This Day in Blue Jays’
History: September 23, 2010
It was on this day in 2010 that
Toronto Blue Jays’ right-fielder Jose Bautista became the first player in the
history of the franchise to hit 50 home runs in one season. His solo blast in
the bottom of the first against Seattle Mariners’ right-hander, Felix
Hernandez, was the only run of the day in a 1-0 Blue Jays victory at the Rogers
Centre. Unfortunately, with the Jays being in fourth place and 14 ½ game
behind, only 12,590 fans were in attendance to witness this piece of history.
The previous season record for
home runs was 47, which was accomplished by George Bell back in in 1987.
Bautista would finish the season with 54, leading the American League. That
total is still the club record and no other Jays’ player—to date—has reached 50
homers in a season.
After Bautista and Bell, the
remainder of the Jays’ top five leader board in single-season home runs
features Jose Canseco, who pounded out 46 round-trippers in his only season
with Toronto in 1998, Carlos Delgado who knocked 44 out of the park in 1999,
and Bautista again with 43 long balls in 2011.
Bautista is currently second on
the career home run list for Toronto with 262, trailing Carlos Delgado by quite
a bit. Delgado finished his Toronto career with 336. Considering 2016 is most
likely Bautista last year with the Jays, Delgado’s mark should be safe for some
time.
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