# 1979 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1979 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's third season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 53 wins and 109 losses. The Blue Jays were the only American League East team to finish 1979 with a losing record and the loss total of 109 set the franchise mark; it is also the last time as of 2023 the team lost over 100 games in a season. Attendance for the season decreased to 1,431,651.

## Offseason
### Transactions

Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1979 season.

#### October 1978

| October 3 | Purchased Rico Carty from the Oakland Athletics. |

#### November 1978

| November 2 | Joe Coleman granted free agency. Rico Carty granted free agency. |
| November 3 | Acquired Dave Freisleben from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later (Sheldon Mallory on March 27, 1979). |
| November 24 | Signed amateur free agent Fred Manrique. Signed amateur free agent Toby Hernández. |
| November 27 | Signed amateur free agent José Escobar. Acquired Joe Cannon, Pedro Hernández and Mark Lemongello from the Houston Astros for Alan Ashby. |

#### December 1978

| December 2 | Willie Horton became a free agent. Released Bill Singer. |
| December 4 | Acquired Don Pisker from the Houston Astros for Gary Woods. Selected Bob Davis from the San Diego Padres in the 1978 MLB Rule 5 draft. Selected Ted Wilborn from the New York Yankees in the 1978 MLB Rule 5 draft. |
| December 5 | Acquired Alfredo Griffin and Phil Lansford from the Cleveland Indians for Víctor Cruz. |

#### January 1979

| January 1 | Signed amateur free agent Luis Leal. |
| January 4 | Signed free agent Chuck Scrivener of the Detroit Tigers to a contract. |
| January 11 | Signed free agent Rico Carty to a multi-year contract. |
| January 23 | Player rights of Sam Ewing sold to Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional Baseball. |

#### March 1979

| March 17 | Signed free agent Steve Luebber of the Chicago White Sox to a contract. |
| March 25 | Claimed Bobby Brown off of waivers from the New York Mets. |
| March 29 | Released Jeff Byrd. Released Don Kirkwood. |

## Regular season

Following the team's poor performance, manager Roy Hartsfield was fired at the end of the season. One highlight of the season was the awarding of the American League Rookie of the Year Award to Alfredo Griffin.
The end of the 1979 season marked a crossroads for the franchise. The first real talent from the minor leagues had made it to the major league roster. Such talent included pitcher Dave Stieb and third baseman Danny Ainge.

### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 102 | 57 | .642 | — | 55‍–‍24 | 47‍–‍33 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 95 | 66 | .590 | 8 | 52‍–‍29 | 43‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 91 | 69 | .569 | 11½ | 51‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍40 |
| New York Yankees | 89 | 71 | .556 | 13½ | 51‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 76 | .528 | 18 | 46‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 80 | .503 | 22 | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 53 | 109 | .327 | 50½ | 32‍–‍49 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1979 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Bob Bailor
* Rick Bosetti
* Rico Carty
* Rick Cerone
* Jim Clancy
* Alfredo Griffin
* Roy Howell
* John Mayberry
* Dave McKay
* Alvis Woods

### Transactions

Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1979 regular season.

#### April 1979

| April 6 | Signed free agent Mike Sember from the Chicago Cubs to a contract. |
| April 7 | Player rights of Mike Stanton sold to the Petroleros de Zulia of the Inter-American League. |
| April 13 | Signed free agent Jackson Todd from the Philadelphia Phillies to a contract. |
| April 19 | Player rights of Bobby Brown sold to the New York Yankees. |
| April 23 | Signed free agent Bob Robertson from the Seattle Mariners to a contract. |
| April 24 | Signed amateur free agent Tony Fernández to a contract. |

#### May 1979

| May 12 | Released Tom Murphy. |

#### June 1979

| June 6 | Purchased Dyar Miller from the California Angels. |
| June 22 | Signed amateur free agent Steve Senteney to a contract. |
| June 27 | Released Bob Robertson. |

#### July 1979

| July 25 | Purchased Craig Kusick from the Minnesota Twins. |
| July 30 | Acquired Tony Solaita from the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later (Dyar Miller on October 24, 1979). |

#### Draft picks

* June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
** Future NFL quarterback Jay Schroeder was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1st round, but did not sign.
** Ron Shepherd was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 2nd round.
** Ron Romanick was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round, but did not sign.
** Andre Robertson was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 4th round.

