CBC Digital Archives

1977: Blue Jays or snow birds? MLB debuts in Toronto

Play ball! From the impromptu games of "town ball" in the 1800s, through Jackie Robinson's Montreal Royals to the Expos and Blue Jays, Canadians have always been infatuated with baseball. But getting big league teams to come to Canada proved harder than hitting a grand slam. It took decades of persuading, promoting, wheeling and dealing, but eventually America's favourite pastime found a home in the great white north.

The Blue Jays' first game leaves many wondering if putting a major league team in Toronto was such a good idea. The weather is freezing cold and the entire field is covered in snow. Players and fans alike wonder if it will be a "snow-out." But groundskeepers vacuum up the snow, and after an 18-minute delay the umpire shouts "Play ball!" in front of 44,000 delighted fans. CBC Radio's Rick Cluff was at the game.
• Anne Murray, dressed in a red parka, sang a rather hurried version of O Canada before the first pitch.

• The Blue Jays won the game, outscoring the Chicago White Sox 9-5. Jays first baseman Doug Ault became an instant hero by hitting two home runs.

• In their first season, the Blue Jays sold 9,000 season tickets, an American League record for a rookie club. More than 1.7 million fans attend games that first year.

• The Blue Jays' record in their first year was 54 wins and 107 losses, an almost identical result as that achieved by the Expos in their inaugural season. The Jays finished last in the American League East.

• The Seattle Mariners were the other expansion team in 1977.

• Exhibition Stadium was built for football in 1958 and modified for Blue Jays baseball. It could hold 43,737 baseball fans. The stadium had several drawbacks: the only covered section was over the left-field general admission seats (ironically, the cheapest in the park); the open end of the field faced windy Lake Ontario and the metal seats were particularly uncomfortable in cold weather.

• In 1989 the Blue Jays moved to the newly-constructed SkyDome.

• Exhibition Stadium was demolished in 1999.

Also on April 7:

• 1868: Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the most brilliant orators in Canadian parliamentary history, is assassinated in Ottawa. The Irish-born Father of Confederation worked as a journalist and poet before being elected to the Canadian legislature in 1858. He denounced the Fenians, a militant Irish-American group dedicated to securing Irish independence. Patrick James Whelan was convicted and hanged the following year.

Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio News
Broadcast Date: April 7, 1977
Reporter: Rick Cluff
Duration: 1:36

Last updated: April 3, 2013

Page consulted on April 5, 2013

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