B l u e J a y s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS North of the Border 6 Pushing for a Pennant 15 Fall Classic Coups 25 Losing Altitude 34 Cito’s Return 41 AROUND THE HORN Opening Day 12 Terrific 10s 20 Flirting with 400 24 Historic Highs 31 A Sick Day to Remember 38 Versatile Venue 43 ALL-TIME BLUE JAYS P Dave Stieb 8 C Pat Borders 13 1B Carlos Delgado 14 2B Roberto Alomar 18 3B Kelly Gruber 23 SS Tony Fernandez 28 LF George Bell 30 CF Lloyd Moseby 35 RF Jesse Barfield 39 M Cito Gaston 40 Index 48
6 B l u e J a y s NORTH OF THE BORDER ow exactly Toronto Ontario got its name is a subject of debate Before European settlers made their way to the place that is now known as Toronto various native tribes lived in the area Some people contend that the Mohawk word tkaronto which means where there are trees standing in the water is the origin of the name while others point to the Huron word toronton a place of meetings as the source Regardless Toronto has carried its name since 1834 and today it supports a population of more than 2 5 million inhabitants nearly half of which were born outside of Canada As Canada’s largest city Toronto is an important cultural center with a cosmopolitan reputation and as such it’s no surprise that the city attracted its share of professional sports teams during the 20th century In 1976 Major League Baseball voted to expand its number of clubs and granted Toronto a franchise The team was placed in the American League AL and named the Blue Jays to keep with the blue color scheme of such other Toronto sports franchises as the defunct H
As home to the 1,815-foot-tall CN Tower pictured right edge Toronto can lay claim to the tallest building in North America
