# 1977 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1977 Toronto Blue Jays season was the first season of Major League Baseball played by the Toronto-based expansion franchise. The Blue Jays finished seventh in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 107 losses, 45½ games behind the World Champion New York Yankees.

## Offseason
### Transactions

Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1977 season.

#### October 1976

| October 21 | Acquired Phil Roof from the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later (Larry Anderson on January 5, 1977). |
| October 22 | Purchased Dave Roberts from the San Diego Padres. Purchased Dave Hilton from the San Diego Padres. Purchased John Scott from the San Diego Padres. |

#### November 1976

| November 5 | Participated in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft Players acquired, in order of draft: Bob Bailor from the Baltimore Orioles Jerry Garvin from the Minnesota Twins Jim Clancy from the Texas Rangers Gary Woods from the Oakland Athletics Rico Carty from the Cleveland Indians Butch Edge from the Milwaukee Brewers Al Fitzmorris from the Kansas City Royals Alvis Woods from the Minnesota Twins Mike Darr from the Baltimore Orioles Pete Vuckovich from the Chicago White Sox Jeff Byrd from the Texas Rangers Steve Bowling from the Milwaukee Brewers Dennis DeBarr from the Detroit Tigers Bill Singer from the Minnesota Twins Jim Mason from the New York Yankees Doug Ault from the Texas Rangers Ernie Whitt from the Boston Red Sox Mike Weathers from the Oakland Athletics Steve Staggs from the Kansas City Royals Steve Hargan from the Texas Rangers Garth Iorg from the New York Yankees Dave Lemanczyk from the Detroit Tigers Larry Anderson from the Milwaukee Brewers Jesse Jefferson from the Chicago White Sox Dave McKay from the Minnesota Twins Tom Bruno from the Kansas City Royals Otto Velez from the New York Yankees Mike Willis from the Baltimore Orioles Sam Ewing from the Chicago White Sox Leon Hooten from the Oakland Athletics |
| November 5 | Purchased Chuck Hartenstein from the San Diego Padres. Acquired Alan Ashby and Doug Howard from the Cleveland Indians for Al Fitzmorris. |

#### December 1976

| December 6 | Acquired Rick Cerone and John Lowenstein from the Cleveland Indians for Rico Carty. |
Source

#### January 1977

| January 1 | Signed free agent Lloyd Allen from the St. Louis Cardinals to a contract. |
| January 3 | Signed free agent Pedro García from the Detroit Tigers to a contract. |
| January 5 | Sent Larry Anderson to the Chicago White Sox to complete the October 21 trade for Phil Roof. |

#### February 1977

| February 16 | Acquired Jerry Johnson from the San Diego Padres for Dave Roberts. |
| February 24 | Acquired Ron Fairly from the Oakland Athletics for Mike Weathers and cash. |

#### March 1977

| March 21 | Purchased Ken Reynolds from the San Diego Padres. |
| March 29 | Acquired Héctor Torres from the Cleveland Indians for John Lowenstein. Released Lloyd Allen, Leon Hooten and Doug Howard. |
| March 31 | Released Ken Reynolds. |

### Spring training

The team had announced on August 26, 1976 that they had selected Dunedin, Florida as its base for spring training. Dunedin was a 30-minute drive from the Tampa airport with daily flights to and from Toronto, and was near other spring training sites including the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals in St. Petersburg, the Cincinnati Reds in Tampa, and the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton.
Dunedin's Grant Field was located near the downtown and had been used in the 1950s and 1960s by AAA minor league clubs for spring training. The city improved the ballpark with new seats, fences, and clubhouses, increasing seating from approximately 1,200 to 2,000.
The Blue Jays' first exhibition game was scheduled for March 10, 1977 against the Philadelphia Phillies, but was cancelled due to rain. Instead, the first game was March 11, 1977 against the New York Mets. Wire services reported, "Spectators who arrived too late to purchase tickets inhabited areas down both foul lines, outside the outfield fences and some even took seats in the Babe Ruth League grandstand located down the right field line, some 500 feet away from home plate." Bill Singer started the game for the Blue Jays and surrendered a lead off home run to the Mets' Lee Mazzilli. However, the Blue Jays came back and won 3–1 in front of 1,988 fans.
The first two times they played the Montreal Expos, the Blue Jays were triumphant as well. Perhaps the highlight of spring training was a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Blue Jays defeated the defending World Series champions with the Reds missing only one regular starter from their lineup. After spring training, the Blue Jays 25-man roster was set. Ron Fairly, who had previously played for the Montreal Expos, was one of the most recognizable players on the nascent team. The only marquee name was Bill Singer, a pitcher who won 20 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969 and threw a no-hitter in 1970. Pat Gillick had worked out a deal with the New York Yankees to trade Singer for promising young left-hander Ron Guidry. Blue Jays president Peter Bavasi vetoed the deal, as Singer was part of his plan to market and promote the team.

