1981 Toronto Blue Jays season

1981 Toronto Blue Jays
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1977)
Eastern Division (since 1977)
Location
Exhibition Stadium (since 1977)
Toronto (since 1977)
Other information
Owner(s)	Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
General manager(s)	Pat Gillick
Manager(s)	Bobby Mattick
Local television	CTV Television Network (Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver)
Local radio	CKFH (Jerry Howarth, Early Wynn, Tom Cheek)
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The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 37 wins and 69 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 players' strike, and the league chose as its playoff teams the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.

Offseason

• December 8, 1980: 1980 rule 5 draft
  • George Bell was drafted by the Blue Jays from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[1]
  • Dan Whitmer was drafted by the Blue Jays from the California Angels.^[2]
• January 15, 1981: Ken Macha was purchased by the Blue Jays from the Montreal Expos.^[3]

Regular season

The Blue Jays were one of the worst teams in the majors in the first half of the split season, as the Blue Jays had a record of 16 wins and 42 losses, a percentage of .276.^[4] Although the Blue Jays had future stars Jesse Barfield, George Bell, and Lloyd Moseby in the lineup, the team continued to struggle.

On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game against the Blue Jays. It was the tenth perfect game ever pitched, is one of only seventeen in the history of the major leagues, and remains the last no-hitter thrown by an Indian.^[5]

The result of the season was one of the more controversial times in franchise history. The President of the Blue Jays, Peter Bavasi, went to see the team in Anaheim against the California Angels. Bavasi's father, Buzzie Bavasi was the president of the Angels, and his team had gotten off to a lacklustre start. Buzzie wanted to fire Angels manager Jim Fregosi, and Peter Bavasi had the idea to fire his manager, Bobby Mattick. Both thought it would be big news if father and son fired their manager on the same night.^[6] One of the Blue Jays executives advised the Jays Vice-Chairman of the Board, Peter Hardy. After a brief conversation, Hardy made it clear to Peter Bavasi that Mattick would not be fired in this way.

After the strike was resolved, the Blue Jays started the second half of the season with a close to .500 winning percentage. Peter Bavasi was heard to muse aloud the requirement to print World Series tickets.^[7] The Jays would finish the second half with 21 wins and 27 losses, seven and a half games out of first place. Despite the attempted Bavasi firing, Mattick would resign as manager at the end of the season. On November 22, 1981, Hardy forced Bavasi to resign from the Blue Jays.^[8]

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Brewers	62	47	0.569	—	28–21	34–26
Baltimore Orioles	59	46	0.562	1	33–22	26–24
New York Yankees	59	48	0.551	2	32–19	27–29
Detroit Tigers	60	49	0.550	2	32–23	28–26
Boston Red Sox	59	49	0.546	2½	30–23	29–26
Cleveland Indians	52	51	0.505	7	25–29	27–22
Toronto Blue Jays	37	69	0.349	23½	17–36	20–33

AL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
New York Yankees	34	22	.607
Baltimore Orioles	31	23	.574
Milwaukee Brewers	31	25	.554
Detroit Tigers	31	26	.544
Boston Red Sox	30	26	.536
Cleveland Indians	26	24	.520
Toronto Blue Jays	16	42	.276

AL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Milwaukee Brewers	31	22	.585
Boston Red Sox	29	23	.558
Detroit Tigers	29	23	.558
Baltimore Orioles	28	23	.549
Cleveland Indians	26	27	.491
New York Yankees	25	26	.490
Toronto Blue Jays	21	27	.438

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Opening Day starters

• Danny Ainge
• Barry Bonnell
• Jim Clancy
• Dámaso García
• Alfredo Griffin
• John Mayberry
• Lloyd Moseby
• Otto Vélez
• Ernie Whitt
• Al Woods

Notable transactions

• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
  • Matt Williams was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 1st round (5th pick).^[9]
  • Mike Sharperson was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 1st round (11th pick) of the Secondary Phase.^[10]
• June 10, 1981: Rick Bosetti was purchased from the Blue Jays by the Oakland Athletics.^[11]

