Article: The Blue Jays and the First Homer of the Season

[Mike LeSage]

Spring training home runs are nice, but the first one of the regular season is always something special. 

With his fourth-inning home run on Opening Day, the newly acquired Andrés Giménez became the 38th different Blue Jay to hit the first homer of the season. Let's enjoy it one more time, shall we?

Looking all the way back to the beginning, it didn’t take the Jays long to get their first home run in their first season. On a snowy day in Toronto in 1977, Doug Ault was the third Blue Jay to the plate…

Just under two-thirds of the time, the Jays have hit their first homer in their first game of the season. In 2000, Shannon Stewart, hitting leadoff, took Jeff Suppan deep in the first at-bat of the season. The following year Stewart would be the first Jay to homer again, this time waiting all the way until his second at-bat (the 10th for the Jays). Only two other Jays have been the first to homer in back-to-back seasons. John Mayberry did it in 1980 and 1981 (the ‘81 homer didn’t come until the third game and 83rd AB of the season). Teoscar Hernández did it in 2021 and 2022 (both opening day HRs and both in the 22nd Jays AB of the game).

Five other players have hit the Jays’ first homer of the season more than once. Ernie Whitt had opening day homers in 1982 and 1984, George Bell did it in 1985, 1988, and 1990, Ed Sprague broke the ice in 1993 and 1995 (neither on Opening Day), Carlos Delgado took 1997, 1999, and 2003, and Vernon Wells did it in 2008 and 2010. I should also note that in addition to the back-to-back entries in ‘80 and ‘81, Mayberry had the Jays first HR in 1978, making him a member of the three-timers club with Bell and Delgado.

In 31 out of the team’s 49 seasons, the Jays have seen their first home run in their first game of the year. Twelve of those times it was on the first time through the order, but only once has it been the team’s first as well. The longest the Jays have had to wait for that home run was in 2023 when Bo Bichette went deep in the 145th AB of the Jays’ season during Toronto’s fourth game. After a three-game set to start the year in St. Louis (the only time the Jays haven’t homered in their first series), it took until the ninth inning in Kansas City for Bo to go yard and mark the first of that season.

George Bell’s homer in 1985 marks the only time the first homer came in extra innings, as Bell led off the 10th inning in the team’s third game of the season. Erik Kratz’s opening day homer in 2014 is the only time the first home run came from a pinch hitter. It represented 33% of all the home runs Kratz would hit for the Jays. Whether they were a Trooper song, like Erik Kratz or one of the Jays career home run leaders (all seven of the franchise’s all-time home run hitters have done it), when the season starts we celebrate them all.

Year	Name	Game	At-Bat		Year	Name	Game	At-Bat		Year	Name	Game	At-Bat
1977	Doug Ault	1	3		1994	Roberto Alomar	1	30		2010	Vernon Wells	1	4
1978	John Mayberry	2	46		1995	Ed Sprague	2	52		2011	J.P. Arencibia	1	18
1979	Rick Cerone	2	61		1996	Domingo Cedeño	1	2		2012	José Bautista	1	12
1980	John Mayberry	1	3		1997	Carlos Delgado	1	6		2013	Maicer Izturis	2	37
1981	John Mayberry	3	83		1998	José Cruz	1	8		2014	Erik Kratz	1	27
1982	Ernie Whitt	1	16		1999	Carlos Delgado	1	5		2015	Edwin Encarnación	1	13
1983	Rance Mulliniks	1	8		2000	Shannon Stewart	1	1		2016	Troy Tulowitzki	1	32
1984	Ernie Whitt	1	8		2001	Shannon Stewart	1	10		2017	Kendrys Morales	3	88
1985	George Bell	3	107		2002	Raúl Mondesi	2	77		2018	Kevin Pillar	1	26
1986	Cecil Fielder	3	86		2003	Carlos Delgado	3	73		2019	Justin Smoak	3	76
1987	Lloyd Moseby	1	3		2004	Reed Johnson	2	54		2020	Cavan Biggio	1	20
1988	George Bell	1	4		2005	Orlando Hudson	1	11		2021	Teoscar Hernández	1	22
1989	Jesse Barfield	2	50		2006	Bengie Molina	1	16		2022	Teoscar Hernández	1	22
1990	George Bell	3	70		2007	Aaron Hill	2	61		2023	Bo Bichette	4	145
1991	Joe Carter	1	31		2008	Vernon Wells	2	45		2024	George Springer	1	10
1992	Pat Borders	1	17		2009	Travis Snider	1	18		2025	Andrés Giménez	1	13
1993	Ed Sprague	3	70

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