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Major League Baseball team season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1989 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 13th 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. The Blue Jays' ace pitcher Dave Stieb led the staff with 17 victories, and the team was offensively buoyed by the league's home run king Fred McGriff.[1] Toronto won the AL East pennant in the final weekend of the season against the favored Baltimore Orioles.[1] The Blue Jays lost the ALCS in five games to the eventual World Series champion Oakland Athletics. It was the team's last season at Exhibition Stadium, before moving to SkyDome halfway into the season. The Blue Jays hit eight grand slams, the most in MLB in 1989.[2]
1989 Toronto Blue Jays | ||
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American League East Champions | ||
League | American League | |
Division | East | |
Ballpark | Exhibition Stadium | |
City | Toronto | |
Record | 89–73 (.549) | |
Divisional place | 1st | |
Owners | Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | |
General managers | Pat Gillick | |
Managers | Jimy Williams, Cito Gaston | |
Television | CFTO-TV (Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver) The Sports Network (Fergie Olver, Buck Martinez) | |
Radio | CJCL (AM) (Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek) | |
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Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1989 season.[3]
October 9 | Signed amateur free agent Carlos Delgado to a contract. |
October 15 | Steve Davis granted free agency. Lou Thornton granted free agency. Dave Walsh granted free agency. |
October 24 | Jim Clancy granted free agency. |
October 28 | Released Frank Wills. |
October 31 | Released Doug Bair. |
November 4 | Mike Flanagan granted free agency. Rick Leach granted free agency. |
December 5 | Gerónimo Berroa drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1988 MLB Rule 5 draft. Matt Stark drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1988 MLB Rule 5 draft. Eric Yelding drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 1988 MLB Rule 5 draft. |
December 6 | Drafted Tom Gilles from the Minnesota Twins in the 1988 Minor League Draft. Drafted Mauro Gozzo from the Kansas City Royals in the 1988 Minor League Draft. |
December 22 | Player rights of Cecil Fielder sold to the Hanshin Tigers of the NPB. |
December 24 | Re-signed free agent Mike Flanagan to a contract. |
January 12 | Re-signed free agent Frank Wills to a contract. |
January 18 | Signed free agent Bob Brenly from the San Francisco Giants to a contract. |
January 23 | Signed free agent Tom Lawless from the St. Louis Cardinals to a one-year, $175,000 contract. |
January 28 | Signed free agent Chico Walker from the Chicago Cubs to a contract. |
February 17 | Re-signed free agent Doug Bair to a one-year, $150,000 contract. |
March 9 | Acquired DeWayne Buice from the California Angels for Cliff Young. |
March 29 | Player rights of Mark Eichhorn sold to the Atlanta Braves. |
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.[4] 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.[4] On April 30, Gillick sent Jesse Barfield to the New York Yankees in exchange for Al Leiter.[4] The reason for the deal was that management was convinced that Rob Ducey was ready to be an everyday outfielder. The spot eventually went to the surprising Junior Felix that year, and Ducey never became the everyday player the Jays imagined him to be.
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.[5] 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.[6] Williams would be replaced by Cito Gaston, the first black manager in the history of the franchise.
The Blue Jays' last game at Exhibition Stadium was against the first team they played there, the Chicago White Sox. From there, the Blue Jays opened the new Skydome with a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 30, they clinched the American League East division title at the new ballpark.
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 46–35 | 43–38 |
Baltimore Orioles | 87 | 75 | .537 | 2 | 47–34 | 40–41 |
Boston Red Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 6 | 46–35 | 37–44 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 81 | 81 | .500 | 8 | 45–36 | 36–45 |
New York Yankees | 74 | 87 | .460 | 14½ | 41–40 | 33–47 |
Cleveland Indians | 73 | 89 | .451 | 16 | 41–40 | 32–49 |
Detroit Tigers | 59 | 103 | .364 | 30 | 38–43 | 21–60 |
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
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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 | — |
Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1989 regular season.[13]
April 30 | Acquired Al Leiter from the New York Yankees for Jesse Barfield. |
May 1 | Signed amateur free agent Robert Pérez to a contract. |
June 12 | Released Dane Johnson. |
June 16 | Player rights of Doug Bair sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates. |
June 24 | Signed free agent Ozzie Virgil Jr. from the Atlanta Braves to a contract. |
July 18 | Released Bob Brenly. |
July 31 | Acquired Mookie Wilson from the New York Mets for Jeff Musselman and Mike Brady. Selected Lee Mazzilli off of waivers from the New York Mets. |
