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. Toronto won the AL East pennant in the final weekend of the season against the favored Baltimore Orioles. 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.
Transactions Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1989 season.
October 1988 Signed amateur free agent Carlos Delgado to a contract. Steve Davis granted free agency. Lou Thornton granted free agency. Dave Walsh granted free agency. Jim Clancy granted free agency. Released Frank Wills. Released Doug Bair.
November 1988 Mike Flanagan granted free agency. Rick Leach granted free agency.
December 1988 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. 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. Player rights of Cecil Fielder sold to the Hanshin Tigers of the NPB. Re-signed free agent Mike Flanagan to a contract.
January 1989 Re-signed free agent Frank Wills to a contract. Signed free agent Bob Brenly from the San Francisco Giants to a contract. Signed free agent Tom Lawless from the St. Louis Cardinals to a one-year, $175,000 contract. Signed free agent Chico Walker from the Chicago Cubs to a contract.
February 1989 Re-signed free agent Doug Bair to a one-year, $150,000 contract.
March 1989 Acquired DeWayne Buice from the California Angels for Cliff Young. Player rights of Mark Eichhorn sold to the Atlanta Braves.
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.Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.230, Penguin Books, 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. On April 30, Gillick sent Jesse Barfield to the New York Yankees in exchange for Al Leiter. 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.Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.231, Penguin Books, 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.Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.232, Penguin Books, Williams would be replaced by Cito Gaston, the first black manager in the history of the franchise.
The SkyDome was intended to be ready in time for the beginning of the season. However, due to construction delays caused in part by widespread construction worker strikes across Ontario, this was postponed and the Blue Jays began their season at Exhibition Stadium."Delays hit SkyDome, Jays at Ex for opener", Toronto Star, July 15, 1988, front page. 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.
Notable games April 16, 1989 – Blue Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber hits for the cycle in a 15–8 victory over the Kansas City Royals. May 4, 1989 – In a game versus the California Angels, Junior Felix hits a home run in his first Major League at-bat, becoming only the 60th Major Leaguer to achieve the feat. May 28, 1989 – The Blue Jays play their final game at Exhibition Stadium, a 7–5 10-inning win over the Chicago White Sox. Coincidentally, the White Sox had been the Jays' opponents in their first game at Exhibition Stadium (also the first game in franchise history) twelve years before. George Bell hit the game-winning home run. June 4, 1989 – The Blue Jays stage a remarkable comeback in a game against the Red Sox in Boston. Trailing 10–0 after six innings, they slowly close the gap, finally taking an 11–10 lead on a ninth-inning grand slam by Ernie Whitt. Boston ties the score in the bottom half of the inning, but Junior Felix smokes a two-run home run in the top of the 12th inning, giving Toronto a 13–11 victory. June 5, 1989 – The Blue Jays play their first game in the brand-new SkyDome, a 5–3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. August 4, 1989 – With the Blue Jays leading the New York Yankees 2–0, Dave Stieb comes one out away from pitching a perfect game, but the Yankees' Roberto Kelly cracks a double into left field to break it up. Steve Sax then singles Kelly home to cut the lead to 2–1, but the Blue Jays ace holds on for the victory. It marks the third time in two seasons that Stieb has lost a no-hitter with two out in the ninth inning. September 30, 1989 – In the next-to-last game of the regular season (and the last edition of NBC Sports' Saturday afternoon Game of the Week before the series moved to CBS the following season), the Blue Jays clinch their second American League East division title. Tom Henke strikes out the Baltimore Orioles' Larry Sheets for the final out.
Opening Day starters Jesse Barfield George Bell Pat Borders Bob Brenly Kelly Gruber Jimmy Key Manuel Lee Nelson Liriano Fred McGriff Lloyd Moseby
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Transactions Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1989 regular season.
April 1989 Acquired Al Leiter from the New York Yankees for Jesse Barfield.
May 1989 Signed amateur free agent Robert Pérez to a contract.
June 1989 Released Dane Johnson. Player rights of Doug Bair sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Signed free agent Ozzie Virgil Jr. from the Atlanta Braves to a contract.
July 1989 Released Bob Brenly. 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 1989 Acquired Jim Acker from the Atlanta Braves for Francisco Cabrera and Tony Castillo. Signed amateur free agent Paul Spoljaric to a contract.
Draft picks June 5, 1989: John Olerud was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed August 26, 1989.John Olerud at Baseball Reference June 5, 1989: Aaron Small was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 22nd round of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1989.
