Toronto Blue Jays Baseball
The Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976 as one of two teams slated to join the American League for the next season (the other being the Seattle Mariners). The team played its first game in April 1977 against the Chicago White Sox, winning the game 9-5. The team rose to prominence soon after joining the American League. The team line up consisted of some of the top players including Jesse Barfield, George Bell, Joe Carter, and Tony Fernandez.
Toronto's first solid season came in 1982 as they finished 78-84. Their pitching staff was led by starters Dave Stieb, Jim Clancy and Luis Leal, and the outfield featured a young Lloyd Moseby and Jesse Barfield. In 1983, the Blue Jays compiled their first winning record, 89-73, finishing in fourth place, 9 games behind the eventual World Series winners, the Baltimore Orioles.
Manager Cito Gaston melded homegrown talent with veteran stars Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, and Jack Morris, winning World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, and a division title in 1991. They became the first Canadian team to win the World Series. For a few seasons the team "north of the border" sat on top of the baseball world.
In 2001, Major league baseball announces that the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays will open the 2001 season in Puerto Rico, marking the 3rd straight year the season will begin outside the US and Canada.
Rogers Centre
Construction on the Rogers Centre started in April 1986, and the Blue Jays played their first game there three years later. In addition to baseball, the Rogers Centre hosts the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, concerts, and a variety of other sporting events. Because the movable lower stands are on rollers, and the Astroturf field rolls up. The conversion from baseball to football takes only 10-12 hours. Opening or closing the roof takes only 20 minutes.
Rogers Centre is formerly known as the SkyDome and is situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. It is noted as being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof and it is the only stadium to have hotel rooms attached. It has 348 rooms and 70 of those rooms overlook the field. On at least three occasions, patrons inside the hotel have provided spectators extra entertainment during a game.
The first postponement of a game in Rogers Centre history occurred on April 12, 2001. A malfunction during a routine test of the roof caused two of the three panels to collide, sending debris falling onto the outfield. Several of the visiting Kansas City Royals players were taking extra batting practice at the time, but no one was injured.