Blue Jays Enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame

Bobby Cox Inducted In 2014 By Veterans Committee As Manager

Bobby Cox is one of the greatest managers in Major League Baseball history, and it’s sometimes forgotten that he managed the Blue Jays. He began his career in baseball as a third baseman appearing with the Yankees briefly from 1968-69, but otherwise playing in the minors before succumbing to knee injuries.

He began his managerial career with the Braves from 1978-81, before arriving in Toronto as their 5th skipper in their early franchise history. He would steer the ship in Toronto from 1982-85, finishing with a record of 355-292 with the Blue Jays. The team actually finished 1st in the AL East in his final season in Toronto as well, when he won AL Manager of the year. He would leave his position in order to become the general manager of the Atlanta Braves, a position he held from 1986-1990.

Cox fired Russ Nixon, then Braves’ manager, in June of 1990 and took on the role himself. Whether he realized it was the start of a run or not, Cox would remain as the manager from 1990 until 2010, when he ultimately decided to retire. The Braves would qualify for the playoffs in 14 straight seasons and won the 1995 World Series, Cox’s lone title.

His record of 2504-2001 includes the regular season and playoffs, and his .576 winning percentage is among the best ever. Cox is 4th all-time in managerial wins, and sits in first in ejections, with 158.

Authored by Chris Henderson

Frank Thomas Inducted In 2014 With 83.7% Of The Votes

The “Big Hurt” was a larger than life, home run swatting machine throughout his 19-year major league career. The 2-time MVP owns an impressive .301/.419/.555 career slash line with 521 home runs. Thomas spent the majority of his career on the southside of Chicago with the White Sox after being drafted 7th overall by the pale hose.

The Blue Jays link to Frank Thomas came in the offseason of the 2006 season when they inked the slugger to a two-year deal. The hulking first baseman was solely assigned as a designated hitter during his tenure in Toronto. Thomas had a respectable season in 2007 in a Jays uniform batting. 277 with 26 home runs and 95 runs batted in and a 2.2 WAR in 155 contests.

Unfortunately for Thomas, his Blue Jays experience did not go as initially scripted, with the Blue Jays releasing the Hall of Famer in April 2008 after hitting .167 in the first 16 games of the season. Thomas would be 39-years old at the time of his release but would still latch on with the Oakland Athletics in what would become the last season of his illustrious career.

When all was said and done, Thomas would play 171 of his 2322 career games as a Blue Jay. The Blue Jays manager during his stay in Toronto was none other than John Gibbons, who was in his first go-round as the Jays skipper under general manager J.P. Ricciardi.

The native of Columbus, GA would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 alongside former players Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux.

Authored by Clayton Richer

Tom Cheek- Inducted In 2013 Ford C. Frick Award By The National Baseball Hall of Fame

For nearly three decades, the dulcet tones of Tom Cheek warmly graced the living rooms of Blue Jays fans across the country. A native of Pensacola, Florida, Cheek was the Blue Jays’ radio and play-by-play announcer from the club’s inception in 1977 until his retirement in 2004 – calling an astounding 4,306 consecutive regular season games.

Fueled by a passion for baseball that seemed to radiate in his every word, Cheek and his broadcast partner, Jerry Howarth, provided the soundtrack to some of the most decorated moments in the organization’s history, most notably being the Blue Jays’ 1992 and 1993 World Series championships.  

After stepping away from the club in 2004 due to health reasons, Cheek was honored with the organization’s highest award for individual achievement when he was inducted into the Blue Jays Level of Excellence with the number “4306” beside his name.

Shortly before his death in 2005, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame established an award in Cheek’s honor, acknowledging the key role the broadcaster played in promoting Canadian sports over his lengthy career.

In 2013, Cheek was named the recipient of the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, after having been named a finalist for nine consecutive years.

Cheek will perhaps be best remembered for his timeless call of Joe Carter’s game-winning home run during the 1993 World Series, a moment in time that will remain forever etched in the minds of Blue Jays fans.

“Touch ’em all, Joe, you’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!”

Authored by Patrick Allen

Pat Gillick- Inducted in 2011 By Veterans Committee As A Pioneer/Executive

Inducted in 2011 with just over 81% of the vote, Pat Gillick rightly holds a place in Cooperstown after a prolific career with the Blue Jays.

Although still working in the game, Gillick is most well known for being the Jays first GM, rapidly taking an expansion team from nothing in 1977 to their first ALCS a relatively short time later in 1985. He went on to assemble teams that brought home 4 more division titles (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993) and back-to-back World Series championships in ‘92 and ‘93. This consistent level of achievement, alongside former team president Paul Beeston, easily establishes them as historically one of the most successful front offices in league history.