## Regular season
### The first game

On April 7, 1977, 44,649 fans attended the first game in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history, as the squad hosted the Chicago White Sox. Notables in attendance that day included Metro Toronto chairman Paul Godfrey, Toronto mayor David Crombie, legendary NHL broadcaster Foster Hewitt, and country singer Anne Murray. Besides the snow that adorned the field, hundreds of fans missed the first pitch because they were stuck in traffic. An enduring image was the Chicago catcher, Jim Essian, using his shin pads to ski around on the field by their dugout with bats used as poles before the game started.
The umpires for the game included crew chief Nestor Chylak, Joe Brinkman, Rich Garcia, and 27-year-old Steve Palermo, who was making his major-league debut. The game was broadcast on the CBC with Tom McKee (host), Don Chevrier (play-by-play) and New York Yankees legend Whitey Ford providing the commentary and analysis. McKee was the initial face and voice to appear on that inaugural Blue Jays telecast. The Blue Jays would appear on the CBC only 16 times that first season. Tom Cheek and analyst Early Wynn called the game on the radio, this being the first of 4,306 consecutive games Cheek would call.
As the snow was squeegeed off the field (via a Zamboni on loan from the Toronto Maple Leafs), the 48th Highlanders marched onto the field to perform the Star Spangled Banner. Canadian country star Murray, wearing a red parka, then sang O Canada.
The fans chanted "We want beer," because Toronto's Exhibition Stadium was the only ballpark in the major leagues to not serve beer. This was essentially a political protest, since all Ontario stadia were forbidden by law at that time from selling alcoholic beverages. It would take more than five years of lobbying and petitioning from Blue Jays owners Labatt and other interested parties before the Legislative Assembly of Ontario legalized beer sales in the middle of the 1982 season.
Bill Singer threw the first pitch in Toronto Blue Jays history to Ralph Garr of the White Sox, a high fastball called for a strike. From an 0–2 count, Garr battled back to 3–2, then drew a walk. Afterwards, Garr stole second base, advancing to third when catcher Rick Cerone's throw went into centre field. Shortstop Alan Bannister then hit a fly ball for the first out of the game. Jorge Orta followed with a sacrifice fly to cash in Garr, who scored the first run in Exhibition Stadium history. Richie Zisk then hit the first home run at The Ex, making the score 2–0, White Sox. Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield went to the mound to talk to Singer as reliever Jerry Johnson started warming up in the bullpen. Singer was able to compose himself, getting Eric Soderholm to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Outfielder John Scott was the first Blue Jays player to have an at bat, facing White Sox pitcher Ken Brett, taking a strike on the first pitch thrown to him. He struck out, as did the next batter, Héctor Torres. Up came first baseman Doug Ault, a 27-year-old career minor-leaguer with only nine games' experience in the majors with the Texas Rangers and the Blue Jays' 16th pick in the expansion draft. On a 1–1 pitch, Ault slugged the first home run (and first hit) in Blue Jay history deep to left-centre. The score was now 2–1, Chicago.
The Chisox scored two runs in the top of the second, increasing their lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the second, Gary Woods bunted for a single, stole second, and scored on a single to right field by Pedro García. In the third inning, Torres singled and Ault was back at the plate. With the count 1–1, Ault hit his second home run down the right field line, and the game was tied at 4 runs apiece. Toronto took their first lead in the fourth when Dave McKay singled in García from second base.
Singer struck out Chet Lemon to start the fifth inning, but Brian Downing and Ralph Garr singled off him. Hartsfield came out to the mound to make a pitching change. Singer left to a standing ovation as Jerry Johnson entered the game. Johnson recorded the final two outs of the fifth. In his first major-league at bat, Al Woods pinch hit for Steve Bowling in the bottom of the fifth. With Otto Vélez at second base, Woods homered to right field. The score was now 7–4 in favour of Toronto, the team having scored in every inning to that point.
The Sox scored a run in the sixth inning, making the score 7–5. Pete Vuckovich entered in relief of Johnson to begin the eighth. He struck out two batters, gave up a walk and a single, but got a ground ball to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Ault returned to the plate and singled in another run to make the score 8–5. Another run scored on a double play ground out, making the score 9–5, Blue Jays.
In the top of the ninth, Vuckovich retired Jorge Orta on a ground ball, then struck out Richie Zisk. For the day, Zisk had four hits in five at bats. With one out to go for the win, Jim Spencer hit a line drive to left field but Scott dropped the ball for a two-base error. Oscar Gamble subsequently grounded out to the shortstop, at which the Blue Jays had won their first game in franchise history. Jerry Johnson picked up the win while Vuckovich earned the save.
The heroes of opening day would not have a future with the Jays. Jerry Johnson retired after the '77 season and would end up in Hollywood working as a stuntman. At the 1977 Winter Meetings, Toronto traded Vuckovich to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Tom Underwood. After seeing sporadic playing time in 1978, Doug Ault spent all of 1979 in the minors.