### Game log

1979 Game Log 53–109 (Home 32–49, Away 21–60) :
April: 7–15 (Home 3–8, Away 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 5@ Royals11–2Leonard (1–0)Underwood (0–1)Mingori (1)37,7540–1
2April 7@ Royals7–4Gura (1–0)Clancy (0–1)Hrabosky (1)21,8500–2
3April 8@ Royals8–3Splittorff (1–0)Lemongello (0–1)23,4770–3
4April 10@ White Sox10–2Huffman (1–0)Kravec (0–2)Freisleben (1)41,0431–3
–April 11@ White SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for April 12
5April 12@ White Sox9–7Murphy (1–0)LaGrow (0–1)1,2052–3
6April 13Royals4–1 (6)Clancy (1–1)Splittorff (1–1)40,0353–3
7April 14Royals8–6Freisleben (1–0)Leonard (1–1)11,6834–3
8April 15Royals12–10Rodríguez (2–0)Murphy (1–1)Hrabosky (2)12,2874–4
9April 16White Sox8–4Scarbery (1–0)Murphy (1–2)Proly (1)11,2114–5
10April 17White Sox6–1Barrios (1–0)Underwood (0–2)Proly (2)10,0744–6
11April 18White Sox12–5Wortham (3–0)Clancy (1–2)10,4784–7
12April 20@ Tigers7–2Wilcox (2–0)Lemongello (0–2)13,6174–8
13April 21@ Tigers5–4Huffman (2–0)Billingham (1–1)Freisleben (2)10,9045–8
14April 22@ Tigers4–1Rozema (1–1)Underwood (0–3)14,5435–9
15April 23@ Rangers5–0Alexander (1–0)Clancy (1–3)Kern (2)12,6615–10
16April 24@ Rangers2–0Lemanczyk (1–0)Comer (1–2)14,4116–10
17April 25@ Rangers4–3 (10)Lyle (2–1)Jefferson (0–1)15,7316–11
18April 27Brewers8–5Sorensen (3–2)Huffman (2–1)McClure (1)10,3066–12
19April 28Brewers11–8 (10)McClure (3–0)Willis (0–1)12,6836–13
20April 29Brewers3–0Caldwell (4–1)Clancy (1–4)6–14
21April 29Brewers5–3Lemanczyk (2–0)Travers (0–2)16,0837–14
22April 30Twins6–3Hartzell (1–0)Lemongello (0–3)10,1707–15 :
May: 5–23 (Home 3–15, Away 2–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
23May 1Twins3–2Koosman (5–0)Jefferson (0–2)Marshall (8)10,1557–16
24May 2Twins7–5Goltz (3–3)Huffman (2–2)Marshall (9)20,1107–17
25May 3@ Brewers5–4Travers (1–2)Underwood (0–4)7,8017–18
26May 4@ Brewers5–4Clancy (2–4)Caldwell (4–2)Freisleben (3)28,8968–18
27May 5@ Brewers6–1Slaton (3–1)Lemanczyk (2–1)14,9108–19
28May 6@ Brewers4–0Sorensen (4–3)Lemongello (0–4)53,9628–20
29May 7@ Twins6–1Goltz (4–3)Huffman (2–3)4,5718–21
30May 8@ Twins16–6Bacsik (1–0)Willis (0–2)3,1268–22
–May 9@ TwinsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for July 21
31May 11Rangers3–1Matlack (1–2)Clancy (2–5)12,1538–23
32May 12Rangers3–1Comer (3–3)Lemanczyk (2–2)Lyle (5)14,1098–24
33May 13Rangers3–1Lemongello (1–4)Alexander (1–2)9–24
34May 13Rangers7–5Farmer (2–0)Huffman (2–4)Lyle (6)16,5319–25
35May 14@ Indians1–0Waits (4–3)Underwood (0–5)3,8679–26
36May 15@ Indians5–3Monge (2–3)Garvin (0–1)3,9789–27
37May 16@ Indians4–3Lemanczyk (3–2)Wise (3–4)4,07910–27
38May 17@ Indians8–3Paxton (3–2)Lemongello (1–5)4,40910–28
39May 18Orioles7–6 (11)Stanhouse (3–1)Freisleben (1–1)12,08810–29
