays Team Page

Team Name: Toronto Blue Jays Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada American League » Team History     » Team Schedule

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2008 Toronto Blue Jays Schedule

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Toronto Blue Jays History

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 2004 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.

During the month of January, 2007, Toronto signed starting pitchers John Thomson and then Tomo Ohka to incentive-based one-year contracts in an effort to strengthen their 4th and 5th rotational slots. On January 30 of that year Toronto also signed starting pitcher Victor Zambrano to a minor league contract, and invited him to Spring Training. All three were eventually released. When Brandon League, who was being considered for the main setup role, arrived to Spring Training with a strained lat muscle, Zambrano took the empty spot in the bullpen. Thomson injured himself in spring training, so the Blue Jays named Ohka and Towers as their fourth and fifth starters. After four mediocre starts, Josh Towers was sent to the bullpen and replaced by Dustin McGowan. Towers returned to the rotation later in the year replacing released pitcher Tomo Ohka. When Gustavo Chacin was injured, he was replaced in the rotation by Shaun Marcum, who had a breakout year.

The 2007 season was blighted by persistent injuries, with 12 Blue Jays landing on the DL. The most serious injury was that of B.J. Ryan, who was out for the entire season having had Tommy John Surgery. However, due to the emergence of young pitchers like Dustin McGowan, Casey Janssen and Jeremy Accardo, the Jays finished 4 games above .500. One of the most memorable games this season for the Jays was on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 when they rallied from being down 11-6 in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to win 12-11 on a RBI walk-off base on balls by Aaron Hill, a victory that moved them to within 1 game under .500. Another memorable moment of this season was Dustin McGowan's complete game one-hitter on Sunday, June 24 against the Colorado Rockies at the Rogers Centre. McGowan carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning when outfielder Jeff Baker hit a single with no out to break it up. This was the first Jays' one-hitter since September 27, 1998, in which Roy Halladay threw against the Detroit Tigers. The Jays won 5-0 and moved themselves up to .500 for the first time since May 1 of the season. The game was also notable for Frank Thomas hitting the 499th home run of his career. The day after McGowan's gem, the Jays defeated the Minnesota Twins 8-5 to climb over the .500 mark for the first time since April and get their first four-game winning streak of the season.

On June 28, 2007, Frank Thomas became the 21st Major Leaguer to hit 500 career home runs. The pitcher who surrendered the homer was Minnesota Twins' starter Carlos Silva. Despite jumping out to an early lead the Jays couldn't hold on and ended up losing 8-5. In addition, Thomas was ejected from the game in the ninth inning by home plate umpire Mark Wegner for arguing balls and strikes. On September 16, 2007, Aaron Hill broke the Blue Jays club record for most doubles by a second baseman in one season, set by Roberto Alomar in 1991 with 41 doubles that season. Hill recorded his 42nd double of the season against the Baltimore Orioles. On September 17, 2007, Frank Thomas hit three home runs in a game for only the second time in his career, both times against the Boston Red Sox.

Information excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_blue_jays. All Rights Reserved.

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