1977 Toronto Blue Jays season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Toronto Blue Jays
season = 1977
misc = Inaugural Season

current league = American League
y1 = 1977
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1977
Uniform logo =
ballpark = Exhibition Stadium
y4 = 1977
city = Toronto, Ontario
y5 = 1977
owners = Labatt Breweries,
Imperial Trust,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
managers = Roy Hartsfield
television = CBC Television
(Don Chevrier)
radio = CKFH
(Early Wynn, Tom Cheek)|The 1977 Toronto Blue Jays season was the first year of Major League Baseball played by the Toronto-based expansion franchise. The Blue Jays finished 7th in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 107 losses.

Offseason

*October 21, 1976: The Blue Jays traded a player to be named later to the Chicago White Sox for Phil Roof. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Larry Anderson to the White Sox on January 5, 1977. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/roofph01.shtml Phil Roof page at Baseball Reference] ]
*November 5, 1976: 1976 MLB expansion draft
**Rico Carty was drafted by the Blue Jays from the Cleveland Indians with the 10th pick. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cartyri01.shtml Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference] ]
**Jim Mason was drafted by the Blue Jays from the New York Yankees with the 30th pick. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/masonji01.shtml Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference] ]
*November 5, 1976: Al Fitzmorris was traded by the Blue Jays to the Cleveland Indians for Alan Ashby and Doug Howard. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fitzmal01.shtml Al Fitzmorris page at Baseball Reference] ]
*December 6, 1976: Rico Carty was traded by the Blue Jays to the Cleveland Indians for Rick Cerone and John Lowenstein. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/ceronri01.shtml Rick Cerone page at Baseball Reference] ]
*February 17, 1977: Dave Roberts was traded by the Blue Jays to the San Diego Padres for Jerry Johnson. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/roberda06.shtml Dave Roberts page at Baseball Reference] ]
*February 24, 1977: Mike Weathers (minors) was traded by the Blue Jays to the Oakland Athletics for Ron Fairly. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fairlro01.shtml Ron Fairly page at Baseball Reference] ]

pring Training

The Blue Jays spring training was held in Dunedin, Florida. In their first pre-season game on March 11, the Jays beat the New York Mets by a score of 3-1. The first two times that they played the Montreal Expos, the Jays were triumphant as well. Perhaps the highlight of spring training was a match against the defending World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. The Blue Jays defeated the defending world champions as the Reds were missing only one regular starter from their lineup. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.91, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ] After spring training, the Blue Jays 25-man roster was set. Ron Fairly, who had previously played for the Montreal Expos was one of the most recognizable players on the nascent team. The only marquee name was Bill Singer. Pat Gillick had a deal with the New York Yankees to trade Singer for a promising, young left-hander named Ron Guidry. Blue Jays president Peter Bavasi vetoed the deal as Singer was part of his plan to market and promote the team.

The First Game

On April 7, 1977, 44,649 fans were in attendance to watch the first game in Blue Jays history as the Blue Jays played the Chicago White Sox. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.90, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ] In attendance that day included Paul Godfrey, Toronto mayor David Crombie, legendary broadcaster Foster Hewitt, and country singer Anne Murray. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.94, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ] Besides the snow that adorned the field, there were hundreds of fans who missed the first pitch due to many traffic jams that day.

The umpires for the game included crew chief Nestor Chylak, Joe Brinkman, Rich Garcia, and 27-year old Steve Palermo, who was making his major league debut. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.92, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ] The game was broadcast on the CBC with Don Chevrier and New York Yankee legend Whitey Ford providing the commentary. The Blue Jays would only appear on the CBC sixteen times that first season.

As the snow was squeegeed off the field, the 48th Highlanders marched onto the field to perform the Star Spangled Banner. Country music star Anne Murray arrived to sing O Canada while wearing a red parka. The fans chanted “We Want Beer’’, because Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium was the only stadium in the Major Leagues to not serve beer. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.93, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ]

Bill Singer took to the mound and threw the first pitch in Toronto Blue Jays history against Ralph Garr of the White Sox. The pitch was a high fastball called for a strike. From an 0-2 count, Garr battled back to get the count at 3-2, and then he drew a walk. Afterwards, Garr stole second base, and advanced to third base because Blue Jays catcher Rick Cerone's throw went into center field. The next batter was shortstop Alan Bannister who hit a fly ball for the first out of the game. Jorge Orta batted third and he hit a sacrifice fly which scored Garr, the first run at Exhibition Stadium. Richie Zisk followed and hit the first home run in the history of the stadium. The score was now 2-0 in favour of the White Sox.

Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield went to the mound to talk to Singer. As Hartsfield went to the mound, reliever Jerry Johnson started warming up in the bullpen. Singer was able to compose himself and he got Eric Soderholm to hit into a fielder's choice as the inning ended.

John Scott was the first Blue Jay to take an at-bat for the team. He would face White Sox pitcher Ken Brett. Scott took a strike on the first pitch thrown to him. He would strike out, along with the next Jays batter, Hector Torres. The third batter in the game was Doug Ault. He was a 27 year old career minor leaguer with only nine games experience in the major leagues. He was the Jays sixteenth pick in the 1977 Expansion Draft.

On a 1-1 pitch, Doug Ault hit the first home run in Blue Jays history. The score was now 2-1 in favour of Chicago, and after the second inning, it was 4-1 for Chicago. In the bottom of the second, Gary Woods bunted for a single, stole second, and scored on a hit by Pedro García.

In the third inning, Torres had a single and Ault was back at bat. With the count 1-1, the ball went down the right field line and the game was tied at 4 as Ault hit his second home run. Heading into the fourth inning, Toronto got the lead as Dave McKay singled in García from second base. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.95, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ]

Singer was still in the game at the top of the fifth inning. Singer struck out Chet Lemon, but Brian Downing and Ralph Garr singled off him. Hartsfield came up to the mound and pulled Singer out of the game. Singer left to a standing ovation as Jerry Johnson entered the game. Johnson got the final two outs of the fifth inning.

Alvis Woods came up to pinch hit for Steve Bowling in the bottom of the fifth inning. With Otto Vélez on the basepads, Woods homered to right field. The score was 7-4 in favour of the Jays. The Jays had scored in every inning of the game.

The Sox scored a run in the sixth inning and it was 7-5. Heading into the eighth inning, Pete Vukovich started the inning. He struck out two batters, gave up a walk and a single, but he got a ground ball to end the inning. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.96, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ] In the bottom of the inning, Ault returned to the plate and singled in another run to make the score 8-5. Another run was scored on a double play to make the score 9-5 in favour of the Jays.

In the top of the ninth inning, Vukovich retired Jorge Orta on a ground ball. Vukovich then struck out Richie Zisk. For the day, Zisk had four hits in five at-bats. With one out to go for the win, Jim Spencer hit a line drive to left field but Scott dropped the ball for a two-base error. Oscar Gamble was up at the plate and he grounded out to the shortstop. The Jays won their first game in franchise history. Jerry Johnson picked up the win while Vukovich got the save.

The heroes of opening day would not have a future with the Jays. Jerry Johnson would end up in Hollywood working as a stuntman. At the 1977 Winter Meetings, the Jays traded Vukovich to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Tom Underwood. Doug Ault was back in the minors in 1979. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.97, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2 ]

corecard

April 7, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Other Batters

Relief pitchers

Franchise Firsts

*Game & Win: April 7 1977 - Toronto 9, Chicago (White Sox) 5 (at Exhibition Stadium)
*Batter: John Scott - Apr. 7, 1977
*Pitcher: Bill Singer - Apr. 7, 1977
*Home Run: Doug Ault vs. Chicago (AL) - Apr. 7, 1977
*Grand Slam: Hector Torres vs. New York (AL) - Jun. 27, 1977
*Save: Pete Vuckovich vs. Chicago (AL) - Apr. 7, 1977
*Walk Off Win: Jul. 15, 1977 - Toronto 8, Detroit 6 (13 innings)

Award Winners

* Otto Vélez, OF-DH, Player of the Month Award, April

All-Star Game
* Ron Fairly, First Base, Reserve [ [http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/history/all_stars.jsp Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History ] ]

Quotes

* "There's an opportunity here in Toronto to put my mark on something and make it go. You always want to use your ingenuity, your mind and your development skills to try to put a club together and make it successful."- Pat Gillick after the Jays hired him away from the Yankees in August 1976. Fact|date=September 2007

* "The first thing I want to do is make everyone here aware of just how excited the people up in Toronto are about major league baseball arriving in their city."- Roy Hartsfield addressing the team for the first time as a group at the start of spring training in Dunedin, Florida. Fact|date=September 2007

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1977.shtml 1977 Toronto Blue Jays team page at Baseball Reference]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=TOR 1977 Toronto Blue Jays team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]