#### Linescore

April 7, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, Ontario
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 0 |
| Toronto | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 1 |
| W: Jerry Johnson (1–0) L: Ken Brett (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: Doug Ault (2), Alvis Woods (1), Richie Zisk (1) |||||||||||||

#### Boxscore
##### Batting

| Chicago White Sox | AB | R | H | RBI | Toronto Blue Jays | AB | R | H | RBI |
| Garr, lf | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | Scott, lf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Bannister, ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Torres, ss | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nyman, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mason, ph/ss | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nordbrook, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ault, 1b | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Orta, 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Vélez, dh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Zisk, rf | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | G. Woods, cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Spencer, 1b | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Bowling, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gamble, dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A. Woods, ph, rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Soderholm, 3b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | García, 2b | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Lemon, cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | McKay, 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Downing, c | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Cerone, c | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 43 | 5 | 15 | 5 | Totals | 38 | 9 | 16 | 8 |

##### Pitching

| Chicago White Sox | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Brett, L (0–1) | 3.0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Barrios | 3.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Hamilton | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| LaGrow | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 7 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Singer | 4.1 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Johnson W (1–0) | 2.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Vuckovich, SV (1) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 |

### April

The Blue Jays finished their first homestand with a 5–2 record, sitting in first place in the American League East by 0.5 games, as the team took two of three against the Chicago White Sox and three of four from the Detroit Tigers. Pitcher Jerry Garvin picked up two of Toronto's five wins.
The Blue Jays struggled on their first road trip, as they were swept in a three-game series by the Chicago White Sox and split a four-game series with the New York Yankees, returning home with a 7–7 record.
On April 27, the Blue Jays were involved in their first extra innings game, defeating the Cleveland Indians 6–5 in 12 innings.
The Jays finished the month in fifth place with a 10–11 record, three games out of first place. Jerry Garvin had an impressive 4–0 record with a 2.14 ERA. Outfielder Otto Vélez hit .442 with five home runs and 18 RBI and was named American League Player of the Month.

### May

On May 4, the Blue Jays scored 10 runs in a game for the first time in team history, thumping the Milwaukee Brewers 10–3 at Exhibition Stadium. The team would score 10 runs again five nights later on May 9 in a 10–4 win over their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners.
On May 14, the Jays allowed double digits in runs for the first time, losing 13–3 to the Minnesota Twins.
Toronto struggled during the month of May, posting a record of 8–17. Following a 6–5 loss to the Oakland Athletics on May 25, the Blue Jays fell into last place in the American League East for the first time.

### June

After losing their first two games in June, the Blue Jays would win five of their next six, the only blemish being a 2–1 loss in 13 innings to the California Angels. Following that, Toronto would win only two of their next 14 games.
On June 27, Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees was carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning when he walked the bases loaded, then gave up a grand slam to light-hitting Hector Torres, which vaulted the Jays to a 7–6 victory. During the month, Toronto had a 10–17 record, bringing their overall record to 28–45, seventh place in the American League East.

### July

The Blue Jays played their first Canada Day game on July 1, losing to the Texas Rangers 11–8 at Exhibition Stadium.
They went into the All-Star break with a 34–58 record, 19 games out of first place. At the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game held at Yankee Stadium in New York City on July 19, first baseman Ron Fairly was the only Blue Jays representative. He struck out in his only at-bat against Tom Seaver.
After the All-Star break, the Blue Jays' struggles continued, losing eight games in a row before ending the month with a win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Toronto went 7–21 in July, bringing their overall record to 35–66; 24 games out of first place.

### August

On August 9, the Blue Jays defeated the Minnesota Twins 6–2 in front of 23,450 fans at Exhibition Stadium, as the franchise broke the single-season record for attendance by an expansion team. Despite that, August proved to be another tough month for the club. Toronto went 10–18, bringing their record to 45–84 for the season, 32.5 games out of first place. The Blue Jays lost their last five games in August.

