1977 Toronto Blue Jays season

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 seventh in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 107 losses, 45½ games behind the World Champion New York Yankees.

1977 Toronto Blue Jays
Inaugural season
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record54–107 (.335)
Divisional place7th
Other information
Owner(s)Labatt Breweries,
Imperial Trust,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
General manager(s)Peter Bavasi
Manager(s)Roy Hartsfield
Local televisionCBC Television
(Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Tom McKee)
Local radioCKFH
(Early Wynn, Tom Cheek)
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Offseason

Spring training

The team had announced on August 26, 1976 that they had selected Dunedin, Florida for spring training. Dunedin was a 30-minute drive from the Tampa airport with daily flights to and from Toronto, and was near other spring training sites including the Phillies in Clearwater, the Mets and Cardinals in St. Petersburg, the Reds in Tampa, and the Pirates in Bradenton.

Dunedin's Grant Field was located near the downtown and had been used in the 1950s and 1960s by AAA minor league clubs for spring training. The city improved the ballpark with new seats, fences, and clubhouses, increasing seating from approximately 1,200 to 2,000.[10]

The Blue Jays' first exhibition game was scheduled for March 10, 1977 against the Philadelphia Phillies, but was cancelled due to rain. Instead, the first game was March 11, 1977 against the New York Mets. Wire services reported, "Spectators who arrived too late to purchase tickets inhabited areas down the foul lines, outside the outfield fences and some even took seats in the Babe Ruth League grandstand located down right field line, some 500 feet away from home plate." Bill Singer started the game for the Blue Jays and surrendered a lead off homerun to the Mets' Lee Mazzilli. The Blue Jays came back and won 3-1 in front of 1,988 fans.[11]

The first two times that they played the Montreal Expos, the Jays were triumphant as well. Perhaps the highlight of spring training was a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Blue Jays defeated the defending World Series champions with the Reds missing only one regular starter from their lineup.[12] 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, a 20-game winner with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969 and author of a no-hitter in 1970. Pat Gillick had worked out a deal with the New York Yankees to trade Singer for promising young left-hander Ron Guidry.[12] Blue Jays president Peter Bavasi vetoed the deal, as Singer was part of his plan to market and promote the team.[12]

Regular season

The first game
A ticket from the Blue Jays' first regular season game.

On April 7, 1977, 44,649 fans watched the first game in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history, as the squad hosted the Chicago White Sox.[13] Notables in attendance that day included Metro chairman Paul Godfrey, Toronto mayor David Crombie, legendary NHL broadcaster Foster Hewitt, and country singer Anne Murray.[14] Besides the snow that adorned the field, hundreds of fans missed the first pitch because they were stuck in traffic. An enduring image was the Chicago catcher using his shin pads to ski on the field with bats used as poles before the game started.

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.[15] The game was broadcast on the CBC with Tom McKee (host), Don Chevrier (play-by-play) and New York Yankee legend Whitey Ford providing the commentary. McKee was the first-ever face, and voice, to appear on the inaugural Blue Jays telecast. The Blue Jays would appear on the CBC only 16 times that first season.[14] Tom Cheek and analyst Early Wynn called the game on the radio, this being the first of 4,306 consecutive games that Cheek would call.

As the snow was squeegeed off the field (via a Zamboni on loan from the Toronto Maple Leafs), the 48th Highlanders marched onto the field to perform the Star Spangled Banner. Canadian country star Murray, wearing a red parka, then sang O Canada.[15]

The fans chanted "We want beer," because Toronto's Exhibition Stadium was the only ballpark in the major leagues to not serve beer.[16]

Bill Singer threw the first pitch in Toronto Blue Jays history to Ralph Garr of the White Sox, a high fastball called for a strike.[16] From an 0–2 count, Garr battled back to 3–2, then drew a walk. Afterwards, Garr stole second base, advancing to third when catcher Rick Cerone's throw went into centre field.[16] Shortstop Alan Bannister then hit a fly ball for the first out of the game. Jorge Orta followed with a sacrifice fly to cash in Garr, who scored the first run at Exhibition Stadium.[16] Richie Zisk then hit the first home run at the Ex, making the score 2–0, White Sox. Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield went to the mound to talk to Singer as reliever Jerry Johnson started warming up in the bullpen. Singer was able to compose himself, getting Eric Soderholm to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.[16]

Outfielder John Scott was the first Blue Jay to have an at bat. He faced White Sox pitcher Ken Brett, taking a strike on the first pitch thrown to him.[14] He struck out, as did the next batter, Héctor Torres. Up came first baseman Doug Ault, a 27-year-old career minor-leaguer with only nine games' experience in the majors and the Jays' 16th pick in the expansion draft.[14] On a 1–1 pitch, Ault slugged the first home run (and first hit) in Blue Jay history deep to left-centre. The score was now 2–1, Chicago.

