1989 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1989 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 13th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing first in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. They lost the ALCS in five games to the eventual World Series champion Oakland Athletics. It was the team's last season at Exhibition Stadium, before moving to SkyDome halfway into the season. The Blue Jays hit eight grand slams, the most in MLB in 1989.[1]

1989 Toronto Blue Jays
1989 AL East Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record89–73 (.549)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Labatt Breweries,
Imperial Trust,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
General manager(s)Pat Gillick
Manager(s)Jimy Williams, Cito Gaston
Local televisionCFTO-TV
(Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver)
The Sports Network
(Fergie Olver, Buck Martinez)
Local radioCJCL (AM)
(Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek)
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Offseason

  • October 9, 1988: Carlos Delgado was signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays.[2]
  • December 6, 1988: Mauro Gozzo was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Kansas City Royals in the 1988 minor league draft.[3]
  • December 22, 1988: Cecil Fielder was purchased from the Blue Jays by the Hanshin Tigers (Japan Central).[4]
  • December 24, 1988: Mike Flanagan was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.[5]
  • January 18, 1989: Bob Brenly was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.[6]
  • March 9, 1989: DeWayne Buice was traded by the California Angels to the Toronto Blue Jays for Cliff Young.[7]

Regular season

The regular season would represent a turning point for the Blue Jays in many different ways. The Blue Jays started the 1989 season in Kansas City against the Royals. Behind the pitching of Jimmy Key, the Jays won the first game of the season 4-3.[8] The rest of the month would result in a losing record for the Jays. After the first month of the season, the Blue Jays had 10 wins and 20 losses and sat 6.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the standings. The result was that Pat Gillick made his first trade in 605 days.[8] On April 30, Gillick sent Jesse Barfield to the New York Yankees in exchange for Al Leiter.[8] The reason for the deal was that management was convinced that Rob Ducey was ready to be an everyday outfielder. The spot eventually went to the surprising Junior Felix that year, and Ducey never became the everyday player the Jays imagined him to be.

The Blue Jays had never fired a manager in the middle of the season. After the Jays were swept by the Minnesota Twins in a three-game series, including a 13-1 loss in the final game of the series, the Jays had 12 wins and 24 losses.[9] The Jays had also lost 15 of their last 19 games. Gillick decided that a change was needed. On Monday, May 15, Jimy Williams had become the first Jays manager to be fired in mid-season.[10] Williams would be replaced by Cito Gaston, the first black manager in the history of the franchise.

The Blue Jays' last game at Exhibition Stadium was against the first team they played there, the Chicago White Sox. From there, the Blue Jays opened the new Skydome with a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 30, they clinched the American League East division title at the new ballpark.

Notable games

  • April 16, 1989 Blue Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber hits for the cycle in a 15-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
  • May 4, 1989 In a game versus the California Angels, Junior Felix hits a home run in his first Major League at-bat, becoming only the 60th Major Leaguer to achieve the feat.[11]
  • May 28, 1989 The Blue Jays play their final game at Exhibition Stadium, a 7-5 10-inning win over the Chicago White Sox. Coincidentally, the White Sox had been the Jays' opponents in their first game at Exhibition Stadium (also the first game in franchise history) twelve years before.
  • June 4, 1989 The Blue Jays stage a remarkable comeback in a game against the Red Sox in Boston. Trailing 10-0 after six innings, they slowly close the gap, finally taking an 11-10 lead on a ninth-inning grand slam by Ernie Whitt. Boston ties the score in the bottom half of the inning, but Junior Felix smokes a two-run home run in the top of the 12th inning, giving Toronto a 13-11 victory.[12][13]
  • June 5, 1989 The Blue Jays play their first game in the brand-new SkyDome, a 5-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.[14]
  • August 4, 1989 With the Blue Jays leading the New York Yankees 2-0, Dave Stieb comes one out away from pitching a perfect game, but the Yankees' Roberto Kelly cracks a double into left field to break it up. Steve Sax then singles Kelly home to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Blue Jays ace holds on for the victory. It marks the third time in two seasons that Stieb has lost a no-hitter with two out in the ninth inning.[15]
  • September 30, 1989 In the next-to-last game of the regular season (and the last edition of NBC Sports' Saturday afternoon Game of the Week before the series moved to CBS the following season), the Blue Jays clinch their second American League East division title. Tom Henke strikes out the Baltimore Orioles' Larry Sheets for the final out.[16]

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Toronto Blue Jays 8973 0.549 46–35 43–38
Baltimore Orioles 8775 0.537 2 47–34 40–41
Boston Red Sox 8379 0.512 6 46–35 37–44
Milwaukee Brewers 8181 0.500 8 45–36 36–45
New York Yankees 7487 0.460 14½ 41–40 33–47
Cleveland Indians 7389 0.451 16 41–40 32–49
Detroit Tigers 59103 0.364 30 38–43 21–60

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore 6–76–66–67–610–36–67–64–88–55–76–69–37–6
Boston 7–64–87–58–511–24–86–76–67–67–55–76–65–8
California 6–68–48–55–711–14–97–511–26–65–87–66–77–5
Chicago 6–65–75–87–54–86–710–25–85–65–87–63–101–11
Cleveland 6–75–87–55–75–88–43–105–79–42–106–67–55–8
Detroit 3–102–111–118–48–56–66–75–76–74–84–84–82–11
Kansas City 6–68–49–47–64–86–68–47–66–67–69–48–57–5
Milwaukee 6–77–65–72–1010–37–64–89–38–55–77–55–76–7
Minnesota 8–46–62–118–57–57–56–73–96–66–77–65–89–3
New York 5–86–76–66–54–97–66–65–86–63–98–45–77–6
Oakland 7–55–78–58–510–28–46–77–57–69–39–48–57–5
Seattle 6–67–56–76–76–68–44–95–76–74–84–96–75–7
Texas 3–96–67–610–35–78–45–87–58–57–55–87–65–7
Toronto 6–78–55–711–18–511–25–77–63–96–75–77–57–5

