It was on this day in 1989 that
the Toronto Blue Jays played their final game at Exhibition Stadium before
moving to SkyDome. The old renovated football stadium was the home of the Jays
since 1977 and while it was one of the worst stadiums in the history of Major
League Baseball, those of us who were privileged to attend a game there will
have some of the best memories of the early years of the club.
There was the snow covered field
that greeted the players for the first game in team history in 1977. There were
the horrible teams of the first three years that lost over 100 game each
season. Fans will always remember the pieces of a competitive team being put
together as we were witnesses to the first years of Dave Stieb, Jimmy Key,
Lloyd Moseby, George Bell, Tony Fernandez and Tom Henke.
There was 1983 when the Jays
challenged for the division title for the first time, before slumping in
September and finishing fourth. The clinching of the division over the New York
Yankees on a chilly October Saturday afternoon in 1985, followed a week and a
half later by the collapse against the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS that was
the first of several disappointments.
And then there was the four-game
series against the Tigers in September of 1987 when the Jays took the first
three games of the series and were three outs away from the sweep when the
Tigers came back to win the fourth game, kicking off a seven-game Toronto
losing streak that lost the division.
And then there was the stadium
itself. The North Grandstand, the cheap seats ($2 general admission price in
1977 that only got as high as $4 by 1989) were the only seats that provided
protection from the elements with its roof. The rest of the seats were exposed
to the cold winds sweeping in from Lake Ontario. The seats were arranged for
football viewing which means if you sat on any seats past the bases, you sat
with your head turned either right or left, depending on which baseline you
sat.
Back to the North Grandstand,
the thing that remains the most vivid in my mind was how the seats kept going
straight while the outfield fence bended around centre and right fields,
leaving a big patch of exposed astro turf past the fence. It was always fun to
see a home run fly over the right field fence and then keep bouncing towards
the endzone section of the football field.
And yes, people actually sat in
those seats that were as much as 700 feet away from home plate. I remember my
dad taking me to a game on the Victoria Day holiday on a Monday afternoon and
we had tickets in the grandstand. As I mentioned earlier, the grandstand was
general admission which means first come, first served. We ended up being about
three or four sections away from the end of the grandstand and I will always
remember a home run that Jays’ first baseman Fred McGriff hit in the bottom of
the ninth inning. I saw him swing his bat and hit the ball, and then I heard
the crack of the impact about a second and a half later. That’s how far away we
were.
As for the final game on May 28th,
1989, the Jays played the Chicago White Sox, the team they played in the first
game back in 1977. The Jays won the game 7-5 on a George Bell walk-off two-run
home run in the bottom of the tenth inning. Reliever Tom Henke was the winning
pitcher.
The first chapter of the Blue
Jays’ history was over. The memories of Exhibition Stadium (both good and bad)
will be remembered forever.
“Top Of The
Third” requests you email any memories of Exhibition Stadium that you would
like to share. Please send to topofthethird@gmail.com.
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