It was on
this day in 1976 that the American League baseball club in Toronto to begin
play in April of 1977 was officially named the “Blue Jays.” The name was chosen
from four thousand names and thirty thousand entries. It’s widely accepted that
the name “Blue Jays” wasn’t chosen in reference to the bird but rather because
the team’s majority owner was Labatt’s Breweries. Labatt’s biggest marketing
beer was named “Blue” and to promote their brand, Labatt’s figured the best way
to do so on television broadcasts was to welcome viewers to “Labatt’s Blue”
Jays baseball.
As for the team’s mascots, BJ
Birdy (still my favourite) patrolled Exhibition Stadium and SkyDome from 1977
until the end of 1999. In 2000, the Jays introduced two new mascots, Ace and
Diamond. While Ace is still roaming the grounds of Rogers Centre, Diamond was
dropped at the end of 2003. In recent years, Ace has been joined by Junior,
usually only on Junior Jays’ Saturdays.
The original Blue Jays’ logo (as seen above), in
use from 1977 until 1996, was designed by Toronto based Savage Sloan Company.
More on the rest of the Blue Jays’ logos in a later post in September.
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