On today’s date in 1990, a crowd of 50,000 baseball fans attended the Toronto Blue Jays’ 44th home game as the team’s seasonal attendance soared past the two-million mark faster than any other team in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.
The Blue Jays were established in the 1977 MLB expansion, which also included the Seattle Mariners.
Less than a decade later, the Jays won their first of five American League (AL) East division titles. Toronto faced the Kansas City Royals in the AL Championship Series and took a two-game lead (known as the “Drive of ’85”); however, Kansas City won three consecutive games to win the series 4-3 on the way to their first – and only – World Series championship.
In 1989, the Blue Jays’ new retractable-roofed home, the SkyDome (now known as the “Rogers Centre”), opened in mid-season. It also marked the beginning of a successful five-year run for the team, which won back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993.
In 1991, the Blue Jays became the first team in baseball history to reach the four-million mark in attendance; however, 1993 saw the team’s best attendance record with more than 50,000 fans attending each game. The team held the home attendance record from 1990-92.
2001 BLUE JAYS STAMP
In 2001, Canada Post featured the Blue Jays logo on a 47-cent stamp (Scott #1901) printed by Ashton-Potter Canada on self-adhesive paper.
Designed by Paul Haslip, of Toronto, the stamp depicts a special Blue Jays logo to commemorate the club’s 25th anniversary. Haslip replaced the illustrated baseball with a three-dimensional ball and rendered the words “Canada 47” to look like a player’s autograph.