1981 Toronto Blue Jays season
| 1981 Toronto Blue Jays | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Results | |
| Record | 37–69 (.349) |
| Divisional place | 7th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) |
Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce |
| General manager(s) | Pat Gillick |
| Manager(s) | Bobby Mattick |
| Local television |
CTV Television Network (Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver) |
| Local radio |
CKFH (Jerry Howarth, Early Wynn, Tom Cheek) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 37 wins and 69 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 players' strike, and the league chose as its playoff teams the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.
The Blue Jays were one of the worst teams in the majors in the first half of the split season, as the Blue Jays had a record of 16 wins and 42 losses, a percentage of .276. Although the Blue Jays had future stars Jesse Barfield, George Bell, and Lloyd Moseby in the lineup, the team continued to struggle.
On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game against the Blue Jays. It was the tenth perfect game ever pitched, is one of only seventeen in the history of the major leagues, and remains the last no-hitter thrown by an Indian.
The result of the season was one of the more controversial times in franchise history. The President of the Blue Jays, Peter Bavasi, went to see the team in Anaheim against the California Angels. Bavasi's father, Buzzie Bavasi was the president of the Angels, and his team had gotten off to a lacklustre start. Buzzie wanted to fire Angels manager Jim Fregosi, and Peter Bavasi had the idea to fire his manager, Bobby Mattick. Both thought it would be big news if father and son fired their manager on the same night. One of the Blue Jays executives advised the Jays Vice-Chairman of the Board, Peter Hardy. After a brief conversation, Hardy made it clear to Peter Bavasi that Mattick would not be fired in this way.
After the strike was resolved, the Blue Jays started the second half of the season with a close to .500 winning percentage. Peter Bavasi was heard to muse aloud the requirement to print World Series tickets. The Jays would finish the second half with 21 wins and 27 losses, seven and a half games out of first place. Despite the attempted Bavasi firing, Mattick would resign as manager at the end of the season. On November 22, 1981, Hardy forced Bavasi to resign from the Blue Jays.
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