Roster

1981 Toronto Blue Jays roster
Roster
Pitchers 46 Mike Barlow 30 Juan Berenguer 45 Mark Bomback 18 Jim Clancy 38 Nino Espinosa 36 Jerry Garvin 25 Roy Lee Jackson 48 Luis Leal 50 Joey McLaughlin 42 Paul Mirabella 33 Dale Murray 37 Dave Stieb 40 Jackson Todd 23 Mike Willis		Catchers 13 Buck Martinez  6 Dan Whitmer 12 Ernie Whitt Infielders  2 Danny Ainge 34 Ted Cox  7 Dámaso García  4 Alfredo Griffin 16 Garth Iorg  8 Ken Macha  2 Fred Manrique 10 John Mayberry 43 Greg Wells		Outfielders 29 Jesse Barfield 11 George Bell  9 Barry Bonnell 22 Rick Bosetti 20 Al Woods Other batters 32 Charlie Beamon 26 Willie Upshaw 19 Otto Vélez		Manager  3 Bobby Mattick Coaches 31 Bobby Doerr (Hitting) 28 John Felske (Bullpen) 14 Denis Menke (First Base) 41 Al Widmar (Pitching) 24 Jimy Williams (Third Base)

Game log

1981 Game Log 37–69 (Home 17–36, Away 20–33)
April 7–12 (Home 2–7, Away 5–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 9 @ Tigers 6–2 Morris (1–0) McLaughlin (0–1) 51,452 0–1 2 April 11 @ Tigers 6–2 Wilcox (1–0) Stieb (0–1) 13,617 0–2 3 April 12 @ Tigers 6–2 Leal (1–0) Bailey (0–1) 9,950 1–2 4 April 13 Yankees 5–1 Clancy (1–0) John (1–1) Jackson (1) 25,112 2–2 5 April 15 Yankees 6–3 May (2–0) Todd (0–1) Gossage (1) 16,280 2–3 6 April 16 Tigers 2–0 Wilcox (2–0) Stieb (0–2) López (1) 11,058 2–4 7 April 17 Tigers 8–5 Bailey (1–1) Leal (1–1) Saucier (1) 15,196 2–5 8 April 18 Tigers 4–3 Schatzeder (1–0) Clancy (1–1) López (2) 16,294 2–6 9 April 19 Tigers 9–1 Bomback (1–0) Morris (1–1) 12,274 3–6 10 April 20 Brewers 5–4 (12) Lerch (1–0) Willis (0–1) 12,298 3–7 11 April 21 Brewers 6–2 Haas (1–0) Stieb (0–3) 11,083 3–8 12 April 22 Brewers 8–1 Caldwell (2–1) Leal (1–2) 11,792 3–9 – April 23 @ Yankees Postponed (rain) Not rescheduled 13 April 24 @ Yankees 4–2 John (2–1) Bomback (1–1) Gossage (4) 20,863 3–10 14 April 25 @ Yankees 7–2 Todd (1–1) May (3–1) 17,319 4–10 15 April 26 @ Yankees 2–1 Stieb (1–3) Underwood (0–2) 37,306 5–10 16 April 27 @ Brewers 4–3 (12) Cleveland (1–0) Garvin (0–1) 6,692 5–11 17 April 28 @ Brewers 6–2 Bomback (2–1) Caldwell (2–2) 6,433 6–11 18 April 29 @ Brewers 5–0 (14) Leal (2–2) Easterly (0–1) 7,320 7–11 19 April 30 @ Orioles 4–0 Flanagan (2–2) Todd (1–2) 7,726 7–12
May 9–20 (Home 5–10, Away 4–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record – May 1 @ Orioles Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for May 2 20 May 2 @ Orioles 4–3 Palmer (1–0) Willis (0–2) 7–13 21 May 2 @ Orioles 8–3 McGregor (2–1) Leal (2–3) 16,402 7–14 22 May 3 @ Orioles 4–2 Bomback (3–1) Stone (1–3) McLaughlin (1) 23,898 8–14 – May 5 Indians Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for July 19 23 May 6 Indians 4–1 Blyleven (3–1) Todd (1–3) 11,469 8–15 24 May 7 Indians 6–2 Stieb (2–3) Waits (3–1) 11,328 9–15 25 May 8 Red Sox 4–2 Torrez (2–2) Bomback (3–2) Burgmeier (3) 15,106 9–16 26 May 9 Red Sox 10–3 Stanley (3–1) Clancy (1–2) 16,040 9–17 27 May 10 Red Sox 9–5 (10) Burgmeier (2–0) Jackson (0–1) 17,411 9–18 28 May 11 Red Sox 7–6 Clear (2–0) Willis (0–3) 11,315 9–19 29 May 12 Orioles 5–2 Stieb (3–3) Palmer (1–1) 11,354 10–19 30 May 13 Orioles 4–0 McGregor (3–1) Bomback (3–3) 12,568 10–20 31 May 14 Orioles 10–0 Flanagan (4–3) Clancy (1–3) 11,509 10–21 32 May 15 @ Indians 