Notable transactions

Draft picks

  • June 5, 1989: John Olerud was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed August 26, 1989.[23]
  • June 5, 1989: Aaron Small was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 22nd round of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1989.[24]

Roster

1989 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers
  • 21 Ozzie Virgil

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

1989 Game Log
1989 Playoff Game Log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

= Indicates team leader
Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CErnie Whitt129385101.2621153
1BFred McGriff161551148.2693692
2BNelson Liriano132418110.263553
3BKelly Gruber135545158.2901873
SSTony Fernández140573147.2571164
LFGeorge Bell153613182.29718104
CFLloyd Moseby135502111.2211143
RFJunior Félix110415107.258946
DHRance Mulliniks10327365.238329

[25]

Other batters

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Manuel Lee9930078.260334
Pat Borders9424162.257329
Mookie Wilson5423871.298217
Bob Brenly488815.17016
Jesse Barfield218016.200511
Rob Ducey417616.21107
Tom Lawless597016.22903
Lee Mazzilli286615.227411
Glenallen Hill195215.28817
Greg Myers17445.11401
Ozzie Virgil9112.18212
Alexis Infante20122.16700
Francisco Cabrera3122.16700
Kevin Batiste682.25000
John Olerud683.37500

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jimmy Key3321613143.88118
Dave Stieb33206⅔1783.35101
John Cerutti33205⅓11113.0769
Mike Flanagan30171⅔8103.9347
Todd Stottlemyre27127⅔773.8863
Al Leiter16⅔004.054

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA
Frank Wills2471⅓103.66
Mauro Gozzo931⅔414.83
Steve Cummings521203.00
Alex Sanchez411⅔0110.03
Jeff Musselman5110110.64
José Núñez610⅔002.53

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Tom Henke6483201.92116
Duane Ward66410153.77122
David Wells547422.4078
Tony Castillo171116.1110
Jim Acker142101.5924
Xavier Hernandez71004.767
DeWayne Buice71005.8210

[25]

ALCS

Game 1

October 3, 1989, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Toronto 020 100 000 351
Oakland 010 013 02X 7110
W: Dave Stewart (1-0)   L: Dave Stieb (0-1)  
HR: TOR Ernie Whitt (1)  OAK Dave Henderson (1), Mark McGwire (1)

Game 2

October 4, 1989, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Toronto 001 000 020 351
Oakland 000 203 10X 691
W: Mike Moore (1-0)   L: Todd Stottlemyre (0-1)   S: Dennis Eckersley (1)   
HR: OAK Dave Parker (1)

Game 3

October 6, 1989, at SkyDome

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 101 100 000 381
Toronto 000 400 30X 780
W: Jimmy Key (1-0)   L: Storm Davis (0-1)   
HR: OAK Dave Parker (2)

Game 4

October 7, 1989, at SkyDome

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 003 020 100 6111
Toronto 000 101 120 5130
W: Bob Welch (1-0)   L: Mike Flanagan (0-1)   S: Dennis Eckersley (2)   
HR: OAK Rickey Henderson 2 (2), José Canseco (1)

Game 5

October 8, 1989, at SkyDome

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 101 000 200 440
Toronto 000 000 012 390
W: Dave Stewart (2-0)   L: Dave Stieb (0-2)   S: Dennis Eckersley (3)   
HR: TOR Lloyd Moseby (1), George Bell (1)

Award winners

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Bob Bailor
AA Knoxville Blue Jays Southern League Barry Foote
A Dunedin Blue Jays Florida State League Doug Ault
A Myrtle Beach Blue Jays South Atlantic League Mike Fischlin
A-Short Season St. Catharines Blue Jays New York–Penn League Bob Shirley
Rookie Medicine Hat Blue Jays Pioneer League Rocket Wheeler

[27]

References

  1. "Team Batting Event Finder: 1989, All Teams, Home Runs, With Runners on 123". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. Carlos Delgado at Baseball Reference
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gozzoma01.shtml
  4. Cecil Fielder at Baseball Reference
  5. Mike Flanagan at Baseball Reference
  6. Bob Brenly at Baseball Reference
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/buicede01.shtml
  8. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.230, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  9. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.231, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  10. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.232, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  11. "Home Run in First At-Bat". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  12. Kelly, Cathal (August 18, 2008). "Red-hot Jays burn hole in Bosox". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  13. "Jays, Down by 10-0, Stun Red Sox, 13-11". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 5, 1989. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  14. "Blue Jays Open the SkyDome but Lose". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 6, 1989. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  15. Martinez, Michael (August 5, 1989). "A Perfect Night for Stieb Is Ruined by Kelly". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  16. Gammons, Peter (October 9, 1989). "Oh, What A Relief It Is". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  17. Al Leiter at Baseball Reference
  18. Dane Johnson at Baseball Reference
  19. Jeff Musselman at Baseball Reference
  20. Lee Mazzilli at Baseball Reference
  21. Jim Acker at Baseball Reference
  22. Paul Spoljaric at Baseball Reference
  23. John Olerud at Baseball Reference
  24. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smallaa01.shtml
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  27. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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