Average Sports Trivia: Toronto Blue Jays | 10 Questions

Answer: 1977

Under Roy Hartsfield in his first managerial season, the Jays finished with a 54-107 season, 45.5 games behind the World Series victors New York Yankees in the American League East, for a seventh (last) place finish. They would finish last in their first five seasons, but better things were yet to come.

Answer: Jack Morris

The Toronto club who began their franchise in 1977, and slowly improved their pitching prowess over the years with many pitchers who came close to the 20-mark, but mostly created a balanced pitching staff. They saw Jack Morris reach 20 in 1992. Jack was in his first season with the Jays after changing lockers from the Twins.

It was Morris' third 20-game season. He helped the club all the way to their first World Series in 1992.

Answer: Damaso Garcia

The others listed never played for the Blue Jays. Damaso, after spending two seasons with the Yankees, in 1979 was part of a multi-player trade involving Chris Chambliss and Rick Cerone. He set his team mark in 1982. He played for 11 seasons and retired in 1989, ironically as an Expo.

Answer: Chicago White Sox

None of the others listed existed in the American League in 1977. The Blue Jays started their franchise off correctly at Exhibition Stadium on that April day. Even Alvis Woods came to play as he was the 11th player in history to hit a pinch-hit home run in his first career at-bat. Woods would go on to hit five more home runs in the season.

Answer: Cito Gaston

All the others were a Toronto manager, and Cox didn't come to fame until after he left the Blue Jays after the 1985 season. Ironically, it was Cox's Braves who lost to Toronto and manager Cito Gaston in the 1992 World Series, four games to two. All six games except for one was a one or two-run victory for either team. Pat Borders won the MVP for his .450 average, and Jimmy Key and Duane Ward won two games each.

Answer: Ron Fairly and Bill Singer

All the others retired long before the 1977 season. Bill Singer, a pitcher that played most of his career in California with the Angels and Dodgers, was picked by the Blue Jays in the expansion draft in 1976, and Fairly, who the Jays traded for from Oakland, led the team with 19 home runs in their 1977 inaugural season.

Answer: Tony Fernandez

Olerud and Molitor both reached the 200-hit mark in 1993, but it was Fernandez who hit 213 in 1986, which was Tony's season high of 17 seasons in baseball. Fernandez retired in 2001. Vernon Wells broke Tony's team mark in 2003 by spreading out 215 hits in the season.

Answer: Phil Roof

All the others retired long before the 1970 season. Phil was with his seventh and final team when he joined the 1977 Blue Jays' first season. He played his final three games of his career in the season, but provided much more in leadership to the team. His final career five at-bats saw him with no hits for a .000 batting average.

Answer: Pat Hentgen

Pat went 20-10, an ERA of 3.22 with 177 strikeouts. He won the award of two Yankees, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. 1997 saw Clemens win his fourth Cy Young award, the second for the Blue Jays.

Answer: Skydome

In the 1989 season, the Blue Jays moved into the new Skydome in Toronto. This resulted in the largest attendance marks in the American League for the season. Unfortunately, they lost in the AL Championship series to the Athletics, but the fans never turned away.

The fans continued to their support with the most attendance for an American League team for five consecutive seasons. It helped as the Jays won two World Series in this five-year period.