For newcomers and international students eager to better understand Canada through sports, here’s a fact: The Toronto Blue Jays are CANADA’S baseball team.
True, the Jays are the country’s ONLY Major League Baseball (MLB) team, but they are extremely popular across Canada.
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(There used to be two teams, but the Montreal Expos departed for Washington in 2004. The Expos were Canada’s first MLB team, and Expo fans are still in shock and hoping they will return.)
Some similarities to cricket
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For new Canadians whose passion is cricket, there are similarities with baseball and maybe a shared heritage, as this story explains. Numerous cricket leagues exist across Canada, and many are under the direction of Cricket Canada.
Regarding the Blue Jays’ popularity, sports media analyst Adam Seaborn points out they have the most extensive fan base in Major League Baseball.
Baseball fever returned to Canada on Monday, April 8, when the Blue Jays played their season home opener at the Rogers Centre, defeating the Seattle Mariners 5-2 (the Jays opened their 2024 season on the road with an 8-2 win in Tampa, Florida, on March 28 against the Tampa Bay Rays).
The Blue Jays have won two World Series
The Jays have been playing since 1977. They’ve had some great success for a relatively new franchise (the history of organized baseball in North America dates back to 1846).
In 1992 and 1993, they won back-to-back World Series Championships, the ultimate prize in North American MLB (baseball is played in over 100 countries, and there is an actual World Championship of Baseball).
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But Americans decided long ago that the winner of the playoff between the champion of the American League (where the Blue Jays play) and the National League would be known as the World Series champion.
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Catch Blue Jay fever
The last time the Jays were genuinely competitive was in 2015 and 2016. Blue Jay fever swept the nation as the team went deep into the post-season playoffs
So, if you’re interested in becoming a Blue Jays fan or just checking them out, here are some facts!
The Blue Jays:
- Play 162 games (split home and away) per year (not including playoffs)
- Play in the American League of Major League Baseball (MLB has 15 teams in three divisions. There are 15 teams in the National League of MLB in three divisions. The eventual playoff winners in the American League and the National League for the World Series Championship.
- Televise games on Sportsnet (see Blue Jays streaming guide)
- Have the highest average regular season viewership among all Major League Baseball teams. The games are also on the radio, and most major media outlets in Toronto report daily on the Jays
- Play at the Rogers Centre, which has a retractable roof and is usually open for roughly 50 plus of the 81 home games a year, depending on the weather. A day at a Jays game can be a fun day in the sun
- Had an average home game attendance of 37,307 in 2023
- Home game crowd is typically 57 percent male and 43 percent female
- Highest-paid player on the team is right-fielder George Springer. He makes $24.2 million U.S. a year
- Players to follow this year include shortstop Bo Bichette, first-baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr, starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, and relief pitcher Jordan Romano
- MLB-licensed game shirts can cost over $200 Cdn.
- Tee shirts can cost as little as $12, depending on where you shop.
- Season ticket costs vary depending on the seating location within the Rogers Centre. According to Ticketmaster, the average ticket cost to see the Jays live at the Rogers Centre this season is $75.
Other baseball facts:
- There are many famous former Blue Jay players. Still, those whose sweaters hang in the Level of Excellence include José Bautista, George Bell, Joe Carter, Carlos Delgado, Tony Fernandez, Roy Halladay, Dave Stieb, and former manager Cito Gaston. Broadcaster Tom Cheek and club executives Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick are also honoured
- Though six players who at one time played for the Blue Jays have been inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame, only one, second-baseman Roberto Alomar, was inducted as a Blue Jay
- During the seventh-inning stretch of home games, Blue Jay fans sing and clap to the pop song “OK Blue Jays” by Keith Hampshire and The Bat Boys before singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game“
Learn more about baseball
For newcomers to Canada interested in having their daughters or sons play baseball, it is estimated that 200,000 Canadians played baseball in 2023 in amateur leagues and baseball programs across Canada. Leagues can start as young as four years old.
When You Belong, You Believe
The Jays Care Foundation is a charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays that believes baseball for development programming can play an important role as an effective, low-cost intervention to address pressing mental and physical health challenges for children and youth nationwide.
Their motto this year is “When You Belong, You Believe.” Their goal is to build a Canada where kids of all backgrounds and abilities have a place on a team where they belong.
If you’d like to learn more about baseball in Canada and the Blue Jays, here are some helpful links:
Major League Baseball homepage
Steve Tustin is the Editor for Rentals for Newcomers and contributing editor for Prepare for Canada. He is the former managing editor of Storeys.com , a former senior editor at the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star and former sports editor of The Star.
*Prepare for Canada did not use AI-generated content in the writing of this story, and all sources are cited and credited where possible.
© Prepare for Canada 2024
