What is the greatest Toronto Blue Jays moment ever?

Aug 29, 2022

Touch em all, bat flips, and parrots. What is the greatest Toronto Blue Jays moment of all time? 

The current Toronto Blue Jays team may be difficult to stomach at times. However, on Saturday Jays fans were given a blast from the past when the 1992 World Series team was honoured at Rogers Centre. That little shot of nostalgia had me thinking about the greatest Toronto Blue Jays moments.

When it comes to greatest moments lists it’s all subjective. Anybody younger than 29-years-old wasn’t even born when the Blue Jays last won the World Series. So there’s no way that they’re going to remember Joe Carter’s home run. To be honest with you, I was seven-years-old when Joe touched em all, and I was long asleep in bed when he cranked the ball out to left field. So, Joe Carter’s home run is not my greatest moment.

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I watched Jose Bautista’s bat flip vs the Texas Rangers. I was at a conference in Collingwood when Edwin Encarnación took the parrot for a stroll against the Baltimore Orioles. It was Thanksgiving at the cottage when Josh Donaldson slid into home on a Rangers error.

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All those moments were great, but my greatest Blue Jays moment came in April 2007 when Alex Rios walked off the Detroit Tigers on a Friday night. 

The late great Roy Halladay was on the mound and my buddy Josh and I had gotten tickets from a guy I went to college with. Halladay pitched a gem, and after nine-innings the Jays and Tigers were tired 1-1. All of a sudden I started going nuts, because I saw Doc walking out to the mound to pitch the tenth inning. Halladay went 1-2-3, and Rios cranked a homer in the bottom of the inning to win the game.

The win meant nothing in the standings. Toronto didn’t make the playoffs. But, Roy Halladay is one of my top three favourite professional athletes of all time. Tom Brady, Patrick Roy, Roy Halladay. I’d seen the Doctor pitch live a dozen times, but I’d never seen him pitch a one-run, ten-inning game. It’s a memory that will last me a lifetime. 

The day Roy Halladay died I replayed that moment of him walking out to the mound in my head a hundred times. I remember Josh and I staring at each other in shock. It was such an honour to watch Halladay work. You can have your bat flips and home runs. My fondest moment will be watching Roy Halladay do what Roy Halladay did. 

What’s your greatest Toronto Blue Jays moment?

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Contributing Writers

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