The players Gillick hand-picked had career years while playing with the club. Just as an example, Jesse Barfield led the major leagues in home runs ‘86 with 40 while driving in 108 runs. Barfield’s team record for home runs only lasted a year though, as his teammate George Bell slugged his way to 47 bombs the following year while taking home A.L. MVP honours.

In the early years in particular, shrewd scouting and drafting, especially in the D.R., allowed the team to bring on eventual franchise players like Tony Fernandez, our slick-fielding shortstop, who was also a key piece in the ‘80s.

Gillick didn’t stop there, though, building on his early successes to help bring the World Series north of the border for the first time ever, and win it in successive years, against the Braves in ‘92, and Phillies in’93.

One of the principal reasons Gillick was able to accomplish the monumental tasks of building those juggernaut teams was his willingness to make bold, big-name trades, the likes of which we hadn’t seen again until the Anthopolous years.

The biggest one of all, that really set the tone and eventually propelled the team to greatness was with the Padres in the off-season prior to the ‘91 season: Gillick had the stones to send accomplished stars Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff to San Diego in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. That deal, coupled with another trade during that same off-season for Devon White made for arguably the most exciting off-season in franchise history.

Gillick left the club on a high note after the second World Series victory, but as a final note, how’s this for an achievement: WAMCO, the acronym for the first 5 batters in the ‘93 lineup he assembled (White, Alomar, Molitor, Carter, Olerud) was partially comprised of 3 players that would finish first, second and third in the batting race that year: Olerud won, hitting .363, Molitor finished second with .332 and Alomar came in 3rd at .326. I don’t know – has that ever even been done before?

Authored by Ashley Weisdorf

Roberto Alomar Inducted In 2011 With 90% Of The Vote

During the offseason of 1990, the fate of the Blue Jays franchise was changed with a blockbuster trade. The Blue Jays would trade Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez to the San Diego Padres for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar.

At the time, the trade was questioned by media and fans alike as Fernandez was a fan favourite due to an endearing style of play and McGriff was coming off a season with a .300/.400./.530 slash line and 35 homers. Meanwhile, Carter and Alomar lacked the superstar status to fill their roles.

All Blue Jays fans know what happened next. Roberto Alomar blossomed into a perennial All-Star with the Jays and in his five-year stint in Toronto, the second baseman won Gold Gloves and made All-Star appearances every year. Roberto Alomar was also a key piece in the Blue Jays back to back (and only) World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, highlighted by his game-tying home run against Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning.

Alomar left a lasting legacy in the Toronto Blue Jays franchise. The Puerto Rican star was the first player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Blue Jay, one of the first members of the Blue Jays organization to be honored on the Level of Excellence, and was the first player to have his number retired in Toronto.

Alomar now hosts a baseball camp in the Blue Jays baseball academy and was recently hired as MLB’s special consultant to baseball operations in his home country of Puerto Rico.

Authored by Jason Lee

Rickey Henderson Inducted In 2009 With 94.8% Of The Votes

Rickey Henderson squeaked his way onto this list because he was with the club for little more than a cup of coffee in the second half of ‘93, picking up his second World Series ring in the process. A nice late-season add by Gillick, Henderson helped the Jays in their push for the post-season that year. He came over to Toronto from Oakland for prospects Steve Karsay and José Herrera.

Although he put up mediocre numbers at the plate for the remainder of the season that year (.215 in 44 plate appearances) and continued this trend in the postseason, batting a paltry.120 in the ALCS and.227 in the World Series, “Rickey-ball” was still alive and well in Toronto, as he continued to do what he did best: wreaking havoc on the base paths and swiping 22 bags while coming around to plate 37 runs during the remainder of the regular season.

The 1990 AL MVP winner sealed his place in Blue Jays lore though, by being one of the runs scored on Joe Carter’s epic World Series-winning 3-run homer against Phillie closer, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams. The other runs on the shot-heard-round Canada were by Molitor and of course Carter himself.

Being the all-time stolen base champ, while amassing HOF-like numbers in other statistical areas as well (collecting over 3000 hits, which all but guarantees entry into Cooperstown for example), Henderson was a no-doubter for first-ballot induction as a member of the 2009 class.

Along with his prodigious career on the diamond, though, there is quite a bit of amusing trivia regarding the talented and exciting ball player. For some chuckles have a look here.

One of my favourites is while in contract talks with the A’s one year he allegedly told someone in the media, “If they want to pay me like (Mike) Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.” I don’t think he meant any umbrage to Gallego, a very (defensively) capable utility middle infielder, but he definitely made his point. And I don’t think anyone can argue with him.

Authored by Ashley Weisdorf

Paul Molitor Inducted In 2004 With 85.2 % Of The Votes

Paul Molitor, the St. Paul, Minnesota native, was one of the greatest hitters of his generation. He played 21 seasons in the big leagues with three teams, leading him to become the third Minnesota-born player to become a member of the Hall of Fame.

