The Blue Jays Will Unveil Their AL East Champs Banner on Thursday

For the first time in 22 years, the banners atop the rafters at the Rogers Centre will finally get some company.

Thanks to this above photo by Steve Russell from the Toronto Star, there is now a discernible gap in between the existing banners at the Rogers Centre. Oddly enough, the gap is just big enough to fit an “2015 A.L. East Champs” banner.

Update: It has now been officially confirmed by the Blue Jays; they will recognize the team’s 2015 AL East pennant as part of the pre-game ceremony ahea of Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday afternoon in Toronto.

To me, this is somewhat of a surprising move as the Blue Jays have typically commemorated any individual awards like Silver Sluggers or Gold Gloves during the following season’s Home Opener.

However, the Blue Jays have not had the pleasure of commemorating a playoff berth in an incredibly long time. It’s a wise idea to at least honour the accomplishments of the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays while they’re fresh in everyone’s minds.

Also of note, it looks like the configuration of the banners is now slightly different than before. Prior to this new addition, everything was in chronological order; whether it was a division title,World Series title, or simply a banner to commemorate an All-Star Game.

For the time being, the All-Star Game banner has been moved to the far right of the sequence, just before the Roberto Alomar Hall of Fame commemorative banner.

The brand new banner may not look exactly like this, but I fashioned this Photoshop of the brand new flag which very likely will be flying at the Rogers Centre come Thursday afternoon. Bring on the playoffs!

Image via Steve Russell/Toronto Star