The Chisox scored two runs in the top of the second, increasing their lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the second, Gary Woods bunted for a single, stole second, and scored on a single to right field by Pedro García. In the third inning, Torres singled and Ault was back at the plate. With the count 1–1, Ault hit his second home run down the right field line, and the game was tied at 4 runs apiece.[14] Toronto took their first lead in the fourth when Dave McKay singled in García from second base.[17]

Singer struck out Chet Lemon to start the fifth inning, but Brian Downing and Ralph Garr singled off him.[17] Hartsfield came out to the mound to make a pitching change. Singer left to a standing ovation as Jerry Johnson entered the game.[17] Johnson recorded the final two outs of the fifth. In his first major-league at bat, Al Woods pinch hit for Steve Bowling in the bottom of the fifth.[17] With Otto Vélez at second base, Woods homered to right field.[17] The score was now 7–4 in favour of Toronto, the team having scored in every inning to that point.

The Sox scored a run in the sixth inning, making the score 7–5. Pete Vuckovich entered in relief of Johnson to begin the eighth. He struck out two batters, gave up a walk and a single, but got a ground ball to end the inning.[18] In the bottom of the inning, Ault returned to the plate and singled in another run to make the score 8–5. Another run scored on a double play ground out, making the score 9–5, Blue Jays.

In the top of the ninth, Vuckovich retired Jorge Orta on a ground ball. Vuckovich then struck out Richie Zisk. For the day, Zisk had four hits in five at bats.[18] 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 subsequently grounded out to the shortstop,[18] and the Blue Jays had won their first game in franchise history. Jerry Johnson picked up the win while Vuckovich earned the save.[18]

The heroes of opening day would not have a future with the Jays. Jerry Johnson retired after the '77 season and would end up in Hollywood working as a stuntman. At the 1977 Winter Meetings, Toronto traded Vuckovich to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Tom Underwood.[18] After seeing sporadic playing time in 1978, Doug Ault spent all of 1979 in the minors.[19]

Linescore

April 7, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago 220 001 000 5150
Toronto 112 120 020 9161
W: Jerry Johnson (1–0)  L: Ken Brett (0–1)  
HRs: Doug Ault (2), Alvis Woods (1), Richie Zisk (1)
Batting
Chicago White Sox AB R H RBI Toronto Blue Jays AB R H RBI
Garr, lf 5 2 3 0 Scott, lf 5 1 1 0
Bannister, ss 5 0 1 1 Torres, ss 2 1 1 0
Nyman, ph 1 0 0 0 Mason, ph/ss 1 1 0 0
Nordbrook, ss 0 0 0 0 Ault, 1b 4 2 3 4
Orta, 2b 4 0 0 1 Vélez, dh 4 1 2 0
Zisk, rf 6 2 4 2 G. Woods, cf 5 1 1 0
Spencer, 1b 6 0 2 0 Bowling, rf 2 0 0 0
Gamble, dh 3 0 0 0 A. Woods, ph, rf 3 1 1 2
Soderholm, 3b 5 0 2 1 García, 2b 4 1 3 1
Lemon, cf 4 0 0 0 McKay, 3b 4 0 2 1
Downing, c 4 1 3 0 Cerone, c 6 0 2 0
Totals 43 5 15 5 Totals 38 9 16 8
Pitching
Chicago White Sox IP H R ER BB SO
Brett, L (0–1) 3.0 9 5 5 0 4
Barrios 3.0 3 2 2 3 1
Hamilton 1.0 3 2 2 0 1
LaGrow 1.0 1 0 0 0 1
Totals 8.0 16 9 9 3 7
Toronto Blue Jays IP H R ER BB SO
Singer 4.1 11 4 3 3 5
Johnson W (1–0) 2.2 3 1 1 3 1
Vuckovich, SV (1) 2.0 1 0 0 1 3
Totals 9.0 15 5 4 7 9

April

The Blue Jays would finish off their first-ever homestand with a 5–2 record, sitting in first place in the American League East by 0.5 games, as the team took two of three against the Chicago White Sox and three of four from the Detroit Tigers. Pitcher Jerry Garvin picked up two of Toronto's five wins.