40May 19Orioles4–3Palmer (5–2)Underwood (0–6)Stanhouse (4)18,14410–30
41May 20Orioles6–2Martínez (6–2)Jefferson (0–3)30,06510–31
42May 21Indians8–1Lemanczyk (4–2)Wise (3–5)12,26011–31
43May 22Indians8–6Wilkins (2–2)Lemongello (1–6)Monge (5)10,18211–32
44May 23Indians4–3Garland (2–4)Freisleben (1–2)20,28311–33
–May 25Red SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 17
45May 26Red Sox7–6Buskey (1–0)Campbell (2–2)31,59012–33
46May 27Red Sox1–0Rainey (3–2)Jefferson (0–4)33,55612–34
47May 28Tigers6–2Morris (2–1)Lemanczyk (4–3)10,74012–35
48May 29Tigers9–8Tobik (1–0)Buskey (1–1)Hiller (3)11,44912–36
49May 30Tigers8–2Wilcox (4–2)Huffman (2–5)21,35912–37
50May 31Tigers1–0Underwood (1–0)Underwood (0–7)Hiller (4)12,42312–38 :
June: 12–18 (Home 6–5, Away 6–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
51June 1@ Mariners7–2Mitchell (1–4)Jefferson (0–5)4,11312–39
52June 2@ Mariners6–2Lemanczyk (5–3)Jones (0–6)8,01113–39
53June 3@ Mariners10–5Parrott (3–1)Lemongello (1–7)4,43613–40
54June 4@ Angels4–2Barlow (1–1)Huffman (2–6)Clear (5)16,97913–41
55June 5@ Angels3–0Tanana (5–3)Underwood (0–8)18,86213–42
56June 6@ Angels5–4Jefferson (1–5)LaRoche (2–5)18,83514–42
57June 8@ Athletics2–1Buskey (2–1)Heaverlo (2–6)2,02215–42
58June 9@ Athletics5–0Huffman (3–6)Keough (0–8)1,72516–42
59June 10@ Athletics12–1Hamilton (2–0)Underwood (0–9)2,40016–43
60June 11Mariners2–0Lemanczyk (6–3)Bannister (3–6)10,21317–43
61June 12Mariners5–1Abbott (3–7)Jefferson (1–6)12,05617–44
62June 13Angels9–8Freisleben (2–2)LaRoche (2–6)18–44
63June 13Angels10–2Aase (6–4)Willis (0–3)28,57718–45
64June 14Angels10–2Ryan (8–3)Huffman (3–7)15,09718–46
65June 15Athletics6–0Underwood (1–9)Hamilton (2–1)13,12419–46
66June 16Athletics3–2Lemanczyk (7–3)McCatty (4–2)19,27020–46
67June 17Athletics10–9Buskey (3–1)Heaverlo (2–7)25,51821–46
68June 19@ Yankees5–4Huffman (4–7)John (10–3)Buskey (1)36,21122–46
69June 20@ Yankees2–1Hood (2–0)Underwood (1–10)Davis (1)22–47
70June 20@ Yankees3–2Moore (1–0)Burris (1–3)32,12923–47
71June 21@ Yankees3–1Tiant (3–2)Lemanczyk (7–4)Davis (2)19,27823–48
72June 22@ Red Sox12–1Rainey (5–4)Jefferson (1–7)Burgeier (2)31,08923–49
73June 23@ Red Sox4–3 (11)Drago (6–3)Buskey (3–2)34,13023–50
74June 24@ Red Sox8–4Torrez (8–4)Huffman (4–8)33,56023–51
75June 25Yankees3–1Underwood (2–10)Clay (1–3)37,61224–51
76June 26Yankees11–2Tiant (4–2)Lemanczyk (7–5)38,69624–52
77June 28Yankees5–3 (10)Davis (6–0)Lemongello (1–8)39,34724–53
78June 29@ Orioles6–1McGregor (2–2)Stieb (0–1)24–54
79June 29@ Orioles4–0Stone (6–5)Huffman (4–9)Stanhouse (9)20,87224–55
80June 30@ Orioles2–0Flanagan (10–5)Underwood (2–11)19,80724–56 :
July: 8–18 (Home 5–6, Away 3–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
81July 1@ Orioles10–7Stewart (5–2)Jefferson (1–8)Stanhouse (10)33,59224–57
