1981 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 37 wins and 69 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 players' strike, and the league chose as its playoff teams the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.

1981 Toronto Blue Jays
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record37–69 (.349)
Divisional place7th
Other information
Owner(s)Labatt Breweries,
Imperial Trust,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
General manager(s)Pat Gillick
Manager(s)Bobby Mattick
Local televisionCTV Television Network
(Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver)
Local radioCKFH
(Jerry Howarth, Early Wynn, Tom Cheek)
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Offseason

Regular season

The Blue Jays were one of the worst teams in the majors in the first half of the split season, as the Blue Jays had a record of 16 wins and 42 losses, a percentage of .276.[4] Although the Blue Jays had future stars Jesse Barfield, George Bell, and Lloyd Moseby in the lineup, the team continued to struggle.

On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game against the Blue Jays. It was the tenth perfect game ever pitched, is one of only seventeen in the history of the major leagues, and remains the last no-hitter thrown by an Indian.[5]

The result of the season was one of the more controversial times in franchise history. The President of the Blue Jays, Peter Bavasi, went to see the team in Anaheim against the California Angels. Bavasi's father, Buzzie Bavasi was the president of the Angels, and his team had gotten off to a lacklustre start. Buzzie wanted to fire Angels manager Jim Fregosi, and Peter Bavasi had the idea to fire his manager, Bobby Mattick. Both thought it would be big news if father and son fired their manager on the same night.[6] One of the Blue Jays executives advised the Jays Vice-Chairman of the Board, Peter Hardy. After a brief conversation, Hardy made it clear to Peter Bavasi that Mattick would not be fired in this way.

After the strike was resolved, the Blue Jays started the second half of the season with a close to .500 winning percentage. Peter Bavasi was heard to muse aloud the requirement to print World Series tickets.[7] The Jays would finish the second half with 21 wins and 27 losses, seven and a half games out of first place. Despite the attempted Bavasi firing, Mattick would resign as manager at the end of the season. On November 22, 1981, Hardy forced Bavasi to resign from the Blue Jays.[8]

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Milwaukee Brewers 6247 0.569 — 28–21 34–26
Baltimore Orioles 5946 0.562 1 33–22 26–24
New York Yankees 5948 0.551 2 32–19 27–29
Detroit Tigers 6049 0.550 2 32–23 28–26
Boston Red Sox 5949 0.546 2½ 30–23 29–26
Cleveland Indians 5251 0.505 7 25–29 27–22
Toronto Blue Jays 3769 0.349 23½ 17–36 20–33
AL East
First Half Standings		 W L Pct. GB
New York Yankees3422.607—
Baltimore Orioles3123.5742
Milwaukee Brewers3125.5543
Detroit Tigers3126.544​3 1⁄2
Boston Red Sox3026.5364
Cleveland Indians2624.5205
Toronto Blue Jays1642.27619
AL East
Second Half Standings		 W L Pct. GB
Milwaukee Brewers3122.585—
Boston Red Sox2923.558​1 1⁄2
Detroit Tigers2923.558​1 1⁄2
Baltimore Orioles2823.5492
Cleveland Indians2627.4915
New York Yankees2526.4905
Toronto Blue Jays2127.438​7 1⁄2

Record vs. opponents
1981 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —2–26–63–64–26–75–32–46–07–67–54–22–15–2
Boston 2–2—2–45–47–66–13–36–72–53–37–59–33–64–0
California 6–64–2—6–77–53–30–64–33–32–22–86–42–46–6
Chicago 6–34–57–6—2–53–32–04–12–45–77–63–32–47–5
Cleveland 2–46–75–75–2—1–54–43–62–17–53–28–42–24–2
Detroit 7–61–63–33–35–1—3–25–89–33–71–25–19–36–4
Kansas City 3–53–36–00–24–42–3—4–59–42–103–36–73–45–3
Milwaukee 4–27–63–41–46–38–55–4—9–33–34–22–24–56–4
Minnesota 0–65–23–34–21–23–94–93–9—3–32–83–6–15–85–1
New York 6–73–32–27–55–77–310–23–33–3—4–32–35–42–3
Oakland 5–75–78–26–72–32–13–32–48–23–4—6–14–210–2
Seattle 2–43–94–63–34–81–57–62–26–3–13–21–6—5–83–3
Texas 1–26–34–24–22–23–94–35–48–54–52–48–5—6–2
Toronto 2–50–46–65–72–44–63–54–61–53–22–103–32–6—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster
1981 Toronto Blue Jays roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log
1981 Game Log 37–69 (Home 17–36, Away 20–33)
April 7–12 (Home 2–7, Away 5–5)
May 9–20 (Home 5–10, Away 4–10)
June 0–10 (Home 0–5, Away 0–5)
August 9–10 (Home 4–8, Away 5–2)
September 11–15 (Home 6–6, Away 5–9)
October 1–2 (Home 0–0, Away 1–2)
  • A MLB Players strike forced the cancellation of all regular season games between June 12 and August 9. A split-season format was adopted.

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
CErnie Whitt74195164690.2361165
1BJohn Mayberry94290347261.24817431
2BDámaso García64250246381.25211313
3BDanny Ainge86246204662.1870148
SSAlfredo Griffin1013883081196.2090218
LFAlvis Woods852882071150.2471213
CFLloyd Moseby1003783688162.23394311
RFBarry Bonnell66227215074.2204284
DHOtto Vélez80240325192.21311280

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
Garth Iorg702151752110.2420102
Willie Upshaw61111151931.1714102
George Bell60163193821.2335123
Buck Martinez45128132981.2274211
Ken Macha378541720.200061
Greg Wells327371850.247050
Jesse Barfield259572232.232294
Rick Bosetti254751120.234040
Ted Cox165061540.300010
Fred Manrique14281400.143010
Charlie Beamon8151310.200000
Dan Whitmer790110.111000

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L ERA R ER BB K
Dave Stieb2525183.211103.1970656189
Jim Clancy2222125.06124.9077686456
Juan Berenguer121171.0294.3141343529

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Luis Leal2919129.271313.6863534471
Jackson Todd211397.22703.9651433141
Mark Bomback201190.15503.8942393533

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Joey McLaughlin4060.015102.8524192138
Roy Lee Jackson3962.01272.6123182527
Jerry Garvin3553.01203.4020202325
Mike Willis2035.00405.9125232016
Mike Barlow1215.00004.2011765
Dale Murray1115.11001.1722512
Paul Mirabella814.20007.36161279
Nino Espinosa11.00009.001100

Award winners

All-Star Game

  • Dave Stieb, Pitcher[12]

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Bob Humphreys
AA Knoxville Blue Jays Southern League Duane Larson and Larry Hardy
A Kinston Eagles Carolina League John McLaren
A Florence Blue Jays South Atlantic League Dennis Holmberg
Rookie GCL Blue Jays Gulf Coast League Rich Hacker
Rookie Medicine Hat Blue Jays Pioneer League Wayne Graham

[13]

Notes
  1. George Bell at Baseball Reference
  2. Dan Whitmer at Baseball Reference
  3. Ken Macha at Baseball Reference
  4. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.136, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  5. Sports American League (Baseball) Baseball AL West Division Major League Baseball – SI Vault
  6. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.137, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  7. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.138, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  8. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p.157, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  9. Matt Williams at Baseball Reference
  10. Mike Sharperson at Baseball Reference
  11. Rick Bosetti at Baseball Reference
  12. Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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