Plate Appearances

The Toronto Blue Jays, remarkably, will play their fiftieth season in the major leagues next year. From the baseball club’s snow-filled debut on April 7, 1977, at Exhibition Stadium to its more recent pushes for post-season glory (thank you, hugely expanded playoff format) at the Rogers Centre, the team has carved out a significant place in the country’s sports history, including two iconic moments twenty-two years apart that remain touchstones for generations of fans. Add in a pair of World Series championships, as well as plenty of stars and personalities, and there will be stories to tell.

Jeff Blair, a Sportsnet 590 The Fan host and former Globe and Mail columnist, took a swing at telling the stories of the team in Full Count: Four Decades of Blue Jays Baseball, but that 2013 book mostly ignored the first two decades’ worth of players. Now, with Keegan Matheson’s recounting, fans of the club can relive the halcyon days of Dave Stieb and Joe...