### September/October

Toronto began September with six losses in a row, bringing their overall losing streak to 11 games, before defeating the Boston Red Sox 3–2 on September 7.
On September 10, Roy Howell drove in a club record nine runs in a 19–3 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. This marked the Yankees worst home loss in over 50 years.
At home on September 15, the Blue Jays earned a 9–0 forfeit victory over the Baltimore Orioles when, in the fifth inning, Orioles manager Earl Weaver removed his club from the field in a dispute over a tarp on the bullpen mounds. It marked the first (and still the only) time since 1914 that an MLB team has deliberately forfeited a game.
The Blue Jays inaugural season came to a close on October 2, as they split a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians in front of 27,789 fans at Exhibition Stadium, bringing their total attendance to 1,701,052, an MLB record for an expansion team.
Toronto finished the year in last place in the American League East with a 54–107 record, 45.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees. The Blue Jays also finished 9.5 games worse than their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners, who went 64–98. The Blue Jays attained success far sooner than the Mariners; Toronto's first winning season took place in 1983, while Seattle failed to post a winning season until 1991.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 100 | 62 | .617 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2½ | 54‍–‍27 | 43‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2½ | 51‍–‍29 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 26 | 39‍–‍42 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Cleveland Indians | 71 | 90 | .441 | 28½ | 37‍–‍44 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 67 | 95 | .414 | 33 | 37‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 54 | 107 | .335 | 45½ | 25‍–‍55 | 29‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1977 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–8 | 5–6 | 5–5 | 11–4 | 12–3 | 4–7 | 11–4 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 |
| Boston | 8–6 | — | 7–3 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 8–3 | 10–1 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| California | 6–5 | 3–7 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 4–7 | 5–10 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 6–4 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | 7–3 | 7–8 | — | 6–4 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 3–7 | 10–5 | 10–5 | 6–9 | 8–3 |
| Cleveland | 4–11 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–6 | — | 8–7 | 3–7 | 11–4 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–3 | 7–3 | 2–9 | 9–5 |
| Detroit | 3–12 | 6–9 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 7–8 | — | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 2–8 | 10–5 |
| Kansas City | 7–4 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 7–3 | 8–3 | — | 8–2 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 |
| Milwaukee | 4–11 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 4–11 | 5–10 | 2–8 | — | 3–8 | 8–7 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 8–7 |
| Minnesota | 4–6 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 5–10 | 9–2 | 5–5 | 5–10 | 8–3 | — | 2–8 | 8–6 | 7–8 | 8–7 | 9–1 |
| New York | 7–8 | 7–8 | 7–4 | 7–3 | 12–3 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 8–2 | — | 9–2 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Oakland | 2–8 | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 6–8 | 2–9 | — | 7–8 | 2–13 | 7–3 |
| Seattle | 3–7 | 1–10 | 6–9 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 6–5 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 8–7 | — | 9–6 | 4–6 |
| Texas | 6–4 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–6 | 9–2 | 8–2 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 3–7 | 13–2 | 6–9 | — | 7–4 |
| Toronto | 5–10 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 3–8 | 5–9 | 5–10 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | — |

### Transactions

Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1977 regular season.

#### April 1977

| April 14 | Signed amateur free agent Paul Hodgson. |

#### May 1977

| May 9 | Acquired Roy Howell from the Texas Rangers for Steve Hargan, Jim Mason and $200,000. |

#### June 1977

| June 8 | Purchased Doug Rader from the San Diego Padres. |
| June 17 | Signed free agent Greg Wells from the Cleveland Indians to a contract. |
| June 27 | Released Pedro García. |

#### July 1977

| July 27 | Purchased Tom Murphy from the Boston Red Sox. |

#### August 1977

| August 30 | Purchased Tim Nordbrook from the Chicago White Sox. |

#### September 1977

| September 2 | Claimed John Hale off of waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. |
| September 14 | Traded John Hale to the Seattle Mariners for cash. |