August 24 | Acquired Jim Acker from the Atlanta Braves for Francisco Cabrera and Tony Castillo. |
August 26 | Signed amateur free agent Paul Spoljaric to a contract. |
1989 Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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1989 Game Log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April: 9–16 (Home: 4–5; Away: 5–11)
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May: 11–15 (Home: 8–9; Away: 3–6)
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June: 17–10 (Home: 6–5; Away: 11–5)
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July: 15–12 (Home: 6–7; Away: 9–5)
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August: 20–9 (Home: 6–4; Away: 14–5)
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September: 17–10 (Home: 8–3; Away: 9–7)
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1989 Playoff Game Log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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= Indicates team leader |
= Indicates league leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Ernie Whitt | 129 | 385 | 101 | .262 | 11 | 53 |
1B | Fred McGriff | 161 | 551 | 148 | .269 | 36 | 92 |
2B | Nelson Liriano | 132 | 418 | 110 | .263 | 5 | 53 |
3B | Kelly Gruber | 135 | 545 | 158 | .290 | 18 | 73 |
SS | Tony Fernández | 140 | 573 | 147 | .257 | 11 | 64 |
LF | George Bell | 153 | 613 | 182 | .297 | 18 | 104 |
CF | Lloyd Moseby | 135 | 502 | 111 | .221 | 11 | 43 |
RF | Junior Félix | 110 | 415 | 107 | .258 | 9 | 46 |
DH | Rance Mulliniks | 103 | 273 | 65 | .238 | 3 | 29 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manuel Lee | 99 | 300 | 78 | .260 | 3 | 34 |
Pat Borders | 94 | 241 | 62 | .257 | 3 | 29 |
Mookie Wilson | 54 | 238 | 71 | .298 | 2 | 17 |
Bob Brenly | 48 | 88 | 15 | .170 | 1 | 6 |
Jesse Barfield | 21 | 80 | 16 | .200 | 5 | 11 |
Rob Ducey | 41 | 76 | 16 | .211 | 0 | 7 |
Tom Lawless | 59 | 70 | 16 | .229 | 0 | 3 |
Lee Mazzilli | 28 | 66 | 15 | .227 | 4 | 11 |
Glenallen Hill | 19 | 52 | 15 | .288 | 1 | 7 |
Greg Myers | 17 | 44 | 5 | .114 | 0 | 1 |
Alexis Infante | 20 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
Francisco Cabrera | 3 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
Ozzie Virgil | 9 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 1 | 2 |
Kevin Batiste | 6 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
John Olerud | 6 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Jimmy Key | 33 | 216.0 | 13 | 14 | 3.88 | 118 |
Dave Stieb | 33 | 206.2 | 17 | 8 | 3.35 | 101 |
John Cerutti | 33 | 205.1 | 11 | 11 | 3.07 | 69 |
Mike Flanagan | 30 | 171.2 | 8 | 10 | 3.93 | 47 |
Todd Stottlemyre | 27 | 127.2 | 7 | 7 | 3.88 | 63 |
Al Leiter | 1 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 4 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Frank Wills | 24 | 71.1 | 1 | 0 | 3.66 | 41 |
Mauro Gozzo | 9 | 31.2 | 4 | 1 | 4.83 | 10 |
Steve Cummings | 5 | 21.0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 | 8 |
Alex Sanchez | 4 | 11.2 | 0 | 1 | 10.03 | 4 |
Jeff Musselman | 5 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 | 10.64 | 3 |
José Núñez | 6 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 | 2.53 | 14 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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Tom Henke | 64 | 8 | 3 | 20 | 1.92 | 116 |
Duane Ward | 66 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 3.77 | 122 |
David Wells | 54 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2.40 | 78 |
Tony Castillo | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.11 | 10 |
Jim Acker | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.59 | 24 |
Xavier Hernandez | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 7 |
DeWayne Buice | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.82 | 10 |
October 3, 1989, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toronto | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
Oakland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | X | 7 | 11 | 0 |
W: Dave Stewart (1-0) L: Dave Stieb (0-1) | ||||||||||||
HR: TOR – Ernie Whitt (1) OAK – Dave Henderson (1), Mark McGwire (1) |
October 4, 1989, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toronto | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | X | 6 | 9 | 1 |
W: Mike Moore (1-0) L: Todd Stottlemyre (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (1) | ||||||||||||
HR: OAK – Dave Parker (1) |
October 6, 1989, at SkyDome
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oakland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | X | 7 | 8 | 0 |
W: Jimmy Key (1-0) L: Storm Davis (0-1) | ||||||||||||
HR: OAK – Dave Parker (2) |
October 7, 1989, at SkyDome
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oakland | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
W: Bob Welch (1-0) L: Mike Flanagan (0-1) S: Dennis Eckersley (2) | ||||||||||||
HR: OAK – Rickey Henderson 2 (2), José Canseco (1) |
October 8, 1989, at SkyDome
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oakland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
W: Dave Stewart (2-0) L: Dave Stieb (0-2) S: Dennis Eckersley (3) | ||||||||||||
HR: TOR – Lloyd Moseby (1), George Bell (1) |
All-Star Game
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