82July 3@ Tigers9–1Moore (2–0)Billingham (7–5)20,88525–57
83July 4@ Tigers7–6 (11)Buskey (4–2)Tobik (1–4)13,77226–57
84July 5@ Tigers3–2Young (2–1)Huffman (4–10)López (2)13,19926–58
85July 6@ Rangers5–1Underwood (3–11)Johnson (4–9)Buskey (2)19,53927–58
86July 7@ Rangers2–0Medich (2–3)Lemanczyk (7–6)Kern (15)23,93527–59
87July 8@ Rangers4–3Comer (9–6)Moore (2–1)Lyle (9)17,48927–60
88July 9Brewers7–1Stieb (1–1)Sorensen (10–9)14,24028–60
89July 11Brewers2–1 (10)Slaton (9–4)Buskey (4–3)22,52328–61
90July 12Brewers5–3Haas (6–6)Underwood (3–12)Galasso (1)14,20728–62
91July 13Twins6–4Goltz (8–6)Lemanczyk (7–7)Marshall (18)14,09528–63
92July 14Twins4–2Stieb (2–1)Koosman (11–7)19,18729–63
93July 15Twins9–4Zahn (8–2)Clancy (2–6)19,06929–64
94July 19@ Brewers3–2 (11)Castro (3–0)Buskey (4–4)21,15229–65
95July 20@ Brewers2–0Slaton (10–4)Underwood (3–13)27,01029–66
96July 21@ Twins6–4Goltz (9–6)Huffman (4–11)Marshall (19)29–67
97July 21@ Twins4–3Hartzell (5–6)Moore (2–2)12,88729–68
98July 22@ Twins13–1Redfern (5–0)Lemanczyk (7–8)18,92729–69
99July 23@ Twins7–6Marshall (10–9)Lemongello (1–9)7,48229–70
100July 25Rangers8–3Stieb (3–1)Johnson (4–12)Buskey (3)24,70530–70
101July 26Rangers8–4Underwood (4–13)Medich (4–4)14,60531–70
102July 27Tigers4–3 (11)López (5–2)Buskey (4–5)23,81431–71
103July 28Tigers3–0Lemanczyk (8–8)Robbins (0–1)30,13132–71
104July 29Tigers5–4Underwood (6–1)Clancy (2–7)López (8)33,82432–72
105July 30@ Royals9–0Gura (7–7)Stieb (3–2)31,57232–73
106July 31@ Royals6–5Pattin (4–2)Jefferson (1–9)Hrabosky (9)22,15632–74 :
August: 11–17 (Home 6–8, Away 5–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
107August 1@ Royals4–3Gale (9–8)Huffman (4–12)Hrabosky (10)24,07732–75
108August 3White Sox8–5Trout (6–4)Moore (2–3)Farmer (5)14,23232–76
109August 4White Sox5–2Buskey (5–5)Wortham (11–11)15,13033–76
110August 5White Sox5–4Kravec (10–10)Lemanczyk (8–9)Farmer (6)21,20333–77
111August 6Royals16–12Mingori (3–2)Stieb (3–3)15,10833–78
112August 7Royals3–2Underwood (5–13)Splittorff (10–12)23,77934–78
113August 9Royals10–3Gura (8–8)Huffman (4–13)20,10234–79
–August 10@ White SoxPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for August 11
114August 11@ White Sox6–1Kravec (11–10)Todd (0–1)Farmer (8)34–80
115August 11@ White Sox6–0Stieb (4–3)Scarbery (2–7)19,42035–80
116August 12@ White Sox7–0Baumgarten (10–7)Underwood (5–14)35–81
117August 12@ White Sox7–5Moore (3–3)Proly (1–4)Buskey (4)14,71236–81
118August 13@ Athletics4–2Edge (1–0)Norris (3–5)Buskey (5)3,18337–81
119August 14@ Athletics6–2Huffman (5–13)Minetto (1–4)1,28938–81
120August 15@ Athletics3–1Kingman (3–4)Jefferson (1–10)Heaverlo (9)2,15138–82
121August 17@ Angels6–5Stieb (5–3)Clear (10–4)25,05039–82
122August 18@ Angels7–5Ryan (13–8)Underwood (5–15)Clear (13)30,36139–83