### Game log

1977 Game Log 54–107 (Home 25–55, Away 29–52) :
April: 10–11 (Home 6–4, Away 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 7White Sox9–5Johnson (1–0)Brett (0–1)Vuckovic (1)44,6491–0
2April 9White Sox3–2Knapp (1–0)Lemanczyk (0–1)LaGrow (1)18,2141–1
3April 10White Sox3–1Garvin (1–0)Stone (0–1)Vuckovic (2)17,0592–1
4April 11Tigers5–3Hargan (1–0)Hiller (0–1)29,1323–1
5April 12Tigers6–1Roberts (1–1)Singer (0–1)11,505
3–2
6April 13Tigers7–6Lemanczyk (1–1)Arroyo (0–1)Willis (1)12,1134–2
7April 14Tigers5–3Garvin (2–0)Hiller (0–2)13,3695–2
8April 15@ White Sox7–5Barrios (1–0)Johnson (1–1)10,8405–3
9April 16@ White Sox3–2Stone (1–1)Vuckovic (0–1)7,4675–4
10April 17@ White Sox4–2Brett (2–1)Singer (0–2)Del Canton (1)14,5835–5
11April 18@ Yankees5–1Lemanczyk (2–1)Figueroa (0–2)9,6856–5
12April 19@ Yankees8–3Garvin (3–0)Patterson (0–1)9,9547–5
13April 20@ Yankees7–5Gullett (1–2)Hargan (1–1)Lyle (2)10,8197–6
14April 21@ Yankees8–6Holtzman (1–0)Hartenstein (0–1)Lyle (3)10,5027–7
–April 22Red SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for April 25
–April 23Red SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 5
15April 24Red Sox9–0Jenkins (2–1)Singer (0–3)29,3037–8
16April 25Red Sox4–3Vuckovich (1–1)Campbell (0–3)8–8
17April 25Red Sox6–5Willoughby (1–0)Vuckovic (1–2)15,0168–9
–April 26@ IndiansPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for April 28
18April 27@ Indians6–5 (12)Willis (1–0)Kern (0–1)3,6399–9
19April 28@ Indians4–3Fitzmorris (1–2)Jefferson (0–1)Waits (1)2,7249–10
20April 29@ Royals6–1Colborn (4–1)Singer (0–4)15,5239–11
21April 30@ Royals2–1Garvin (4–0)Splittorff (1–2)15,30110–11 :
May: 8–17 (Home 5–10, Away 3–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
22May 1@ Royals8–2Gura (2–0)Lemanczyk (2–2)Littell (3)34,06610–12
23May 2Brewers3–1Haas (1–1)Hargan (1–2)Castro (5)17,57710–13
24May 3Brewers6–2Cort (1–0)Jefferson (0–2)13,14810–14
25May 4Brewers10–3Singer (1–4)Slaton (1–2)Willis (2)25,69911–14
26May 5Brewers9–8Vuckovic (2–2)Castro (3–1)12,26812–14
27May 6Twins7–2Zahn (5–0)Lemanczyk (2–3)Schueler (1)26,35512–15
28May 7Twins4–1Thormodsgard (2–1)Hargan (1–3)Johnson (4)34,09112–16
29May 8Twins5–4Goltz (1–2)Jefferson (0–3)Johnson (5)20,90212–17
30May 9Mariners10–4Singer (2–4)Thomas (1–4)11,68013–17
31May 10Mariners9–3Garvin (5–0)Montague (3–3)13,01714–17
32May 13@ Twins4–3 (11)Schueler (2–1)Willis (1–1)9,66714–18
33May 14@ Twins13–3Goltz (2–2)Singer (2–5)10,50314–19
34May 15@ Twins5–3Burgmeier (4–1)Garvin (5–1)Schueler (2)11,40114–20
35May 17@ Brewers3–1Jefferson (1–3)Haas (3–2)Johnson (1)6,81015–20
36May 18@ Brewers3–2 (10)Castro (4–1)Vuckovic (2–3)7,20815–21
37May 19@ Brewers5–3Slaton (2–4)Singer (2–6)McClure (3)8,46915–22
38May 20@ Rangers4–3Garvin (6–1)Blyleven (4–4)21,96516–22
39May 21@ Rangers9–6Jefferson (2–3)Briles (2–1)Willis (3)20,35117–22
40May 22@ Rangers7–4Alexander (6–1)Lemanczyk (2–4)Knowles (2)21,83117–23
41May 23Athletics3–0Langford (4–3)Vuckovic (2–4)27,70517–24
42May 25Athletics6–5 (10)Giusti (1–2)Garvin (6–2)36,09717–25
43May 27Angels4–1Ross (2–2)Johnson (1–2)Hartzell (4)24,77917–26
44May 28Angels6–4Jefferson (3–3)Simpson (3–4)Vuckovic (3)30,03418–26
45May 29Angels3–2Ryan (8–4)Lemanczyk (2–5)30,00918–27
46May 30Royals4–1Splittorff (4–4)Garvin (6–3)Littell (6)20,00218–28 :
June: 10–17 (Home 3–9, Away 7–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
47June 1Royals11–3Leonard (3–5)Singer (2–7)33,00418–29
48June 3@ Athletics3–2Lacey (2–2)Jefferson (3–4)3,03018–30
49June 4@ Athletics4–2Lemanczyk (3–5)Ellis (2–5)Vuckovic (4)4,52519–30
50June 5@ Athletics7–3Garvin (7–3)Blue (3–7)Johnson (2)4,58020–30
51June 7@ Angels6–3Willis (2–1)Hartzell (1–5)10,23921–30
52June 8@ Angels2–1 (13)LaRoche (4–2)Bruno (0–1)11,67821–31
53June 10@ Mariners4–3Lemanczyk (4–5)Montague (5–4)Willis (4)11,78622–31
54June 11@ Mariners5–4Johnson (2–2)Romo (3–4)21,31823–31
