1989 Toronto Blue Jays Season - Regular Season

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. 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 behing 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 (ironically, the spot eventually went to the surprising Junior Felix that year, and Ducey never became the everyday player that the Jays imagined him to be).

Traditionally, 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. 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. Williams would be replaced by Cito Gaston, the first black manager in the history of the franchise.

The team would move into the brand new Skydome and leave Exhibition Stadium behind. Their last game at Exhibition Stadium would be against the first team they played there, the Chicago White Sox. From there, the Blue Jays would open the Skydome in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 30, they clinched the American League East division title at the new ballpark.