Article: Toronto Blue Jays Cult Heroes Bracket: Eight Is Not So Elite

[Mac]

The Toronto Blue Jays won the American League East on the final day of the regular season, something that might not have happened with Jonatan Clase on their active roster. Clase wasn’t productive at the plate this season (.588 OPS in 112 PA), but it’s the number stitched onto his uniform that may have prevented the Blue Jays from capturing the division, had he returned to the majors in September.

The number eight was in the first set of Blue Jays’ uniforms issued, with Alan Ashby donning it for the team’s inaugural season. The jersey number remained in use until 1982, when it went unclaimed following the departure of Ken Macha. The Blue Jays would win five division titles without an eight on their roster and were seeking their fourth straight in 1994, when top prospect Alex Gonzalez made the Opening Day roster and wore the potentially cursed digit. With the exception of the 2003 season, Gonzalez and others kept a #8 listed Toronto’s roster as the top of the AL East remained elusive season after season.

On November 13, 2014, Toronto traded eight-in-the-program Anthony Gose to Detroit for second baseman Devon Travis. The Blue Jays played their most exciting baseball of the millennium in the following two seasons, finally retaking the AL East pennant in 2015 and 2016. Ross Atkins has not gone on record about his views on numerology, but history suggests he disregards it. By signing Kendrys Morales that offseason, Toronto once again had both an eight in their lineup and another skid on the horizon.

#8s in Toronto Blue Jays History
1977-1978	Alan Ashby
1979-1980	Bob Davis
1981	Ken Macha
1994-2001	Alex Gonzalez
2002	Pedro Swann
2004-2009	Russ Adams
2010-2011	José Molina
2012	Yorvit Torrealba and Ben Francisco
2013-2014	Anthony Gose
2017-2018	Kendrys Morales
2019-2024	Cavan Biggio
2024-2025	Jonatan Clase

We are on to round two of our cult heroes bracket. Thank you to everyone who has participated so far, and if you didn’t vote in the first round, you can read about the 16 finalists here and here. The first round wasn't all chalk, so please continue to have your say in this round of matchups:

(1) John McDonald vs. (8) Shaun Marcum

Unlike Johnny Mac, who returned to Toronto in a trade for himself, Marcum never got the opportunity to re-enter the Blue Jays’ universe. Marcum was traded to Milwaukee after the 2010 season and looked like his usual steady self through 44 starts with the Brewers. His next start was to come against the Blue Jays, but Marcum, battling shoulder soreness all season, was scratched and eventually placed on the 60-day DL.

As an impending free agent, the starter was linked to Toronto as a possible offseason re-acquisition, and the pitcher said he was open to a return.

It was not known if Toronto reciprocated. Jeff Blair felt there was little chance, alluding to “extenuating circumstances” as reasoning.  Not only was Marcum suspected to be a chief mutineer against Cito in 2009, Ian Hunter floated the theory that Marcum was the problem player on whom general manager Alex Anthopoulos had sought counsel from his Maple Leafs counterpart, Brian Burke. The simple answer is that there was no room for a second stint. Marcum eventually signed with the Mets in the offseason, plugging the hole left in New York’s rotation from the trade of R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays, but there is no reason the answer can’t also be fun.

I really hope these inter-sport consultations were limited to Burkie, although I now have to wonder if J.P.'s 2006 signings of the aging Frank Thomas and Matt Stairs were at all influenced by JFJ's Eric Lindros/Jason Allison plan the year before. (photo credit: Sportsnet)

 

(5) John Gibbons vs. (13) Jason Grilli

Continuing to feel love from this fanbase, Grill Cheese is the lowest seed to advance from the first round, in a maybe-not-so upset of Billy Koch. It was a magical 2016 season for the 39-year-old Grilli, who became an instantly reliable member of a struggling bullpen when he was acquired midseason. In a sparkling 38-game stretch, Grilli allowed just five runs and struck out 53 batters across 36+ innings. For Grilli, it was also a chance to shine for a team he grew up cheering for.

After three seasons in the Tigers’ bullpen, Steve Grilli signed with the Blue Jays’ organization before the 1978 season. After a great ‘79 with Triple-A Syracuse, Grilli was called up near the end of the season and recorded seven outs in the second game of a doubleheader against Boston at Exhibition Stadium. Turning 30, Grilli didn’t fit in the major league team’s future plans but stuck around in Syracuse for parts of the next two seasons, allowing dad to take Jason to the stadium he would eventually pitch in.

 

(3) Dustin McGowan vs. (11) Adam Lind

How much do we love Adam Lind? The lefty masher had nearly double the votes of the well-regarded Frank Catalanotto in their first round matchup and now faces McGowan, who barely had enough of your votes to squeak by Jesse Litsch. 

I was recently reminded of the apex of Lindsanity at the end of 2009. Lind entered the final weekend home stand with a career-high 30 home runs. With Toronto trailing 4-2 to Seattle on a Saturday afternoon, Lind tied the game with a two-run home run in the eighth inning before walking it off with a solo shot off Shawn Kelley in extras. Three days later in Boston, Lind continued the power display, but with a chance to hit his fourth big fly of the game in the ninth, he was drilled in the elbow by Jonathan Papelbon and did not appear in any of the remaining games.

 

(2) Munenori Kawasaki vs. (7) Matt Stairs

Stairs played parts of 19 seasons in the majors, the most by any Canadian-born position player, and he did it in as Canadian a way as possible. The New Brunswick-born Stairs was his home province's MVP at the senior level at just 17 before heading across the Maritimes to capture the MVP award in Nova Scotia in ‘87 and ‘88. By that time, Stairs had already represented the country on the junior and national levels and made his way to Vancouver to attend the then-prestigious National Baseball Institute.

From there, Stairs signed with the Expos, playing games in both the ‘92 and ‘93 seasons while also spending time with Montreal’s Triple-A affiliate in Ottawa. After a stint in Japan, a breakthrough with his swing came in Edmonton in 1996, while playing for the Triple-A Trappers in the Oakland organization. After finding his footing in the majors with the A's, he made his return to his home country in 2007 to play parts of two seasons with the Blue Jays before eventually retiring in 2011.

Stairs could only stay away for so long. In 2013, he returned to play for his hometown Fredericton Royals. No longer the shortstop he was nearly three decades earlier, Stairs mostly DH’d for the Royals and played for the team at that year’s Senior Men's National Championship in Windsor. As of last season, Stairs had returned to Alberta to work as a hitting coach for the Okotoks Dawgs, but it appears he is no longer listed on their staff.

 

Whether Stairs moves on in this bracket is up to you, but there is a good chance the Canadian baseball legend will be on a diamond somewhere in the country next summer.

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