The Toronto Blue Jays is a professional Major League Baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario and plays in the Eastern Division of the American League. They have the distinction of being the first team outside the United States to win the Priced World Series.  

History of Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays was founded in 1977 as an expansion of the American League. In 1977, their first season, the Toronto Blue Jays despite losing 107 games attracted a mob of 1,701,052 fans the largest turnout for an exhibition team.  

They had to struggle quite a bit in the concluding years of the 1970s. But in the early 1980s, they emerged as serious rivals to the other teams. And their change from a struggling team to a competing one had everything to do with the addition of Lloyd Moseby, George Bell, Jesse Barfield, Dave Stieb, and other young players to the team. By 1983 they were a genuine contender and in 1985 they went on to win their first AL East (division) title.

Between 1986 and 1990, the Toronto Blue Jays played brilliantly, but were unable to won any championship. After finishing second-place in 1990, the Toronto Blue Jays went on to win three consecutive Eastern Division Titles. However, the 1991 team lost the American League Championship Series to Minnesota. But even in their moment of loss they became the first team in the history of American League Championships, to draw a crowd of four million fans in one season. In 1992, they became the first non-U.S. team to win a World Championship. Then in 1992-93, the Toronto Blue Jays won consecutive World Championships. However, in the next few seasons, the Toronto Jays were less than remarkable. The three privileged Toronto Blue Jays players have managed to enter the Baseball Hall Of Fame are Paul Molitor, Phil Niekro and Dave Winfield.

Instead of Retiring Numbers, the Blue Jays place players in the Level of Excellence. Some of the Toronto Blue Jays players who were placed in the Level of Excellence are: #1 Tony Fernandez, #11 George Bell, #29 Joe Carter, #37 Dave Stieb and #43 Cito Gaston.  

Stadium History of Toronto Blue Jays

From 1977-1989, the Blue Jays home ballpark was Exhibition Stadium. But in 1983, the site of the current ballpark of Toronto Blue Jays was acquired.  In 1989, the current ballpark of the Blue Jays, the Rogers Centre, was opened. Till 2004 it was known as the Sky Dome and has a seating capability of around 51,000.  

When the Sky Dome was opened for the first time, there were over 60,000 people watching. The first baseball game at Sky Dome was on June 5, 1989, when 51,000 fans were jam packed into the stadium. Not only is Sky dome one of the first stadiums in the world to have a fully retractable powered roof, but it also has the distinction of being the world's most highly developed and plush ballpark. Needless to say, it immediately became a major attraction in Toronto.