123August 19@ Angels4–2Aase (9–8)Moore (3–4)23,81439–84
124August 20@ Mariners7–4Parrott (11–8)Edge (1–1)5,64239–85
125August 21@ Mariners8–4Montague (6–4)Huffman (5–14)McLaughlin (11)8,37639–86
126August 22@ Mariners6–3Honeycutt (9–9)Stieb (5–4)7,36539–87
127August 24Angels6–4Underwood (6–15)Knapp (3–3)Buskey (6)18,07740–87
128August 25Angels24–2Frost (13–8)Moore (3–5)25,20740–88
129August 26Angels9–3Edge (2–1)Ryan (13–10)22,61941–88
130August 27Athletics7–0Huffman (6–14)McCatty (8–9)12,04742–88
131August 28Athletics6–3Langford (10–13)Stieb (5–5)21,73642–89
132August 29Athletics6–4Norris (5–6)Underwood (6–16)13,07142–90
133August 30Mariners8–2Parrott (13–8)Moore (3–6)11,85042–91
134August 31Mariners5–4 (11)Buskey (6–5)McLaughlin (6–5)11,25443–91 :
September: 10–18 (Home 9–7, Away 1–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
135September 1Mariners3–2 (10)Honeycutt (10–9)Buskey (6–6)23,13943–92
136September 2Mariners8–5Stieb (6–5)Twitchell (0–2)Jefferson (1)14,77644–92
137September 3@ Orioles2–1 (11)Martinez (9–2)Buskey (6–7)44–93
138September 3@ Orioles5–1Flanagan (20–7)Lemanczyk (8–10)20,43244–94
–September 5@ OriolesPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 6
139September 6@ Orioles5–0Martínez (15–12)Edge (2–2)7,05344–95
140September 7@ Indians9–8Reuschel (2–1)Buskey (6–8)4,22244–96
141September 8@ Indians5–4Wise (15–7)Stieb (6–6)4,43944–97
142September 9@ Indians14–10Monge (9–9)Buskey (6–9)9,16644–98
143September 11Orioles3–1Underwood (7–16)McGregor (11–5)12,09245–98
144September 12Orioles3–2Edge (3–2)Palmer (8–6)21,21346–98
145September 13Orioles10–4Flanagan (22–7)Huffman (6–15)11,08046–99
146September 14Indians4–3Stieb (7–6)Wise (15–8)11,01047–99
147September 15Indians5–2Moore (4–6)Barker (6–5)12,16048–99
148September 16Indians8–2Underwood (8–16)Garland (4–10)17,07849–99
149September 17Red Sox5–4Jefferson (2–10)Drago (9–6)50–99
150September 17Red Sox5–3Rainey (7–5)Freisleben (2–3)Campbell (9)15,64450–100
151September 18Red Sox8–3Torrez (15–12)Huffman (6–16)13,20850–101
152September 19Red Sox8–0Stanley (16–10)Stieb (7–7)21,65050–102
153September 20Red Sox6–2Moore (5–6)Renko (10–9)13,20151–102
154September 21Yankees3–2Underwood (9–16)Guidry (17–8)Buskey (7)22,33152–102
155September 22Yankees7–4Tiant (12–8)Edge (3–3)Gossage (16)37,40852–103
156September 23Yankees7–5John (20–9)Huffman (6–17)Gossage (17)28,13752–104
157September 25@ Red Sox5–3Stieb (8–7)Stanley (16–11)18,92953–104
158September 26@ Red Sox6–4Rainey (8–5)Moore (5–7)Drago (12)18,01053–105
159September 27@ Red Sox6–5Drago (10–6)Buskey (6–10)20,85353–106
160September 28@ Yankees7–3Tiant (13–8)Edge (3–4)17,64753–107
161September 29@ Yankees9–4John (21–9)Huffman (6–18)30,01653–108
162September 30@ Yankees9–2Davis (14–2)Stieb (8–8)Griffin (1)28,15053–109 :

