1989 Toronto Blue Jays season

1989 Toronto Blue Jays
1989 AL East Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
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 television CFTO-TV
(Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver)
The Sports Network
(Fergie Olver, Buck Martinez)
Local radio CJCL (AM)
(Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek)
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The 1989 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's thirteenth 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 champion Oakland Athletics.

Offseason

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.[7] 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.[7] On April 30, Gillick sent Jesse Barfield to the New York Yankees in exchange for Al Leiter.[7] The reason for the deal was that management was convinced that Rob Ducey was ready to be an everyday outfielder (ironically, the spot eventually went to the surprising Junior Felix that year, and Ducey never became the everyday player that the Jays imagined him to be).

Traditionally, 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.[8] 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.[9] Williams would be replaced by Cito Gaston, the first black manager in the history of the franchise.

The team would move into the brand new Skydome and leave Exhibition Stadium behind. Their last game at Exhibition Stadium would be against the first team they played there, the Chicago White Sox. From there, the Blue Jays would open the Skydome in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 30, they clinched the American League East division title at the new ballpark.

Notable games

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Toronto Blue Jays 89 73 0.549 — 46–35 43–38
Baltimore Orioles 87 75 0.537 2 47–34 40–41
Boston Red Sox 83 79 0.512 6 46–35 37–44
Milwaukee Brewers 81 81 0.500 8 45–36 36–45
New York Yankees 74 87 0.460 14½ 41–40 33–47
Cleveland Indians 73 89 0.451 16 41–40 32–49
Detroit Tigers 59 103 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 — 6–7 6–6 6–6 7–6 10–3 6–6 7–6 4–8 8–5 5–7 6–6 9–3 7–6
Boston 7–6 — 4–8 7–5 8–5 11–2 4–8 6–7 6–6 7–6 7–5 5–7 6–6 5–8
California 6–6 8–4 — 8–5 5–7 11–1 4–9 7–5 11–2 6–6 5–8 7–6 6–7 7–5
Chicago 6–6 5–7 5–8 — 7–5 4–8 6–7 10–2 5–8 5–6 5–8 7–6 3–10 1–11
Cleveland 6–7 5–8 7–5 5–7 — 5–8 8–4 3–10 5–7 9–4 2–10 6–6 7–5 5–8
Detroit 3–10 2–11 1–11 8–4 8–5 — 6–6 6–7 5–7 6–7 4–8 4–8 4–8 2–11
Kansas City 6–6 8–4 9–4 7–6 4–8 6–6 — 8–4 7–6 6–6 7–6 9–4 8–5 7–5
Milwaukee 6–7 7–6 5–7 2–10 10–3 7–6 4–8 — 9–3 8–5 5–7 7–5 5–7 6–7
Minnesota 8–4 6–6 2–11 8–5 7–5 7–5 6–7 3–9 — 6–6 6–7 7–6 5–8 9–3
New York 5–8 6–7 6–6 6–5 4–9 7–6 6–6 5–8 6–6 — 3–9 8–4 5–7 7–6
Oakland 7–5 5–7 8–5 8–5 10–2 8–4 6–7 7–5 7–6 9–3 — 9–4 8–5 7–5
Seattle 6–6 7–5 6–7 6–7 6–6 8–4 4–9 5–7 6–7 4–8 4–9 — 6–7 5–7
Texas 3–9 6–6 7–6 10–3 5–7 8–4 5–8 7–5 8–5 7–5 5–8 7–6 — 5–7
Toronto 6–7 8–5 5–7 11–1 8–5 11–2 5–7 7–6 3–9 6–7 5–7 7–5 7–5 —

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster

1989 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

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
C Whitt, ErnieErnie Whitt 129 385 101 .262 11 53
1B McGriff, FredFred McGriff 161 551 148 .269 36 92
2B Liriano, NelsonNelson Liriano 132 418 110 .263 5 53
3B Gruber, KellyKelly Gruber 135 545 158 .290 18 73
SS Fernández, TonyTony Fernández 140 573 147 .257 11 64
LF Bell, GeorgeGeorge Bell 153 613 182 .297 18 104
CF Moseby, LloydLloyd Moseby 135 502 111 .221 11 43
RF Félix, JuniorJunior Félix 110 415 107 .258 9 46
DH Mulliniks, RanceRance Mulliniks 103 273 65 .238 3 29