3–0 Barker (3–1) Leal (2–4) 7,290 10–22 33 May 16 @ Indians 4–1 Todd (2–3) Garland (2–3) 24,964 11–22 34 May 17 @ Indians 1–0 Waits (4–2) Stieb (3–4) Monge (1) 11–23 35 May 17 @ Indians 2–1 (10) Blyleven (5–1) Jackson (0–2) 46,168 11–24 36 May 18 White Sox 7–2 Trout (3–1) Bomback (3–4) 18,652 11–25 37 May 19 White Sox 9–5 Clancy (2–3) Hoyt (3–1) Leal (1) 11,604 12–25 38 May 20 White Sox 6–5 Farmer (1–2) McLaughlin (0–2) Hoyt (5) 12,536 12–26 39 May 22 @ Athletics 6–2 Langford (5–4) Stieb (3–5) 13,426 12–27 40 May 23 @ Athletics 3–2 (15) Jones (3–1) Leal (2–5) 27,147 12–28 41 May 24 @ Athletics 6–5 (12) Owchinko (2–1) McLaughlin (0–3) 12–29 42 May 24 @ Athletics 5–0 Norris (7–2) Garvin (0–2) 32,985 12–30 43 May 25 @ Angels 2–1 Witt (3–4) Todd (2–4) Hassler (3) 22,171 12–31 44 May 26 @ Angels 8–4 Jackson (1–2) Rau (1–2) McLaughlin (2) 21,222 13–31 45 May 27 @ Angels 3–1 Stieb (4–5) Forsch (6–3) 21,167 14–31 46 May 29 Athletics 6–3 Clancy (3–3) Keough (6–2) Jackson (2) 16,509 15–31 47 May 30 Athletics 6–5 Leal (3–5) Norris (7–3) McLaughlin (3) 21,046 16–31 48 May 31 Athletics 6–5 Owchinko (3–1) McLaughlin (0–4) 24,079 16–32
June 0–10 (Home 0–5, Away 0–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 49 June 1 Angels 3–0 Forsch (7–3) Stieb (4–6) 12,268 16–33 50 June 2 Angels 3–0 Frost (1–0) Leal (3–6) Hassler (4) 12,617 16–34 51 June 3 Angels 17–6 Zahn (6–6) Clancy (3–4) 12,401 16–35 52 June 5 @ Rangers 5–4 (12) Comer (4–1) Leal (3–7) 11,495 16–36 53 June 6 @ Rangers 4–1 Jenkins (4–4) Stieb (4–7) 24,312 16–37 54 June 7 @ Rangers 9–0 Darwin (7–4) Todd (2–5) 14,857 16–38 55 June 8 @ White Sox 6–2 Lamp (2–1) Clancy (3–5) Hickey (1) 8,301 16–39 56 June 9 @ White Sox 3–0 Dotson (7–3) Leal (3–8) 8,534 16–40 57 June 10 Royals 7–4 Leonard (6–7) Bomback (3–5) 19,098 16–41 58 June 11 Royals 10–5 Martin (2–3) Willis (0–4) Quisenberry (9) 16,498 16–42
August 9–10 (Home 4–8, Away 5–2) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 59 August 10 @ Tigers 4–3 Saucier (1–0) McLaughlin (0–5) 15,187 16–43 60 August 11 @ Tigers 6–4 Berenguer (1–4) Schatzeder (3–5) Jackson (3) 10,526 17–43 61 August 12 @ Tigers 4–3 Stieb (5–7) Morris (9–4) Jackson (4) 8,775 18–43 62 August 14 Brewers 5–4 Garvin (1–2) Easterly (2–2) Jackson (5) 15,114 19–43 63 August 15 Brewers 4–3 Bomback (4–5) Cleveland (2–2) McLaughlin (4) 12,467 20–43 64 August 16 Brewers 6–2 Caldwell (8–5) Stieb (5–8) Fingers (14) 20–44 65 August 16 Brewers 2–0 Lerch (4–6) Todd (2–6) Fingers (15) 24,472 20–45 66 August 17 @ Royals 5–3 Gale (5–5) Clancy (3–6) Quisenberry (11) 31,958 20–46 67 August 18 @ Royals 5–3 Leal (4–8) Jones (1–1) Jackson (6) 26,952 21–46 68 August 19 @ Royals 9–4 Berenguer (2–4) Leonard (7–8) 28,174 22–46 69 August 21 White Sox 5–4 Stieb (6–8) Farmer (2–3) 14,161 23–46 70 August 22 White Sox 8–0 Burns (8–2) Clancy (3–7) 19,080 23–47 71 August 23 White Sox 13–2 Trout (7–4) Leal (4–9) 16,486 23–48 72 August 24 Rangers 3–0 Medich (7–3) Berenguer (2–5) 12,735 23–49 73 August 25 Rangers 6–1 Jenkins (5–6) Stieb (6–9) 13,729 23–50 74 August 27 Royals 11–5 Martin (3–5) Clancy (3–8) 14,704 23–51 75 August 28 Royals 4–3 McLaughlin (1–5) Brett (1–1) 13,230 24–51 76 August 29 Royals 2–0 Jones (2–1) Berenguer (2–6) Quisenberry (13) 19,055 24–52 – August 30 Royals Postponed (rain) Not rescheduled 77 August 31 @ Rangers 3–0 Stieb (7–9) Jenkins (5–7) 8,034 25–52