Molitor was inducted into Cooperstown in 2004, earning 85 percent of the vote. “The Ignitor” is most remembered for his time with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he did something in Toronto he never got a chance to do anywhere else, win a World Series.

After playing 15 seasons in Milwaukee, Molitor became a free agent at the end of the 1992 season and decided to join the team that won the World Series the year before, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Brewers won the pennant in 1982, however, lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series and after that season, Molitor never got a chance to play in the postseason again, until he joined the Blue Jays.

After a .332/.402/.509 year, finishing second in MVP voting, Molitor helped lead the Blue Jays to the World Series in his first year with the team, and made a memorable appearance. The Blue Jays’ designated hitter hit .500 including a home run and a triple in game six, winning World Series MVP honours.

Paul Molitor finished his career with over 3000 hits and more than 500 stolen bases as well. He may be a Hall of Famer for the Brewers, but he will always be well-remembered by Blue Jays fans for his excellence in the ’93 series, and standing on first base when Joe Carter hit the World Series winning home run.

Authored by Jesse Levine

Dave Winfield Inducted In 2001 With 84.5% Of The Votes

It’s surprising to say but Dave Winfield only wears one World Series ring. He finally managed to put one on his finger at 40-years old as an integral part of the 1992 Blue Jays.

His only season with the Jays, he put up enviable numbers, hitting 29 home runs while knocking in 108 runs and batting.290, primarily as our DH. Winfield was enshrined in Cooperstown as a Padre in 2001 on his first ballot, even though he donned 6 uniforms throughout his impressive career.

While collecting a lot of hardware along the way (7 gold gloves and 6 silver sluggers), Winfield had career years in ‘78 and’79 with San Diego, putting up slash lines of .308/.367/.499 and .308/.395/.558, respectively. Also worthy of note are his very low strikeout totals those years compared to our current era (81 K’s in ‘78, and even 10 less the following year). In fact, if you take a look at his career stats you’ll see similar numbers on that score throughout.

He also had 2 more stand-out years, these times with our A.L. East stripe-wearing rivals from the Bronx. Eclipsing his previous best, he slashed .340/.393/.515 in ‘84 and .322/.398/.530 in ‘88.

Although Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run in ‘93 is more widely remembered, most likely due to recency bias, Winfield brought the trophy home the year before, by way of his own World Series-winning hit: an 11th inning two-bagger that brought in 2 runs and the lead, which we held in the bottom of the frame, until ironically Joe Carter caught the final out of the series at first base, not his usual position, but an exigency of Cito Gaston’s extra-inning juggling work.

While being a first-ballot inductee, it might come as a surprise to some that Winfield fell shy of 500 home runs, managing to tally “only” 465. Arguably, this can be attributed to his line drive hitting style. This was by design, though, as can be gleaned from this piece in Sports Illustrated’s vault, initially from 1979.

In the piece, the then-27-year-old outfielder goes so far as to make the point of saying, “I decided I was going to be a line drive hitter”. One can easily make the logical conclusion that many balls scorched off his bat and slammed off outfield walls, would have easily been home runs with a different “launch angle”, in today’s parlance.

After winning a World Series and having a great year, I was surprised at the time that Winfield wasn’t re-upped with the Jays for the following season. Instead, the club turned to the services of Paul Molitor to fill the DH role. As they say, “20/20 hindsight”, as Molitor too had a stellar year with the Jays and helped bring a subsequent World Series victory home.

Authored by Ashley Weisdorf

Phil Niekro Inducted In 1997 With 80.3 % Of The Votes

If you are a new breed Blue Jays fan, there was knuckleball life before the R.A Dickey era, as Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro was a Toronto Blue Jay, albeit for just 3 games in 1987. The Blue Jays acquired Niekro on August 9th in 1987 from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Darryl Landrum and a player to be named later (Don Gordon).

Niekro would surrender 11 runs in 12 innings pitched during 3 starts with the Blue Jays in August. On August 31st, 1987 some 22 days after acquiring Niekro, the Blue Jays would release the then 48-year-old pitcher. That wasn’t a typo, Niekro’s career spanned from age 25 to 48.

The hurler spent 24 years in the majors with 21 of those years with the Atlanta Braves amassing a 318-274 record with a 3.35 earned run average, making 716 career starts. Niekro owns the record for most wins by a knuckleball pitcher in major league history.

During his career, Niekro would accumulate over 300 innings on 4 occasions including 3 seasons where the knuckleballer made over 40 starts in a season.

Niekro was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 with Willie Wells, Tom Lasorda, and Nellie Fox. Phil’s younger brother Joe Niekro also enjoyed a 22-year major league career as a knuckleball pitcher as well.

Authored by Clayton Richer

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