A Blue Jays Canada Day VIDEO Journey

Jul 1, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view as a Canadian flag is unfurled across the outfield for Canada Day before the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

2011- Philadelphia Phillies- 7  Blue Jays- 6

On July 1st, 2011, Canadian, Rick Hansen threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Brandon Morrow. Hansen is famous for his “Man in Motion” tour that saw him travel around the world in his wheelchair to raise awareness of the potential that those with disabilities have. You can learn more about the Rick Hansen Foundation HERE.

In that same game, Ferguson Jenkins joined the broadcast. Jenkins is the has the most wins of any Canadian pitcher with 284. The Hall of Famer talked about a number of topics including his commemorative stamp and Larry Walker‘s claim to the Hall of Fame.

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In his 19 year career, Jenkins compiled a record of 284-226. He was a 3 time All Star. He finished 3rd in Cy Young Award voting twice in 1970 and 1972, finished 2nd twice in ’67 & ’74 and won the award in 1971. He had 30 (!) complete games that season! 30! In fact, for his career, Jenkins logged 267 complete games.

The game itself saw Roy Halladay return to Toronto to bring out the lineup card. You might recall that the first job GM, Alex Anthopoulos was tasked with in the winter of 2009 was trading arguably the best player ever produced by the Blue Jays. “Doc” was traded to the Phillies, and the rest as they say, is history.

The Blue Jays, still looking for an ace had high hopes for 2011’s Canada Day starter. He’s since declined dramatically and been released. Ricky Romero started this celebratory game against the Phillies. The Blue Jays would go on to lose the game 7-6. Highlights include Jose Bautista and Eric Thames hit home runs. Thames is now hitting bombs in South Korea.

Next: Canada Day 201: Lawrie Chaos

Jul 1, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view as a Canadian flag is unfurled across the outfield for Canada Day before the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

2012- LA Angels- 10  Blue Jays- 6

The Blue Jays lost again on this Canada Day, this time to the Angels by a score of 10-6. It was a game full of excitement. Jose Bautista had just been selected to represent the Blue Jays in the All Star Game. The dome was packed, the sun was shining! Bautista drove in a couple runs off a misplayed grounder to second that led to some chaos. See, Brett Lawrie brought his usual intensity to the game with this collision at the plate:

In hindsight, it was a play that didn’t need to be that aggressive. He actually had to go out of his way to hit the catcher. He would have been better off just sliding home.

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But, that play is the kind of stuff that caused some Blue Jays fans to grow impatient with the young ball of energy. It certainly got the Angels dugout upset. Manager, Mike Scoscia was tossed for arguing the play. Except, he might have had a point. It looks as though Lawrie was tagged during the collision and was out before he raced back to step on home plate.  You be the judge.

It was a game the Blue Jays should have won, but the bullpen wasted a great start by Aaron Laffey (that’s right!). The last anyone heard of Laffey is that he had signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in November of 2014. He is currently listed as a reliever with their minor league club, the Albuquerque Isotopes. The ‘pen gave up 7 runs in the final two innings. Francisco Cordero took the loss. Of note, Colby Rasmus hit a home run as did J.P. Arencibia.

Next: Canada Day 2013: Dickey & DeRosa

Jul 1, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view as a Canadian flag is unfurled across the outfield for Canada Day before the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

2013- Detroit Tigers- 3  Blue Jays- 8

The 2013 season was supposed to be much different. The previous winter saw the big “Miami Deal” as well as the trade that brought in the previous year’s National League Cy Young Award winner. There is a saying about the best laid plans. The Blue Jays’ plans for a contending team did not work out. But, that didn’t stop the party on Canada Day.

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The Canada Day fesitivities in 2013 were kicked off by a rather intense version of the national anthem that was accompanied by the largest Canadian flag I’ve ever seen. Once again, the stadium was filled with a boisterous crowd. This time, they didn’t go home disappointed as the Blue Jays beat the Tigers 8-3.

R.A. Dickey put forth a solid start going 7 innings, giving up just 2 earned runs. Jose Reyes went off at the plate and collected 3 hits including a home run. Mark DeRosa blasted a 3 run opposite field shot to bust the game wide open.

The win brought the Blue Jays back to .500 with a 41-41 record. At that point, they were 8 games back of the division lead and in last place. They would go on to finish the season an ugly 23 games back at 74-88. It’s easy to see why the club didn’t do so well overall when this day’s lineup featured the likes of Munenori Kawasaki, Josh Thole, Maicer Izturis and J.P. Arencibia.

Next: Canada Day 2014: HutchShow

Jul 1, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view as a Canadian flag is unfurled across the outfield for Canada Day before the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

2014- Milwaukee Brewers- 1  Blue Jays- 4

One year ago, the Blue Jays took on the Milwaukee Brewers. The home team won by a score of 4-1. Drew Hutchison threw a great game giving up just 3 hits and striking out 10! He was helped out by another Canada Day home run for Jose Bautista, a double from Edwin Encarnacion and a triple from Melky Cabrera.

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The pre-game celebration welcomed back the giant Canadian flag and much more…soulful rendition of “Oh Canada”.

The highlight of the game has to have been the strong outing from Drew Hutchison. He showed the stuff that Blue Jays fans have been getting snippets of over the last couple years. He had it working that day.

Hutchison was also helped out by Edwin Encarnacion who absolutely laid out to make a diving stab at a liner down the first base line to rob Scooter Gennett.

The game could have been much better (if you’re a Blue Jays fan) as they team left 14 runners on base. They’d collected 9 hits against Milwaukee’s starter…Marco Estrada.

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Despite the offense doing well, GM, Alex Anthopoulos must have liked what he saw in Estrada as it was only a few months later that he traded Adam Lind to the Brewers for Estrada. And, with the recent outings from Estrada, we’ve forgotten that that deal was more about getting rid of Lind and his

attitude

salary.

There you have it. A look back at the past few Canada Day games with the Blue Jays. There’s been some ups and downs along the way. The one thing you can bet on is that it will be a great celebration.

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Next: Aaron Sanchez Making His Way Back to Blue Jays