Blue Jays: Even without a ring, it’s been a good decade

The Hall of Fame

Since the Blue Jays didn’t become a MLB franchise until 1977, they don’t have the same type of team history that a club like the Yankees or Red Sox have. That said, they took an important step over the last ten years, getting the first Blue Jay cap in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That first hat is on the head of Roberto Alomar, who was inducted in 2011. It was Alomar’s second appearance on the ballot, and while it was surprising he didn’t enter on his first try, the voters got it right by giving him 90% of the vote in 2011. Although he was in Toronto from just 1991-1995, Alomar has been considered by many to be the greatest player in franchise history. A Hall of Fame nod will help your argument, no doubt.

And while he isn’t wearing a Blue Jays hat on his Cooperstown plaque, Roy Halladay became the second Blue Jay inducted in 2019. The tragedy of the story is that Halladay isn’t around to enjoy it, as he was lost in a plane crash on November 7, 2017, but thankfully baseball decided to honour him on his first Hall of Fame ballot, and the Blue Jays had the opportunity to have his family to the Rogers Centre to celebrate.

Because the “Doc” had significant accomplishments with both the Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies, his family decided that he would wear a blank cap on his HOF plaque, which is a decision we have no choice but to respect. That said, he’ll always be a Blue Jay in the hearts of Canada’s fan base, and it’s a tremendous shame that he was lost at such a young age.

Will the Blue Jays have more Hall of Famers over the next decade? It’s hard to say for sure, but my guess is that Donaldson will be the next person to have a serious chance at getting enshrined, and his career is likely at least 4-5 years from being over. It could be a while before we see it again, which is why this decade was so special in that regard.