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Toronto joins the big leagues

Broadcast Date: May 1, 1976

At last! This week it is announced that Toronto will become the 14th American League franchise. As yet, the team has no name, no logo and no players. But it does have a stadium, refurbished at great expense long before the awarding of a franchise. As we hear in this clip, the announcement is a huge relief for Metro Toronto chairman Paul Godfrey, Canadian National Exhibition stadium manager Gordon Walker and Labatt sales manager Dave Kashin.

Toronto joins the big leagues

• Two Toronto groups lobbied for ownership of the new American League franchise. One group was headed by Labatt Breweries with partners Imperial Trust Ltd. and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Another bid was entered by Atlantic Packaging Ltd. The Labatt group won.
• In 2003 the controlling interest in the Blue Jays was owned by media mogul Ted Rogers.

• The name "Toronto Blue Jays" was selected in a "Name the Team" contest. Over 30,000 entries were received; 154 suggested the name Blue Jays. Their blue uniforms maintained the tradition of blue attire for Toronto teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and the Toronto Argonauts football team. It didn't hurt that the team was owned by Labatt, brewers of Labatt Blue (a beer that was named after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team.)

• Baseball has a tradition of naming teams after birds. Other current bird-themed squads include the Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals.
• In 1944-45, the Philadelphia Phillies were renamed the Blue Jays after a similar "name the team" contest, but the name didn't stick.
• A blue jay is a medium-sized, colourful bird found across eastern North America. Like some baseball fans, they are known for their loud voices and aggressive manner.

• Before the Blue Jays, Toronto had another professional baseball team, the Maple Leafs baseball club. The Maple Leafs joined the International League in 1886 under the name Canucks. They won the championship the following year and in their heyday the team attracted 25,000 fans. But interest in the team declined as Toronto's prospects for acquiring a Major League Baseball franchise grew. By 1967 they drew less than 1,000 fans a game and left the league.

Toronto joins the big leagues

Medium: Radio

Program: Rebound

Broadcast Date: May 1, 1976

Guest(s): Dave Kashin, Lee McPhail, Gordon Walker

Host: Bill Paul
Reporter: Fred Sgambati

Duration: 8:04

Last updated:
Oct. 27, 2003