55June 12@ Mariners5–2Pole (3–2)Vuckovic (2–5)28,41223–32
56June 14@ Tigers7–2Hiller (4–6)Jefferson (3–5)11,80823–33
57June 15@ Tigers9–0Arroyo (5–3)Lemanczyk (4–6)11,34923–34
58June 16@ Tigers4–1Fidrych (3–2)Garvin (7–4)26,04123–35
59June 17Orioles5–3Martínez (6–4)Vuckovic (2–6)26,18323–36
60June 18Orioles4–2Palmer (8–6)Jefferson (3–6)Martinez (2)33,20123–37
61June 19Orioles7–1Lemanczyk (5–6)Flanagan (2–7)34,55624–37
62June 20Indians8–5 (11)Dobson (2–6)Willis (2–2)Kern (8)24,56824–38
63June 21Indians4–0Waits (4–0)Garvin (7–5)Kern (9)18,03924–39
64June 22Indians7–5 (12)Kern (3–3)Johnson (2–3)Monge (4)29,75024–40
65June 23Indians4–0Garland (4–7)Jefferson (3–7)16,74724–41
66June 24@ Orioles5–4Lemanczyk (6–6)Holdsworth (0–1)Willis (5)8,13325–41
67June 25@ Orioles5–2Martínez (7–5)Byrd (0–1)16,79425–42
68June 25@ Orioles3–1Grimsley (7–3)Garvin (7–6)16,79425–43
69June 26@ Orioles2–0Vuckovic (3–6)Palmer (8–8)16,76126–43
70June 27Yankees7–6Jefferson (4–7)Guidry (5–4)Johnson (3)29,13827–43
71June 28Yankees8–5Lemanczyk (7–6)Clay (0–2)40,11628–43
72June 28Yankees5–1 (11)Tidrow (6–2)Johnson (2–4)40,11628–44
73June 30Yankees11–5Hunter (4–3)Garvin (7–7)33,28328–45 :
July: 7–21 (Home 5–10, Away 2–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
74July 1Rangers11–8Alexander (7–5)Byrd (0–2)Devine (4)21,08928–46
75July 2Rangers10–7Vuckovic (4–6)Barker (0–1)19,17629–46
76July 3Rangers6–3 (10)Ellis (4–7)Willis (2–3)Knowles (3)29–47
77July 3Rangers5–3Jefferson (5–7)Knowles (2–1)32,06630–47
78July 4@ Red Sox9–6Campbell (6–5)Hartenstein (0–2)21,07330–48
79July 6@ Red Sox9–5Campbell (7–5)Vuckovic (4–7)34,95630–49
80July 7@ Red Sox5–2Stanley (5–3)Jefferson (5–8)Campbell (16)32,64130–50
81July 8@ Indians11–5Eckersley (8–7)Lemanczyk (7–7)12,71930–51
82July 9@ Indians3–2Garland (6–9)Garvin (7–8)19,59430–52
83July 10@ Indians5–3Byrd (1–2)Dobson (3–8)Vuckovic (5)12,93531–52
84July 11@ Tigers9–7Grilli (1–0)DeBarr (0–1)9,05731–53
85July 12@ Tigers2–1Crawford (3–2)Jefferson (5–9)25,00731–54
86July 13@ White Sox6–3Knapp (8–4)Singer (2–8)Johnson (2)31–55
87July 13@ White Sox5–3 (11)Lemanczyk (8–7)Kucek (0–1)25,66932–55
88July 14@ White Sox2–1Kravec (6–2)Garvin (7–9)15,93732–56
89July 15Tigers8–6 (13)Vuckovic (5–7)Crawford (3–3)23,74933–56
90July 16Tigers11–3Rozema (8–4)Willis (2–4)35,15133–57
91July 17Tigers3–2Jefferson (6–9)Arroyo (5–9)34–57
92July 17Tigers7–6 (11)Hiller (5–9)Lemanczyk (8–8)36,61334–58
93July 22White Sox10–3Wood (5–2)Garvin (7–10)LaGrow (17)33,17534–59
94July 23White Sox10–3Kravec (7–2)Lemanczyk (8–9)24,26334–60
95July 24@ Tigers6–2Sykes (2–3)Jefferson (6–10)20,17734–61
96July 25@ Tigers8–3Wilcox (2–0)Byrd (1–3)Crawford (1)16,91134–62
97July 26Rangers14–0Blyleven (10–9)Clancy (0–1)22,35734–63
98July 28Rangers3–0Perry (9–8)Garvin (7–11)17,51234–64
99July 29Brewers7–3Haas (7–7)Jefferson (6–11)14,30334–65
100July 30Brewers3–2Slaton (8–9)Byrd (1–4)18,63934–66
101July 31Brewers4–1Lemanczyk (9–9)Augustine (10–12)Murphy (1)28,11035–66 :
August: 10–18 (Home 3–8, Away 7–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
102August 1Brewers3–2Clancy (1–1)Sorensen (2–5)17,59036–66
103August 3@ Royals7–4Splittorff (9–5)Garvin (7–12)Bird (1)16,77536–67
104August 4@ Royals8–0Gura (6–5)Jefferson (6–12)17,66136–68
105August 5@ Brewers6–1Byrd (2–4)Slaton (8–10)13,60937–68
106August 6@ Brewers5–3Lemanczyk (10–9)Augustine (10–13)Johnson (4)12,72038–68
107August 7@ Brewers6–2Sorensen (3–5)Garvin (7–13)McClure (4)38–69
108August 7@ Brewers7–5Haas (8–7)Clancy (1–2)Hinds (2)12,07038–70
109August 9Twins6–2Jefferson (7–12)Thormodsgard (9–9)23,45039–70
110August 11Twins7–3Goltz (15–6)Byrd (2–5)Johnson (14)18,43039–71
111August 12Royals9–8Pattin (5–2)Lemanczyk (10–10)Bird (3)19,14339–72
112August 13Royals5–3Splittorff (10–6)Clancy (1–3)Bird (4)25,02739–73
113August 14Royals6–3Murphy (1–1)Leonard (12–10)Vuckovic (6)27,43040–73
