FanSided's 'one-season wonder' list is full of names Blue Jays fans know all too well

Baseball will humble you. It is an incredibly difficult sport and at the highest level, playing in the MLB is an absolute grind. Only the best of the best can put together careers where they are consistently producing season after season.

Occasionally, a player comes along that outperforms their career norms and has one magical summer that they just can't replicate, no matter how hard they try or how many chances they are given. That reality was on full display in FanSided's recent ranking of the 30 greatest one-season wonders in MLB history, a list that featured several players with significant ties to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Some delivered their magical seasons while wearing a Blue Jays uniform. Others peaked elsewhere before eventually landing in Toronto. Either way, the list serves as a reminder of just how unpredictable baseball careers can be.

Chris Colabello's magical 2015 remains one of the most unexpected seasons in Blue Jays history

If there is one player who perfectly embodies the term "one-season wonder," it might be Chris Colabello. The undrafted first baseman spent years grinding through independent baseball before finally reaching the majors with the Minnesota Twins. After failing to establish himself there, the Blue Jays gave him an opportunity in 2015 and the results were remarkable.

Batting in a loaded lineup that featured Josh Donaldson, José Bautista and Edwin Encarnación, Colabello hit .321 with 15 home runs, 54 RBIs and an .886 OPS. He became a key contributor on a Blue Jays team that reached the American League Championship Series and captivated an entire country.

Unfortunately, the story ended almost as quickly as it began. Colabello was suspended for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy in 2016 and never appeared in another major league game.

Ricky Romero and Aaron Sanchez looked like future aces

Romero had a great rookie campaign in 2009 (178 IP, 4.30 ERA, 141 SO, 29 starts) and followed that up with an even better 2010 season (210 IP, 3.73 ERA, 174 SO, 32 starts) but his real breakout came in 2011 when he posted a 2.92 ERA across 225 innings and finished 10th in American League Cy Young voting. At just 26 years old, he looked like the ace to replace the recently departed Roy Halladay. Unfortunately, injuries and declining performance quickly derailed his career. After making only four starts in 2013, Romero never pitched in the majors again.

It might be a bit unfair to categorize Sanchez as a true "one-hit" wonder. During his rookie season in 2014, he posted a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings out of the bullpen. He also had three saves in 24 games. Then in 2015, he made 11 starts, pitched to a 3.22 ERA and tossed 92.1 pretty effective innings in 41 total games during the regular season. He was then pretty much perfect in the Blue Jays' run to the ALCS, pitching 7.1 innings out of the bullpen, and only allowing one unearned run that entire postseason.

So there was some real tangible evidence to suggests that what happened the following year wasn't completely out of nowhere. He led the American League with a 3.00 ERA in 2016 while going 15-2 and earning his first All-Star selection. At the time, many believed the young right-hander was poised to be a fixture in Toronto's rotation for years to come. Instead, blister issues, injuries and command problems prevented him from ever reaching those heights again.

Some one-season wonders eventually found their way to the Toronto Blue Jays

The list also featured several players who had their career years elsewhere either before or after joining the Blue Jays.

R.A. Dickey's legendary 2012 season with the New York Mets stands out. The knuckleballer won the National League Cy Young Award after going 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA and 230 strikeouts. That season was so impressive that it convinced Toronto to acquire him in a blockbuster trade that sent Noah Syndergaard and Travis d'Arnaud to New York.

While Dickey was a durable and valuable member of the Blue Jays rotation, he never came close to replicating his Cy Young campaign north of the border.

Esteban Loaiza also appeared on the list. He arrived in Toronto at the trade deadline in 2000. The Blue Jays got him in exchange for a prospect package that included Michael Young who would go on to be a multi-time All-Star. Loaiza never came close to that in his three years in Toronto. He pitched in 75 games and posted a 3.7 bWAR, pitching to a 4.96 ERA in 433.1 innings.

Loaiza left Toronto and signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox and had a stunning 2003 season. The right-hander finished second in Cy Young voting after winning 21 games and leading the American League in strikeouts. It was the only year he finished with an ERA under 3.70 or struck out more than 175 batters.

Even Emilio Bonifacio earned a mention after a surprising breakout season with the Florida Marlins in 2011. That year he hit .296/.360/.393, with 5 HR, 40 SB, a 107 OPS+ and a 2.7 bWAR. Though his speed always made him an intriguing player, he never again approached the level of production he delivered during his best season, including his half season in Toronto in 2013 where he hit .218 with 12 stolen bases in 94 games.

Perhaps the most surprising name on the entire list was one Blue Jays fans know not as a player, but as a manager. Before leading Toronto to back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, Cito Gaston authored one of baseball's most unusual one-season wonder campaigns.

In 1970, Gaston hit .318 with 29 home runs and 93 RBIs for the San Diego Padres, earning an All-Star selection and receiving MVP votes. It was a season he would never come close to matching again during his playing career.

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