The Blue Jays struggled on their first road trip, as they were swept in a three-game series by the Chicago White Sox and split a four-game series with the New York Yankees, returning home with a 7–7 record.

On April 27, the Blue Jays were involved in their first extra innings game, defeating the Cleveland Indians 6–5 in 12 innings.

The Jays would finish the month in fifth place with a 10–11 record, three games out of first place. Pitcher Jerry Garvin had an impressive 4–0 record with a 2.14 ERA. Outfielder Otto Vélez hit .442 with five home runs and 18 RBI and was named American League Player of the Month.

May

On May 4, the Blue Jays scored 10 runs in a game for the first time in team history, thumping the Milwaukee Brewers 10–3 at Exhibition Stadium. The team would score 10 runs again five nights later on May 9 in a 10–4 win over their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners.

On May 14, the Jays allowed double digits in runs for the first time, losing 13–3 to the Minnesota Twins.

Toronto struggled during the month of May, posting a record of 8–17. Following a 6–5 loss to the Oakland Athletics on May 25, the Blue Jays fell into last place in the American League East for the first time.

June

After losing their first two games in June, the Blue Jays would win five of their next six, the only blemish being a 2–1 loss in 13 innings to the California Angels. Following that, Toronto would win only two of their next 14 games.

On June 27, Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees was carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning when he walked the bases loaded, then gave up a grand slam to light-hitting Hector Torres, which vaulted the Jays to a 7–6 victory. During the month, Toronto had a 10–17 record, bringing their overall record to 28–45, seventh place in the American League East.

July

The Blue Jays played their first Canada Day game on July 1, losing to the Texas Rangers 11–8 at Exhibition Stadium.

They went into the All-Star break with a 34–58 record, 19 games out of first place. At the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game held at Yankee Stadium in New York City on July 19, first baseman Ron Fairly was the only Blue Jays representative. He struck out in his only at-bat against Tom Seaver.

After the All-Star break, the Blue Jays' struggles continued, losing eight games in a row before ending the month with a win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Toronto went 7–21 in July, bringing their overall record to 35–66; 24 games out of first place.

August

On August 9, the Blue Jays defeated the Minnesota Twins 6–2 in front of 23,450 fans at Exhibition Stadium, as the franchise broke the single-season record for attendance by an expansion team. Despite that, August proved to be another tough month for the club. Toronto went 10–18, bringing their record to 45–84 for the season, 32.5 games out of first place. The Blue Jays lost their last five games in August.

September/October

Toronto began September with six losses in a row, bringing their overall losing streak to 11 games, before defeating the Boston Red Sox 3–2 on September 7.

On September 10, Roy Howell drove in a club record nine runs in a 19–3 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. This marked the Yankees worst home loss in over 50 years.

At home on September 15, the Blue Jays earned a 9–0 forfeit victory over the Baltimore Orioles when, in the fifth inning, Orioles manager Earl Weaver removed his club from the field in a dispute over a tarp on the bullpen mounds.[20] It marked the first (and still the only) time since 1914 that an MLB team has deliberately forfeited a game.

The Blue Jays inaugural season came to a close on October 2, as they split a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians in front of 27,789 fans at Exhibition Stadium, bringing their total attendance to 1,701,052, an MLB record for an expansion team.

Toronto finished the year in last place in the American League East with a 54–107 record, 45.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees. The Jays also finished 9.5 games worse than their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners, who went 64–98. That said, over the long haul the Blue Jays attained success far sooner than the Mariners; Toronto's first winning season took place in 1983, while Seattle failed to post a winning season until 1991.

