Who is the Quintessential Blue Jay?
The other day, my friend Jared just randomly out of the blue asked me on Twitter which player came to mind when I thought of the Blue Jays
It was a great question as I had to ponder my answer for a few minutes. But it got me thinking, who is the quintessential Blue Jay? I’m talking about the kind of player that embodies everything this baseball team is all about.
As a 33 year old franchise, there are numerous candidates spanning over the decades. So I leave the voting up to you guys. Please vote below for your quintessential Toronto Blue Jay: and by that I mean, which player first comes to mind when you think of the Toronto Blue Jays.
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If the player you are looking for isn’t below, please feel free to enter them as a write in candidate. I will tabulate the results for the next few weeks and post the results in a future blog post.
Nice idea. I voted for Stieb.
Good choice, eyebleaf. I mean, how can you not think Dave Stieb when you think of the Blue Jays? He holds most of the franchise pitching records and until another Blue Jay throws a no-hitter, Stieb's will stand the test of time.
If you ask a baseball fan they would probably say Joe Carter because of what he did for this team in the World Series.
If you ask a Blue Jays fan they would either say Dave Stieb, the franchise's greatest pitcher or Carlos Delgado / Roberto Alomar / Tony Fernandez the three of MANY great hitters during the history of the franchise.
The quintessential Blue Jay is Tony Fernandez.
Never flashy, just a hard working guy who never took a game off.
Toronto has always had a habit of loving the "lunch pail" guys…the Wendel Clark's, Gary Roberts', John McDonald's and I think Tony fits right in there.
It's gotta be Halladay, for the modern era anyway. First to the ballpark, last to leave, homeboy even took a PAY CUT to stay here an extra season. <3.
Dave Stieb-he ws here forever or so it seemed…
Kelly Gruber! It's the mullet that got my vote.
Belz45, I think you're right – ask anyone OTHER than a Jays fan, and they'll probably say Joe Carter, because that's what THEY remember. But like you, I'd tend to lean more towards someone like Stieb or Alomar.
Jordan, Fernandez is also a great choice. He loved the team and the organization so much, he played for the Jays on 3 separate occasions. It's just unfortunate he didn't hang around long enough to get one of those World Series rings.
Katy, no doubt – Doc wins hands down for modern era Blue Jays. No matter what team he plays with, I'll always be rooting for him.
Mattt, it's crazy – Stieb played all but 3 games in his career in a Blue Jays uniform. The other 3 were with the White Sox.
Anon, the mullet AND the fact that he tagged out Sanders in that triple play in the 1992 World Series.
Ian, Fernandez was here on four separate occasions (83-90, 93, 98-99 & 2001) and he got a ring with them in 1993.
Jordan, thanks for the correction – my memory was a little fuzzy. Forgot the Jays got him midway through 1993 from the Mets. I still can't believe he made 4 separate tours with the Blue Jays.
I also went with tony fernandez, but it was a tough choice between him and robbie
Ian, when you get the 7 paragraph essay about Tony Fernandez, that's mine.
Tony Fernandez kept the drive alive in '85, and was oh so clutch in 93…he gets my vote.
Archi, good stuff. I find a lot of folks are making a very very strong case for Tony Fernandez right now. He's the dark horse vote for sure.
Anon, indeed he was! Any player that comes back in a Blue Jays uniform 4 different times is a winner in my books.