[24]

Other batters

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Lee, ManuelManuel Lee 99 300 78 .260 3 34
Borders, PatPat Borders 94 241 62 .257 3 29
Wilson, MookieMookie Wilson 54 238 71 .298 2 17
Brenly, BobBob Brenly 48 88 15 .170 1 6
Barfield, JesseJesse Barfield 21 80 16 .200 5 11
Ducey, RobRob Ducey 41 76 16 .211 0 7
Lawless, TomTom Lawless 59 70 16 .229 0 3
Mazzilli, LeeLee Mazzilli 28 66 15 .227 4 11
Hill, GlenallenGlenallen Hill 19 52 15 .288 1 7
Myers, GregGreg Myers 17 44 5 .114 0 1
Virgil, OzzieOzzie Virgil 9 11 2 .182 1 2
Infante, AlexisAlexis Infante 20 12 2 .167 0 0
Cabrera, FranciscoFrancisco Cabrera 3 12 2 .167 0 0
Batiste, KevinKevin Batiste 6 8 2 .250 0 0
Olerud, JohnJohn Olerud 6 8 3 .375 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Key, JimmyJimmy Key 33 216 13 14 3.88 118
Stieb, DaveDave Stieb 33 206⅔ 17 8 3.35 101
Cerutti, JohnJohn Cerutti 33 205⅓ 11 11 3.07 69
Flanagan, MikeMike Flanagan 30 171⅔ 8 10 3.93 47
Stottlemyre, ToddTodd Stottlemyre 27 127⅔ 7 7 3.88 63
Leiter, AlAl Leiter 1 6⅔ 0 0 4.05 4

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA
Wills, FrankFrank Wills 24 71⅓ 1 0 3.66
Gozzo, MauroMauro Gozzo 9 31⅔ 4 1 4.83
Cummings, SteveSteve Cummings 5 21 2 0 3.00
Sanchez, AlexAlex Sanchez 4 11⅔ 0 1 10.03
Musselman, JeffJeff Musselman 5 11 0 1 10.64
Núñez, JoséJosé Núñez 6 10⅔ 0 0 2.53

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Henke, TomTom Henke 64 8 3 20 1.92 116
Ward, DuaneDuane Ward 66 4 10 15 3.77 122
Wells, DavidDavid Wells 54 7 4 2 2.40 78
Castillo, TonyTony Castillo 17 1 1 1 6.11 10
Acker, JimJim Acker 14 2 1 0 1.59 24
Hernandez, XavierXavier Hernandez 7 1 0 0 4.76 7
Buice, DeWayneDeWayne Buice 7 1 0 0 5.82 10

[24]

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

[26]

References

  1. ↑ Carlos Delgado at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gozzoma01.shtml
  3. ↑ Cecil Fielder at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Mike Flanagan at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Bob Brenly at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/buicede01.shtml
  7. 1 2 3 Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.230, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  8. ↑ Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.231, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  9. ↑ Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.232, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  10. ↑ "Home Run in First At-Bat". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Jays, Down by 10-0, Stun Red Sox, 13-11". New York Times. Associated Press. June 5, 1989. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Blue Jays Open the SkyDome but Lose". New York Times. Associated Press. June 6, 1989. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  14. ↑ Martinez, Michael (August 5, 1989). "A Perfect Night for Stieb Is Ruined by Kelly". New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  15. ↑ Gammons, Peter (October 9, 1989). "Oh, What A Relief It Is". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  16. ↑ Al Leiter at Baseball Reference
  17. ↑ Dane Johnson at Baseball Reference
  18. ↑ Jeff Musselman at Baseball Reference
  19. ↑ Lee Mazzilli at Baseball Reference
  20. ↑ Jim Acker at Baseball Reference
  21. ↑ Paul Spoljaric at Baseball Reference
  22. ↑ John Olerud at Baseball Reference
  23. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smallaa01.shtml
  24. 1 2 http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1989.shtml
  25. ↑ Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  26. ↑ 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

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