September 11–15 (Home 6–6, Away 5–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 78 September 1 @ Rangers 9–3 Clancy (4–8) Darwin (8–7) 8,358 26–52 79 September 2 @ Rangers 4–1 Honeycutt (9–3) Leal (4–10) 6,851 26–53 80 September 3 @ White Sox 4–3 Hoyt (6–3) Berenguer (2–7) 6,669 26–54 81 September 4 @ White Sox 6–2 Stieb (8–9) Lamp (5–3) 18,317 27–54 82 September 5 @ White Sox 3–1 Clancy (5–8) Baumgarten (5–8) McLaughlin (5) 14,628 28–54 83 September 6 @ White Sox 3–2 Leal (5–10) Burns (8–3) Jackson (7) 11,250 29–54 84 September 7 @ Twins 4–0 Jackson (3–2) Berenguer (2–8) Corbett (9) 5,024 29–55 85 September 8 @ Twins 1–0 Havens (2–4) Stieb (8–10) 2,839 29–56 86 September 9 @ Twins 3–1 Arroyo (6–7) Clancy (5–9) Corbett (10) 3,381 29–57 87 September 10 Mariners 2–0 Leal (6–10) Clay (0–6) McLaughlin (6) 11,685 30–57 88 September 11 Mariners 8–1 Abbott (3–6) Berenguer (2–9) 12,023 30–58 89 September 12 Mariners 3–0 Stieb (9–10) Beattie (2–2) 14,048 31–58 90 September 14 Twins 6–3 Havens (3–4) Clancy (5–10) Corbett (13) 11,402 31–59 91 September 15 Twins 4–2 Leal (7–10) Arroyo (6–8) McLaughlin (7) 12,037 32–59 92 September 16 Twins 5–2 Williams (5–8) Berenguer (2–10) 11,733 32–60 93 September 18 Angels 5–1 Murray (1–0) Witt (5–9) 13,478 33–60 94 September 19 Angels 6–4 Clancy (6–10) Frost (1–7) 16,418 34–60 95 September 20 Angels 6–3 Bomback (5–5) Zahn (9–11) McLaughlin (8) 20,575 35–60 – September 21 Athletics Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 22 96 September 22 Athletics 3–2 (13) Beard (1–1) Leal (7–11) 35–61 97 September 22 Athletics 4–2 McCatty (13–6) Berenguer (2–11) 15,542 35–62 98 September 23 Athletics 6–0 Langford (11–9) Clancy (6–11) 14,114 35–63 99 September 25 @ Angels 11–5 Zahn (10–11) Leal (7–12) 19,890 35–64 100 September 26 @ Angels 6–3 Renko (8–4) Berenguer (2–12) Hassler (5) 18,886 35–65 101 September 27 @ Angels 4–3 Stieb (10–10) Moreno (1–2) McLaughlin (9) 24,903 36–65 102 September 29 @ Athletics 5–1 Underwood (4–6) Clancy (6–12) 10,998 36–66 103 September 30 @ Athletics 3–0 Norris (12–9) Leal (7–13) 11,144 36–67
October 1–2 (Home 0–0, Away 1–2) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 104 October 2 @ Mariners 8–3 Clay (2–7) Berenguer (2–13) 5,148 36–68 105 October 3 @ Mariners 4–3 Stieb (11–10) Abbott (4–9) McLaughlin (10) 8,653 37–68 106 October 4 @ Mariners 2–0 Bannister (9–9) Todd (2–7) Rawley (8) 4,885 37–69 A MLB Players strike forced the cancellation of all regular season games between June 12 and August 9. A split-season format was adopted.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Whitt, ErnieErnie Whitt	74	195	16	46	9	0	.236	1	16	5
1B	Mayberry, JohnJohn Mayberry	94	290	34	72	6	1	.248	17	43	1
2B	García, DámasoDámaso García	64	250	24	63	8	1	.252	1	13	13
3B	Ainge, DannyDanny Ainge	86	246	20	46	6	2	.187	0	14	8
SS	Griffin, AlfredoAlfredo Griffin	101	388	30	81	19	6	.209	0	21	8
LF	Woods, AlvisAlvis Woods	85	288	20	71	15	0	.247	1	21	3
CF	Moseby, LloydLloyd Moseby	100	378	36	88	16	2	.233	9	43	11
RF	Bonnell, BarryBarry Bonnell	66	227	21	50	7	4	.220	4	28	4
DH	Vélez, OttoOtto Vélez	80	240	32	51	9	2	.213	11	28	0