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10062 0.617 — 55–26 45–36
Baltimore Orioles 9764 0.602 2½ 54–27 43–37
Boston Red Sox 9764 0.602 2½ 51–29 46–35
Detroit Tigers 7488 0.457 26 39–42 35–46
Cleveland Indians 7190 0.441 28½ 37–44 34–46
Milwaukee Brewers 6795 0.414 33 37–44 30–51
Toronto Blue Jays 54107 0.335 45½ 25–55 29–52

Record vs. opponents
1977 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —6–85–65–511–412–34–711–46–48–78–27–34–610–5
Boston 8–6—7–33–78–79–65–59–64–68–78–310–16–412–3
California 6–53–7—8–76–44–66–95–57–84–75–109–65–106–4
Chicago 5–57–37–8—6–44–68–76–510–53–710–510–56–98–3
Cleveland 4–117–84–64–6—8–73–711–42–93–127–37–32–99–5
Detroit 3–126–96–46–47–8—3–810–55–56–95–55–62–810–5
Kansas City 7–45–59–67–87–38–3—8–210–55–59–611–48–78–2
Milwaukee 4–116–95–55–64–115–102–8—3–88–75–57–35–58–7
Minnesota 4–66–48–75–109–25–55–108–3—2–88–67–88–79–1
New York 7–87–87–47–312–39–65–57–88–2—9–26–47–39–6
Oakland 2–83–810–55–103–75–56–95–56–82–9—7–82–137–3
Seattle 3–71–106–95–103–76–54–113–78–74–68–7—9–64–6
Texas 6–44–610–59–69–28–27–85–57–83–713–26–9—7–4
Toronto 5–103–124–63–85–95–102–87–81–96–93–76–44–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1977 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Game log
1977 Game Log 54–107 (Home 25–55, Away 29–52)
April 10–11 (Home 6–4, Away 4–7)
May 8–17 (Home 5–10, Away 3–7)
June 10–17 (Home 3–9, Away 7–8)
July 7–21 (Home 5–10, Away 2–11)
August 10–18 (Home 3–8, Away 7–10)
September 8–22 (Home 2–13, Away 6–9)
October 1–1 (Home 1–1, Away 0–0)
  • † Game forfeited by Baltimore.

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg HR RBI SB
CAlan Ashby1243962583163.2102290
1BDoug Ault12944544109223.24511644
2BSteve Staggs722903775116.2592285
3BRoy Howell9636441115171.31610444
SSHéctor Torres91266336473.2415261
LFAl Woods12244058125174.2846358
CFGary Woods60227214991.2160175
RFOtto Vélez1203605092193.25616624
DHRon Fairly13245860128242.27919640

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg HR RBI SB
Bob Bailor12249662154215.31053215
Doug Rader963134775182.24013402
Dave McKay95274185443.1973222
Sam Ewing97244247082.2874341
John Scott79233265690.24021510
Steve Bowling89194194081.2061132
Pedro Garcia411301027101.208090
Rick Cerone3110072040.2001100
Jim Mason2279101330.165021
Tim Nordbrook246391101.175011
Ernie Whitt23414730.171060
Phil Roof350000.000000

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L ERA R ER BB K
Dave Lemanczyk343425213164.2514311987105
Jerry Garvin3434244.210184.1912711485127
Jesse Jefferson33332179174.3112310483114
Jeff Byrd171787.12136.1868606840
Jim Clancy131376.2495.0547434744
Bill Singer131259.2286.7954453933
Steve Hargan6529.1135.2217171411
Mike Darr111.10133.755541

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Pete Vuckovich531487783.47645759123
Jerry Johnson43862454.6050445454
Mike Willis43107.12653.9448473859
Tom Murphy19522123.6322211826
Dennis DeBarr1421.10105.911414810
Tom Bruno1218.10107.851816139
Chuck Hartenstein1327.10206.592220615

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Franchise firsts

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
A-Short Season Utica Blue Jays New York–Penn League Duane Larson

[24]

Notes
  1. Phil Roof at Baseball Reference
  2. Rico Carty at Baseball Reference
  3. Jim Mason at Baseball Reference
  4. Al Fitzmorris at Baseball Reference
  5. Chuck Hartenstein at Baseball-Reference
  6. Rick Cerone at Baseball Reference
  7. Dave Roberts at Baseball Reference
  8. Ron Fairly at Baseball Reference
  9. John Lowenstein at Baseball Reference
  10. Macleod, Robert (March 3, 2015). "Keeping the Blue Jays' annual coastal migration to Dunedin". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  11. "Jays' opener a 3-1 success". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. March 12, 1977. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  12. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p. 91, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  13. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 90
  14. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 94
  15. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 92
  16. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 93
  17. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 95
  18. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 96
  19. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, p. 97
  21. Paul Hodgson at Baseball Reference
  22. Danny Ainge at Baseball Reference
  23. Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  24. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References
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