1988_Toronto_Blue_Jays_season
1988 Toronto Blue Jays season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1988 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 12th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing in fourth (tie-breaker went to Milwaukee) in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. This was their last full season at Exhibition Stadium before moving to their new home in June of the following year.
Quick Facts Toronto Blue Jays, League ...
| 1988 Toronto Blue Jays | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Exhibition Stadium | |||
| City | Toronto | |||
| Record | 87–75 (.537) | |||
| Divisional place | 4th | |||
| Owners | Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | |||
| General managers | Pat Gillick | |||
| Managers | Jimy Williams | |||
| Television | CFTO-TV (Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver) The Sports Network (Fergie Olver, Buck Martinez) | |||
| Radio | CJCL (AM) (Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek) | |||
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Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1988 season.[1]
October 1987
| October 6 | Player rights to Tom Filer sold to the Milwaukee Brewers. |
| October 15 | Odell Jones granted free agency. José Segura granted free agency. |
| October 23 | Released Charlie Moore. |
November 1987
| November 9 | Garth Iorg granted free agency. |
| November 22 | Craig McMurtry granted free agency. |
December 1987
| December 7 | Joe Johnson drafted by the California Angels in the 1987 MLB Rule 5 draft. |
January 1988
| January 22 | Juan Beníquez granted free agency. |
| January 25 | Re-signed free agent Juan Beníquez to a one-year, $400,000 contract. |
| January 26 | Signed amateur free agent Graeme Lloyd to a contract. |
February 1988
| February 22 | Signed free agent Mark Ross from the Pittsburgh Pirates to a contract. |
March 1988
| March 24 | Signed free agent Sal Butera from the Minnesota Twins to a one-year, $100,000 contract. |
| March 25 | Player rights of Willie Upshaw sold to the Cleveland Indians. |
- April 4, 1988: George Bell set a major league record for the most home runs hit on Opening Day, with three.[2] Bell accomplished this in a game versus the Kansas City Royals.
- September 24 and 30, 1988: Dave Stieb had two consecutive no-hitters broken up in the ninth inning with two outs and two strikes.
Season standings
More information W, L ...
| AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | — | 53–28 | 36–45 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 1 | 50–31 | 38–43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 2 | 47–34 | 40–41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 2 | 45–36 | 42–39 |
| New York Yankees | 85 | 76 | 0.528 | 3½ | 46–34 | 39–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 84 | 0.481 | 11 | 44–37 | 34–47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 107 | 0.335 | 34½ | 34–46 | 20–61 |
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Record vs. opponents
More information Team, BAL ...
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| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |
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Transactions
Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1988 regular season.[3]
April 1988
| April 7 | Signed free agent Doug Bair from the Philadelphia Phillies to a contract. Signed free agent Frank Wills from the Cleveland Indians to a contract. |
May 1988
| May 31 | Released Juan Beníquez. |
1988 Draft
- June 1, 1988: David Weathers was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 1988 amateur draft. Player signed June 4, 1988.
Roster
| 1988 Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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Game log
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April
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May
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June
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July
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August
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September
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| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
More information Pos, Player ...
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Ernie Whitt | 127 | 398 | 100 | .251 | 16 | 70 |
| 1B | Fred McGriff | 154 | 536 | 151 | .282 | 34 | 82 |
| 2B | Manuel Lee | 116 | 381 | 111 | .291 | 2 | 38 |
| 3B | Kelly Gruber | 158 | 569 | 158 | .278 | 16 | 81 |
| SS | Tony Fernández | 154 | 648 | 186 | .287 | 5 | 70 |
| LF | George Bell | 156 | 614 | 165 | .269 | 24 | 97 |
| CF | Lloyd Moseby | 128 | 472 | 113 | .239 | 10 | 42 |
| RF | Jesse Barfield | 137 | 468 | 114 | .244 | 18 | 56 |
| DH | Rance Mulliniks | 119 | 337 | 101 | .300 | 12 | 48 |
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Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
More information Player, G ...
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Liriano | 99 | 276 | 73 | .264 | 3 | 23 |
| Rick Leach | 87 | 199 | 55 | .276 | 0 | 23 |
| Cecil Fielder | 74 | 174 | 40 | .230 | 9 | 23 |
| Pat Borders | 56 | 154 | 42 | .273 | 5 | 21 |
| Sil Campusano | 73 | 132 | 41 | .218 | 2 | 12 |
| Sal Butera | 23 | 60 | 14 | .233 | 1 | 6 |
| Juan Beníquez | 27 | 58 | 17 | .293 | 1 | 8 |
| Rob Ducey | 27 | 54 | 17 | .315 | 0 | 6 |
| Alexis Infante | 19 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Lou Thornton | 11 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
More information Player, G ...
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Flanagan | 34 | 211.0 | 13 | 13 | 4.18 | 99 |
| Dave Stieb | 32 | 207.1 | 16 | 8 | 3.04 | 147 |
| Jim Clancy | 36 | 196.1 | 11 | 13 | 4.49 | 118 |
| Jimmy Key | 21 | 131.1 | 12 | 5 | 3.29 | 65 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 28 | 98.0 | 4 | 8 | 5.69 | 67 |
| Jeff Musselman | 15 | 85.0 | 8 | 5 | 3.18 | 39 |
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Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
More information Player, G ...
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Cerutti | 46 | 123.2 | 6 | 7 | 3.13 | 65 |
| José Núñez | 13 | 29.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.07 | 18 |
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Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
More information Player, G ...
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Henke | 52 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 2.91 | 66 |
| Duane Ward | 64 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 3.30 | 91 |
| David Wells | 41 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4.62 | 56 |
| Mark Eichhorn | 37 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4.19 | 28 |
| Tony Castillo | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 14 |
| Frank Wills | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.23 | 19 |
| Doug Bair | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 8 |
| Mark Ross | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 4 |
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- George Bell, Most Home Runs hit on Opening Day (3)
- Tony Fernández, Gold Glove Award
- Dave Stieb, pitcher[4]
See also: Minor League Baseball
More information Level, Team ...
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- "1988 Toronto Blue Jays Trades and Transactions". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- "1988 Toronto Blue Jays Trades and Transactions". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
- 1988 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Reference
- 1988 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Almanac