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Iorg, GarthGarth Iorg	70	215	17	52	11	0	.242	0	10	2
Upshaw, WillieWillie Upshaw	61	111	15	19	3	1	.171	4	10	2
Bell, GeorgeGeorge Bell	60	163	19	38	2	1	.233	5	12	3
Martinez, BuckBuck Martinez	45	128	13	29	8	1	.227	4	21	1
Macha, KenKen Macha	37	85	4	17	2	0	.200	0	6	1
Wells, GregGreg Wells	32	73	7	18	5	0	.247	0	5	0
Barfield, JesseJesse Barfield	25	95	7	22	3	2	.232	2	9	4
Bosetti, RickRick Bosetti	25	47	5	11	2	0	.234	0	4	0
Cox, TedTed Cox	16	50	6	15	4	0	.300	0	1	0
Manrique, FredFred Manrique	14	28	1	4	0	0	.143	0	1	0
Beamon, CharlieCharlie Beamon	8	15	1	3	1	0	.200	0	0	0
Whitmer, DanDan Whitmer	7	9	0	1	1	0	.111	0	0	0

Pitching

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
Stieb, DaveDave Stieb	25	25	183.2	11	10	3.19	70	65	61	89
Clancy, JimJim Clancy	22	22	125.0	6	12	4.90	77	68	64	56
Berenguer, JuanJuan Berenguer	12	11	71.0	2	9	4.31	41	34	35	29

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; 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	GS	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Leal, LuisLuis Leal	29	19	129.2	7	13	1	3.68	63	53	44	71
Todd, JacksonJackson Todd	21	13	97.2	2	7	0	3.96	51	43	31	41
Bomback, MarkMark Bomback	20	11	90.1	5	5	0	3.89	42	39	35	33

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
McLaughlin, JoeyJoey McLaughlin	40	60.0	1	5	10	2.85	24	19	21	38
Jackson, Roy LeeRoy Lee Jackson	39	62.0	1	2	7	2.61	23	18	25	27
Garvin, JerryJerry Garvin	35	53.0	1	2	0	3.40	20	20	23	25
Willis, MikeMike Willis	20	35.0	0	4	0	5.91	25	23	20	16
Barlow, MikeMike Barlow	12	15.0	0	0	0	4.20	11	7	6	5
Murray, DaleDale Murray	11	15.1	1	0	0	1.17	2	2	5	12
Mirabella, PaulPaul Mirabella	8	14.2	0	0	0	7.36	16	12	7	9
Espinosa, NinoNino Espinosa	1	1.0	0	0	0	9.00	1	1	0	0

Award winners

All-Star Game

• Dave Stieb, Pitcher^[12]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Bob Humphreys
AA	Knoxville Blue Jays	Southern League	Duane Larson and Larry Hardy
A	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	John McLaren
A	Florence Blue Jays	South Atlantic League	Dennis Holmberg
Rookie	GCL Blue Jays	Gulf Coast League	Rich Hacker
Rookie	Medicine Hat Blue Jays	Pioneer League	Wayne Graham

^[13]

Notes

1. George Bell at Baseball Reference
2. Dan Whitmer at Baseball Reference
3. Ken Macha at Baseball Reference
4. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.136, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
5. Sports American League (Baseball) Baseball AL West Division Major League Baseball – SI Vault
6. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.137, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
7. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.138, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
8. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.157, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
9. Matt Williams at Baseball Reference
10. Mike Sharperson at Baseball Reference
11. Rick Bosetti at Baseball Reference
12. Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1981 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Reference
• 1981 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Almanac