Dunedin Blue Jays

Dunedin Blue Jays Founded in 1987 Dunedin, Florida
Team Logo 100px Cap Insignia
Class-level
Advanced-A (1987–present)
Minor league affiliations
Florida State League (1987–present) North Division
Major league affiliations
Toronto Blue Jays (1978–1979; 1987–present)
Name
Dunedin Blue Jays (1978–1979; 1987–present)
Ballpark
Florida Auto Exchange Stadium (1990–present)
Minor league titles
League titles	None
Division titles	4 (1999, 2000, 2003, 2006)
Owner(s)/Operated by: Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Communications)
Manager: Clayton McCullough
General Manager: Shelby Nelson

The Dunedin Blue Jays are a minor league baseball team based in Dunedin, Florida. They play in the Florida State League, and are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They play their home games at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, formerly Dunedin Stadium, which opened in 1990 and seats 5,510 fans.

Two teams named the Blue Jays, both affiliates of Toronto, have played in Dunedin: the original incarnation, from 1978 to 1979, and the current team, established in 1987. Since their inception they have won two division championships, in 2006 and 2008.

Team history

The original incarnation of the Dunedin Blue Jays was founded in 1978. They were established as the Class A affiliate of the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise. They played for two seasons in the Florida State League and were one of four Class A teams in Toronto's farm system. After the 1979 season the team was disbanded as Toronto expanded its farm system into higher classifications.^[1]

Local interests were unable to sign a deal with other major league teams to keep minor league baseball in Dunedin; however Toronto continued to hold its spring training in the city. In 1987 Toronto decided to establish a new Florida State League franchise in Dunedin. They originally played at Grant Field until 1990, when Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, originally Dunedin Stadium, was completed in 1990.

When Major League Baseball owners considered locking out the regular players and using "scabs" instead for the 1995 season, Dunedin would have been used as the Toronto Blue Jays' home field due to Ontario laws concerning replacement workers.^[2] The MLB labor dispute was resolved before the plan was implemented, however.

In 2006, the Blue Jays made it to the Florida State League Championship Series, losing to the St. Lucie Mets 3 games to 0. They also won the division championship in 2008, losing the league championship.

In 2007, the Dunedin Blue Jays were nominated for the 2007 Corporate Support Award, which is awarded annually by the Florida Recreation & Park Association, to an organization that goes above and beyond to support and fund recreational programming.

Roster

Dunedin Blue Jays rosterview · talk · edit
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 45 Casey Beck 17 Wes Etheridge 27 Dumas Garcia 16 Scott Gracey 43 Drew Hutchison -- Andrew Liebel 28 Aaron Loup 23 Dustin McGowan #* 18 Deck McGuire 30 Nestor Molina -- Sean Shoffit 26 Ryan Shopshire 35 Ryan Tepera 37 Steve Turnbull 29 Asher Wojciechowski 22 Matt Wright		Catchers 31 A.J. Jimenez 27 Tim Mahler Infielders 15 Kevin Ahrens  7 Ivan Contreras  2 Ryan Goins -- Justin McClanahan ‡  5 Kevin Nolan 41 Sean Ochinko 11 Ryan Shimpf 40 Jon Talley § 21 Brian Van Kirk Outfielders 44 Brad Glenn 20 Chris Hopkins 25 Brad McElroy 46 Kenny Wilson		Manager -- Clayton McCullough Coaches -- Ralph Dickenson (hitting) 32 Darold Knowles (pitching) 7-day disabled list * On Toronto Blue Jays 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated July 8, 2011 Transactions → More rosters

Players

Dunedin Blue Jays players who have made it to Toronto:

Aaron Hill

• Jeremy Accardo
• Russ Adams
• J.P. Arencibia
• Derek Bell
• Pat Borders
• Dave Bush
• Chris Carpenter
• Brett Cecil
• Gustavo Chacin
• Carlos Delgado
• Kelvim Escobar
• Shawn Green, 2-time All-Star
• Gabe Gross
• Juan Guzman
• Roy Halladay
• Pat Hentgen
• Aaron Hill
• Orlando Hudson
• Casey Janssen
• Reed Johnson
• Jeff Kent
• Billy Koch
• Brandon League
• Adam Lind
• Jesse Litsch
• Shaun Marcum
• Dustin McGowan
• Lloyd Moseby
• Josh Phelps
• David Purcey
• Alex Rios
• Ricky Romero All Star 2011
• Travis Snider
• Ed Sprague
• Shannon Stewart
• Dave Stieb
• Mike Timlin
• Dave Weathers
• Vernon Wells

References

1. ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i-YLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=71gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2144,943233&dq=dunedin+blue+jays&hl=en
2. ^ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/22723149.html?dids=22723149:22723149&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+18%2C+1995&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=BASEBALL+Here+They+Come%2C+the+Dunedin+Blue+Jays&pqatl=google

External links

• Official website