Roster 1989 Toronto Blue Jays Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches (hitting)
Game log
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || April 3 || @ Royals || 4–3 || Key (1–0) || Gubicza (0–1) || Henke (1) || 38,595 || 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 2 || April 5 || @ Royals || 1–2 || Gordon (1–0) || Stottlemyre (0–1) || || 17,126 || 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 3 || April 6 || @ Royals || 2–3 || Montgomery (1–0) || Ward (0–1) || Farr (1) || 18,883 || 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 4 || April 7 || @ Rangers || 9–10 || Castillo (1–0) || Guante (1–1) || Henke (2) || 22,914 || 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 5 || April 8 || @ Rangers || 4–5 || Moyer (1–0) || Key (1–1) || Russell (2) || 26,073 || 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 6 || April 9 || @ Rangers || 2–3 || Rogers (1–0) || Henke (0–1) || || 19,498 || 2–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 7 || April 10 || @ Yankees || 8–0 || Stieb (1–0) || Hawkins (0–2) || || 17,192 || 3–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 8 || April 11 || @ Yankees || 11–6 (10) || Henke (1–1) || Righetti (0–1) || || 20,277 || 4–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 9 || April 12 || @ Yankees || 3–5 || Candelaria (1–1) || Castillo (1–1) || Guetterman (1) || 17,900 || 4–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 10 || April 14 || Royals || 3–0 || Key (2–1) || Leibrandt (0–1) || || 46,028 || 5–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 11 || April 15 || Royals || 10–5 || Aquino (2–0) || Ward (0–2) || || 25,247 || 5–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 12 || April 16 || Royals || 15–8 || Wells (1–0) || Saberhagen (1–1) || Castillo (1) || 35,210 || 6–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 13 || April 17 || Yankees || 7–2 || Hawkins (1–2) || Flanagan (0–1) || || 23,260 || 6–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 14 || April 18 || Yankees || 2–0 || LaPoint (1–1) || Musselman (0–1) || Righetti (1) || 25,040 || 6–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 15 || April 19 || Yankees || 4–2 || Candelaria (2–1) || Key (2–2) || Guetterman (3) || 26,471 || 6–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 16 || April 21 || Rangers || 6–3 || Stieb (2–0) || Brown (1–1) || Ward (1) || 22,186 || 7–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 17 || April 22 || Rangers || 4–2 || Ward (1–2) || Hough (2–1) || || 27,278 || 8–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 18 || April 23 || Rangers || 1–4 || Ryan (2–1) || Stottlemyre (0–2) || || 31,473 || 8–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 19 || April 24 || @ Athletics || 4–5 || Nelson (2–1) || Henke (1–2) || || 25,099 || 8–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 20 || April 25 || @ Athletics || 1–3 || Davis (2–1) || Cerutti (0–1) || Eckersley (7) || 12,437 || 8–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 21 || April 26 || @ Mariners || 6–7 || Trout (2–1) || Wells (1–1) || Jackson (1) || 7,399 || 8–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 22 || April 27 || @ Mariners || 6–1 || Flanagan (1–1) || Dunne (0–1) || || 8,600 || 9–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 23 || April 28 || @ Angels || 0–9 || McCaskill (4–1) || Stottlemyre (0–3) || || 30,958 || 9–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 24 || April 29 || @ Angels || 3–4 (10) || Minton (1–0) || Ward (1–3) || || 49,906 || 9–15 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 25 || April 30 || @ Angels || 0–1 (11) || McClure (1–0) || Henke (1–3) || || 31,125 || 9–16
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 26 || May 2 || Athletics || 5–8 || Honeycutt (1–0) || Ward (1–4) || Plunk (1) || 23,439 || 9–17 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 27 || May 3 || Athletics || 2–0 || Flanagan (2–1) || Moore (3–2) || || 22,370 || 10–17 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 28 || May 4 || Angels || 2–3 (10) || Harvey (1–0) || Ward (1–5) || Minton (3) || 21,188 || 10–18 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 29 || May 5 || Angels || 3–5 || Abbott (2–2) || Cerutti (0–2) || Harvey (5) || 24,188 || 10–19 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 30 || May 6 || Angels || 4–5 || McClure (2–0) || Ward (1–6) || || 39,123 || 10–20 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" | -- || May 7 || Angels || colspan=6|Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for July 17 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 31 || May 8 || Mariners || 10–1 || Stieb (3–0) || Dunne (1–2) || || 23,293 || 11–20 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"