Dunedin Blue Jays

History

The original incarnation of the Dunedin Blue Jays was founded in 1978. They were established as the Class A affiliate of the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise. They played for two seasons in the Florida State League and were one of four Class A teams in Toronto's farm system. After the 1979 season the team was disbanded as Toronto expanded its farm system into higher classifications.

Local interests were unable to sign a deal with other major league teams to keep minor league baseball in Dunedin; however Toronto continued to hold its spring training in the city. In 1987, Toronto decided to establish a new Florida State League franchise in Dunedin. They originally played at Grant Field until 1990, when Dunedin Stadium was completed.

When Major League Baseball owners considered locking out the regular players and using "scabs" instead for the 1995 season, Dunedin would have been used as the Toronto Blue Jays' home field due to Ontario laws concerning replacement workers. The MLB labor dispute was resolved before the plan was implemented, however.

In 2006, the Blue Jays made it to the Florida State League Championship Series, losing to the St. Lucie Mets 3 games to 0.

In 2007, the Dunedin Blue Jays were nominated for the 2007 Corporate Support Award, which is awarded annually by the Florida Recreation & Park Association, to an organization that goes above and beyond to support and fund recreational programming.

On September 6, 2017, Dunedin won their first Florida State League championship by defeating the Tampa Yankees two games to one. Dunedin shared the FSL championship with the Palm Beach Cardinals, as the impending threat from Hurricane Irma forced the cancellation of the championship series.

For the 2019 season, the team played at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium while TD Ballpark underwent renovations.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Minor League Baseball season was initially postponed before being cancelled on June 30 of that year. Due to the pandemic causing restrictions on travel between the United States and Canada, there were plans of the Toronto Blue Jays relocating to Dunedin for the 2020 MLB season. Ultimately the team decided to play the majority of their home games at the stadium of their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, New York.

In December 2020, as part of Major League Baseball's reorganization of Minor League Baseball, the Dunedin Blue Jays were chosen to remain an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. However, along with the other remaining teams of the Florida State League, the team changed classes from A-Advanced to Low-A and were placed in a league called the Low-A Southeast. In 2022, the Low-A Southeast became known as the Florida State League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization, and was reclassified as a Single-A circuit.

Season-by-season

These statistics are current through the 2024 season.

Full season (1978–1979, 1987)

Split season (1988–present)

• The championship series was canceled due to the impending threat from Hurricane Irma.
• The playoffs were canceled due to the impending threat from Hurricane Dorian.

All-time records

Roster

Players

Dunedin Blue Jays players who have made it to Toronto:

• Jeremy Accardo
• Russ Adams
• J. P. Arencibia
• Derek Bell
• Pat Borders
• Dave Bush
• Rob Butler
• Chris Carpenter, 3-time All-Star
• Brett Cecil, All-Star 2013
• Gustavo Chacín
• Carlos Delgado, 2-time All-Star
• Kelvim Escobar
• Shawn Green, 2-time All-Star
• Gabe Gross
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 5-time All-Star
• Juan Guzmán All-Star 1992
• Roy Halladay, 8-time All-Star, Hall of Fame inductee
• Pat Hentgen, 3-time All-Star
• Aaron Hill All-Star 2009
• Orlando Hudson
• Casey Janssen
• Reed Johnson
• Jeff Kent, 5-time All-Star
• Billy Koch
• Brandon League All-Star 2011
• Adam Lind
• Jesse Litsch
• Shaun Marcum
• Dustin McGowan
• Lloyd Moseby All-star 1986
• Josh Phelps
• Kevin Pillar
• David Purcey
• Alex Ríos, 2-time All-Star
• Ricky Romero All Star 2011
• Travis Snider
• Ed Sprague Jr. All-Star 1999
• Shannon Stewart
• Dave Stieb, 7-time All-Star
• Mike Timlin
• Dave Weathers
• Vernon Wells, 3-time All-Star
• Woody Williams, All-Star 2003, Game 1 World Series starter 2004
• Trey Yesavage

References

References

1. Horrobin, Jordan. (February 17, 2021). "Toronto Blue Jays Using TD Ballpark In Dunedin To Open 2021 Season". [[Forbes]].
2. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i-YLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=71gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2144,943233&dq=dunedin+blue+jays&hl=en The Evening Independent – Google News Archive Search]
3. "Los Angeles Times: Archives - BASEBALL Here They Come, the Dunedin Blue Jays".
4. (September 6, 2017). "Dunedin Blue Jays named High-A co-champs". TSN.ca.
5. (February 28, 2019). "Dunedin Blue Jays to Play 2019 Home Games at Jack Russell Stadium". MILB.com.
6. (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball season shelved". Minor League Baseball.
7. Laura Armstrong. (July 18, 2020). "The Blue Jays will call Buffalo or Dunedin home after Rogers Centre pitch strikes out". Toronto Star.
8. (July 24, 2020). "Blue Jays to play majority of home games in Buffalo amid coronavirus pandemic". ESPN.
9. (December 9, 2020). "Dunedin Blue Jays switch to Low-A Affiliate of Toronto Blue Jays". Dunedin Blue Jays.
10. Mayo, Jonathan. (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues".
11. (March 16, 2022). "Historical League Names to Return in 2022".
12. (2016). "Florida State League 2016 Media Guide & Record Book". Florida State League.
13. (August 29, 2019). "FSL cancels weekend series, 2019 playoffs". Florida State League.