## 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 | Rick Cerone | 136 | 469 | 47 | 112 | 27 | 4 | .239 | 7 | 61 | 1 |
| 1B | John Mayberry | 137 | 464 | 61 | 127 | 22 | 1 | .274 | 21 | 74 | 1 |
| 2B | Danny Ainge | 87 | 308 | 26 | 73 | 7 | 1 | .237 | 2 | 19 | 1 |
| 3B | Roy Howell | 138 | 511 | 60 | 126 | 28 | 4 | .247 | 15 | 72 | 1 |
| SS | Alfredo Griffin | 153 | 624 | 81 | 179 | 22 | 10 | .287 | 2 | 31 | 21 |
| LF | Alvis Woods | 132 | 436 | 57 | 121 | 24 | 4 | .278 | 5 | 36 | 6 |
| CF | Rick Bosetti | 162 | 619 | 59 | 161 | 35 | 2 | .260 | 8 | 65 | 13 |
| RF | Bob Bailor | 130 | 414 | 50 | 95 | 11 | 5 | .229 | 1 | 38 | 14 |
| DH | Rico Carty | 132 | 461 | 48 | 118 | 26 | 0 | .256 | 12 | 55 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Otto Vélez | 99 | 274 | 45 | 79 | 21 | 0 | .288 | 15 | 48 | 0 |
| Luis Gómez | 59 | 163 | 11 | 39 | 7 | 0 | .239 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Dave McKay | 47 | 156 | 19 | 34 | 9 | 0 | .218 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| Joe Cannon | 61 | 142 | 14 | 30 | 1 | 1 | .211 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| Tony Solaita | 36 | 102 | 14 | 27 | 8 | 1 | .265 | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| Bob Davis | 32 | 89 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 0 | .124 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Tim Johnson | 43 | 86 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 1 | .186 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Craig Kusick | 23 | 54 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 0 | .204 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Bob Robertson | 15 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .103 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ted Wilborn | 22 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Brown | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pedro Hernández | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Tom Underwood | 33 | 32 | 227.0 | 9 | 16 | 3.69 | 113 | 93 | 95 | 127 |
| Phil Huffman | 31 | 31 | 173.0 | 6 | 18 | 5.77 | 130 | 111 | 68 | 56 |
| Dave Lemanczyk | 22 | 20 | 143.0 | 8 | 10 | 3.71 | 65 | 59 | 45 | 63 |
| Dave Stieb | 18 | 18 | 129.1 | 8 | 8 | 4.31 | 70 | 62 | 48 | 52 |
| Jim Clancy | 12 | 11 | 63.2 | 2 | 7 | 5.51 | 44 | 39 | 31 | 33 |
| Butch Edge | 9 | 9 | 51.2 | 3 | 4 | 5.23 | 32 | 30 | 24 | 19 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; 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 | GS | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | R | ER | BB | K |
| Balor Moore | 34 | 16 | 139.1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 4.84 | 85 | 75 | 79 | 51 |
| Jesse Jefferson | 34 | 10 | 116.0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 5.51 | 75 | 71 | 45 | 43 |
| Mark Lemongello | 18 | 10 | 83.0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 6.29 | 64 | 58 | 34 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Buskey | 44 | 78.2 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 3.43 | 33 | 30 | 25 | 44 |
| Dave Freisleben | 42 | 91.0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4.95 | 57 | 50 | 53 | 35 |
| Mike Willis | 17 | 26.2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8.44 | 27 | 25 | 16 | 8 |
| Jackson Todd | 12 | 32.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.85 | 26 | 21 | 7 | 14 |
| Tom Murphy | 10 | 18.1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.40 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 |
| Dyar Miller | 10 | 15.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.57 | 18 | 18 | 5 | 7 |
| Jerry Garvin | 8 | 22.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.78 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 14 |
| Steve Grilli | 1 | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Craig Kusick | 1 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Luebber | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |

## Awards and honours

* Alfredo Griffin, American League Rookie of the Year Award
* Alfredo Griffin, Player of the Month Award, September
All-Star Game
* Dave Lemanczyk, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Vern Benson |
| A | Kinston Eagles | Carolina League | Duane Larson |
| A | Dunedin Blue Jays | Florida State League | Denis Menke |
| A-Short Season | Utica Blue Jays | New York–Penn League | John McLaren |
| Rookie | Medicine Hat Blue Jays | Pioneer League | Dennis Holmberg |