My name is Ian and I’m addicted to baseball.

“The Blue Jay Hunter” is all about Canada’s baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays. It’s a place where Toronto’s beloved baseball team and baseball in Canada is put under the microscope.

I can’t exactly pinpoint where the name “The Blue Jay Hunter” stemmed from, but I think I was trying to capitalize on the fame of “The Crocodile Hunter” back in 2007 and have a similar namesake. It wasn’t the most clever name for a blog, but we’ve come this far already, so I guess I’ll just stick with it.

I’m currently contributing to Daily Hive as the lead baseball writer. You may have also seen my work at The Athletic, Toronto Life, Sporting News, Blue Jays Nation, Sportsnet and Buzzfeed. I also make regular radio appearances on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, and have appeared as a panelist at Pitch Talks.

The earliest memory I have of going to a Blue Jays game was October 3rd, 1992. At the time, I didn’t realize the significance of the game, but it was the day the Blue Jays clinched their fourth American League East pennant.

To make the game even more memorable, Joe Carter (my favourite player) hit his 34th home run of the season that day, which was the the eventual game-winning run over the Detroit Tigers.

I had a brief hiatus from Blue Jays fandom after the 1994 baseball strike until around 2005. Unfortunately, I missed the Carlos Delgado golden years, but rekindled my love for the Blue Jays at the tail end of the Roy Halladay era.