114August 15Angels7–4Tanana (14–7)Jefferson (7–13)18,45340–74
115August 16Angels7–2Hartzell (6–7)Byrd (2–6)15,42440–75
116August 17@ Rangers6–5 (10)Devine (9–6)Willis (2–5)12,91340–76
117August 18@ Rangers8–0Ellis (7–9)Clancy (1–4)15,74040–77
118August 19@ Angels3–1Garvin (8–13)Ryan (17–11)Vuckovic (7)16,57041–77
119August 20@ Angels5–4Vuckovic (6–7)LaRoche (7–5)15,31142–77
120August 21@ Angels3–2Tanana (15–7)Byrd (2–7)12,42142–78
121August 22@ Athletics5–2Medich (6–6)Lemanczyk (10–11)Lacey (7)4,42942–79
122August 23@ Athletics8–1Clancy (2–4)Umbarger (1–5)3,79743–79
123August 24@ Mariners7–0Garvin (9–13)Pole (7–11)44–79
124August 24@ Mariners9–3Jefferson (8–13)Abbott (10–9)13,25345–79
125August 26Athletics8–4Torrealba (4–4)Byrd (2–8)22,53645–80
126August 27Athletics9–8Medich (7–6)Lemanczyk (10–12)Bair (2)23,65145–81
127August 28Athletics6–2Blue (13–15)Clancy (2–5)24,08745–82
128August 29@ Twins7–6 (10)Schueler (7–6)Murphy (1–2)45–83
129August 29@ Twins6–5Johnson (15–6)Willis (2–6)10,36445–84 :
September: 8–22 (Home 2–13, Away 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
130September 2Mariners4–3Abbott (11–10)Lemanczyk (10–13)13,50245–85
131September 3Mariners6–2Montague (7–10)Jefferson (8–14)Romo (12)15,10945–86
132September 4Mariners7–2Mitchell (2–5)Garvin (9–14)17,08445–87
133September 5Red Sox8–0Aase (4–1)Byrd (2–9)45–88
134September 5Red Sox6–0Cleveland (9–7)Clancy (2–6)30,37345–89
135September 6Red Sox11–2Lee (7–3)Darr (0–1)17,66645–90
136September 7Red Sox3–2Lemanczyk (11–13)Jenkins (10–10)31,68446–90
137September 8Red Sox7–2Paxton (9–4)Jefferson (8–15)19,16346–91
138September 9@ Yankees2–0Torrez (16–12)Garvin (9–15)21,14546–92
139September 10@ Yankees19–3Clancy (3–6)Hunter (9–9)20,29647–92
140September 11@ Yankees4–3Tidrow (10–4)Byrd (2–10)Lyle (23)40,90547–93
141September 11@ Yankees6–4Murphy (2–2)Gullett (11–4)Johnson (5)40,90548–93
142September 12Orioles6–3Palmer (16–11)Lemanczyk (11–14)Martinez (8)13,49848–94
143September 14Orioles6–5Flanagan (12–10)Jefferson (8–16)McGregor (3)19,04848–95
144September 14Orioles4–2May (17–12)Garvin (9–16)McGregor (4)19,04848–96
145September 15Orioles4–0 (5) †Clancy (4–6)Grimsley (13–9)14,01549–96
–September 16@ IndiansPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 17
146September 17@ Indians6–3Eckersley (14–12)Byrd (2–11)Dobson (1)49–97
147September 17@ Indians6–5Lemanczyk (12–14)Waits (8–6)Murphy (2)5,59350–97
148September 18@ Indians7–4Jefferson (9–16)Garland (11–19)Vuckovic (8)4,37651–97
149September 19@ Orioles3–1Garvin (10–16)May (17–13)3,32552–97
150September 20@ Orioles5–2Palmer (18–11)Clancy (4–7)4,30152–98
151September 21@ Orioles4–0Grimsley (14–9)Byrd (2–12)4,23752–99
152September 22@ Orioles7–1Flanagan (13–10)Lemanczyk (12–15)9,26152–100
153September 23Yankees5–3Gullett (13–4)Jefferson (9–17)32,59052–101
–September 24YankeesPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 25
154September 25Yankees15–0Guidry (16–6)Garvin (10–17)35,11752–102
155September 25Yankees2–0Figueroa (16–10)Clancy (4–8)Lyle (25)35,11752–103
–September 26@ Red SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 27
156September 27@ Red Sox6–5Aase (6–2)Byrd (2–13)Campbell (30)52–104
157September 27@ Red Sox5–1Tiant (12–8)Lemanczyk (12–16)Campbell (31)23,95252–105
158September 28@ Red Sox3–2Vuckovic (7–7)Lee (9–5)20,36253–105
159September 29@ Red Sox7–3Stanley (8–7)Garvin (10–18)12,24053–106
–September 30IndiansPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for October 1 :
October: 1–1 (Home 1–1, Away 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
–October 1IndiansPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for October 2
–October 1IndiansPostponed (rain) Not rescheduled
160October 2Indians2–1 (11)Lemanczyk (13–16)Andersen (0–1)54–106
161October 2Indians5–4Camper (1–0)Clancy (4–9)Waits (2)27,78954–107 :
† Game forfeited by Baltimore. :

## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | Avg | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Alan Ashby | 124 | 396 | 25 | 83 | 16 | 3 | .210 | 2 | 29 | 0 |
| 1B | Doug Ault | 129 | 445 | 44 | 109 | 22 | 3 | .245 | 11 | 64 | 4 |
| 2B | Steve Staggs | 72 | 290 | 37 | 75 | 11 | 6 | .259 | 2 | 28 | 5 |
| 3B | Roy Howell | 96 | 364 | 41 | 115 | 17 | 1 | .316 | 10 | 44 | 4 |
| SS | Héctor Torres | 91 | 266 | 33 | 64 | 7 | 3 | .241 | 5 | 26 | 1 |
| LF | Al Woods | 122 | 440 | 58 | 125 | 17 | 4 | .284 | 6 | 35 | 8 |
| CF | Gary Woods | 60 | 227 | 21 | 49 | 9 | 1 | .216 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| RF | Otto Vélez | 120 | 360 | 50 | 92 | 19 | 3 | .256 | 16 | 62 | 4 |
| DH | Ron Fairly | 132 | 458 | 60 | 128 | 24 | 2 | .279 | 19 | 64 | 0 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | Avg | HR | RBI | SB |
| Bob Bailor | 122 | 496 | 62 | 154 | 21 | 5 | .310 | 5 | 32 | 15 |
| Doug Rader | 96 | 313 | 47 | 75 | 18 | 2 | .240 | 13 | 40 | 2 |
| Dave McKay | 95 | 274 | 18 | 54 | 4 | 3 | .197 | 3 | 22 | 2 |
| Sam Ewing | 97 | 244 | 24 | 70 | 8 | 2 | .287 | 4 | 34 | 1 |
| John Scott | 79 | 233 | 26 | 56 | 9 | 0 | .240 | 2 | 15 | 10 |
| Steve Bowling | 89 | 194 | 19 | 40 | 8 | 1 | .206 | 1 | 13 | 2 |
| Pedro Garcia | 41 | 130 | 10 | 27 | 10 | 1 | .208 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Rick Cerone | 31 | 100 | 7 | 20 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Jim Mason | 22 | 79 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 0 | .165 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Tim Nordbrook | 24 | 63 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | .175 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ernie Whitt | 23 | 41 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | .171 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Phil Roof | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | R | ER | BB | K |
| Dave Lemanczyk | 34 | 34 | 252.0 | 13 | 16 | 4.25 | 143 | 119 | 87 | 105 |
| Jerry Garvin | 34 | 34 | 244.2 | 10 | 18 | 4.19 | 127 | 114 | 85 | 127 |
| Jesse Jefferson | 33 | 33 | 217.0 | 9 | 17 | 4.31 | 123 | 104 | 83 | 114 |
| Jeff Byrd | 17 | 17 | 87.1 | 2 | 13 | 6.18 | 68 | 60 | 68 | 40 |
| Jim Clancy | 13 | 13 | 76.2 | 4 | 9 | 5.05 | 47 | 43 | 47 | 44 |
| Bill Singer | 13 | 12 | 59.2 | 2 | 8 | 6.79 | 54 | 45 | 39 | 33 |
| Steve Hargan | 6 | 5 | 29.1 | 1 | 3 | 5.22 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 11 |
| Mike Darr | 1 | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 1 | 33.75 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | R | ER | BB | K |
| Pete Vuckovich | 53 | 148.0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 3.47 | 64 | 57 | 59 | 123 |
| Mike Willis | 43 | 107.1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3.94 | 48 | 47 | 38 | 59 |
| Jerry Johnson | 43 | 86.0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4.60 | 50 | 44 | 54 | 54 |
| Tom Murphy | 19 | 52.0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3.63 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 26 |
| Dennis DeBarr | 14 | 21.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.91 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 |
| Tom Bruno | 12 | 18.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.85 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 9 |
| Chuck Hartenstein | 13 | 27.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.59 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 15 |

## Awards and honours

* Otto Vélez, OF-DH, Player of the Month Award, April
All-Star Game
* Ron Fairly, first base, reserve

### Franchise firsts

* April 7, 1977:
** Game & Win: Toronto 9, Chicago (White Sox) 5 (at Exhibition Stadium)
** Batter: John Scott
** Pitcher: Bill Singer
** Hit: Doug Ault
** Home Run: Doug Ault
** Stolen Base: Gary Woods
** Save: Pete Vuckovich
* Grand Slam: June 27, 1977, Héctor Torres vs. New York (AL)
* Walk-off Win: July 15, 1977, Toronto 8, Detroit 6 (13 innings)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| A-Short Season | Utica Blue Jays | New York–Penn League | Duane Larson |