Editing Toronto Blue Jays (section)

==Popularity==
{{image frame
|content={{Graph:Chart
| width = 600
| height = 300
| xAxisTitle = Year valuation reported
| x = 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
| yAxisTitle = Valuation (USD)
| yAxisFormat = $,.10
| colors = blue, red, green
| y1 = 178000000, 160000000, 155000000, 150000000, 146000000, 152000000, 155000000,
| y2 = {{repeat|7| ,}} 141000000, 162000000, 162000000, 161000000, 182000000, 166000000, 169000000, 214000000, 286000000, 344000000, 352000000, 353000000, 326000000, 337000000, 413000000, 568000000, 610000000, 870000000, 900000000, 1300000000, 1350000000, 1500000000, 1625000000, 1675000000, 1780000000, 2100000000, 2100000000, 2150000000
| y3 = {{repeat|22| ,}} 950000000
| showSymbols = 
}}
|width=730
|align=none
|caption=Valuation of the Blue Jays 1991–present (in US dollars)<br/>{{legend inline|blue|[[Financial World]]<ref>Data from the following annual reports:
*{{Cite journal|title=Secrets of the front office: What America's pro teams are worth|date=July 9, 1991|last1=Baldo|first1=Anthony|last2=Biesada|first2=Alexandra|last3=Hackney|first3=Holt|last4=Ozanian|first4=Michael K|last5=Taub|first5=Stephen|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=28}}
*{{Cite journal|title=Big leagues, bad business|date=July 7, 1992|last1=Ozanian|first1=Michael K|last2=Taub|first2=Stephen|last3=Morris|first3=Kathleen|last4=Fink|first4=Ronald|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=34}}
*{{Cite journal|title=Foul ball|date=May 25, 1993|last1=Ozanian|first1=Michael K|last2=Taub|first2=Stephen|last3=Fink|first3=Ronald|last4=Kimelman|first4=John|last5=Reingold|first5=Jennifer|last6=Starr|first6=Jason|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=50}}
*{{Cite journal|title=The $11 billion pastime: Why sports franchise values are soaring even as team profits fall|date=May 10, 1994|last1=Ozanian|first1=Michael K|last2=Fink|first2=Ronald|last3=Kimelman|first3=John|last4=Reingold|first4=Jennifer|last5=Osterland|first5=Andrew|last6=Starr|first6=Jason|last7=Grabarek|first7=Brooke|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=50}}
*{{Cite journal|title=Suite deals: Why new stadiums are shaking up the pecking order of sports franchises|date=May 9, 1995|last1=Ozanian|first1=Michael K|last2=Atre|first2=Tushar|last3=Fink|first3=Ronald|last4=Reingold|first4=Jennifer|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=42}}
*{{Cite journal|title=The high-stakes game of team ownership|date=May 20, 1996|last1=Atre|first1=Tushar|last2=Auns|first2=Kristine|last3=Badenhausen|first3=Kurt|last4=McAuliffe|first4=Kevin|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=49}}
*{{Cite journal|title=More than a game: An in-depth look at the raging bull market in sports franchises|date=June 17, 1997|last1=Badenhausen|first1=Kurt|last2=Nikolov|first2=Christopher|journal=[[Financial World]]|pages=40}}</ref>}}{{spaces|2|em}}{{legend inline|red|Forbes<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/teams/toronto-blue-jays/|title=Toronto Blue Jays
|date=March 2014|access-date=June 3, 2014|work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/33/07mlb_Toronto-Blue-Jays_339533.html|title=#20 Toronto Blue Jays|date=April 19, 2007|access-date=June 3, 2014|work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>}}{{spaces|2|em}}{{legend inline|green|[[Bloomberg News]]<ref name=bloomberg>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-23/mlb-team-values.html|title=Major League Baseball Franchise Valuations|date=October 23, 2013|access-date=June 3, 2014|publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]]}}</ref>{{efn|Unlike the Forbes valuations, Bloomberg includes contributions from regional sports networks and related businesses in the total value.<ref name=bloomberg/>}}}}
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In 1977, after just 50 home games, the Blue Jays set an MLB record for a first-year expansion team, with an overall attendance of 1,219,551 during those games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/history/timeline|title=Timeline|website=MLB.com}}</ref> By the end of the season, 1,701,152 fans had attended. After setting an attendance record in 1990, with 3,885,284 fans, in 1991, the Blue Jays became the first MLB team to attract over [[Major League Baseball attendance records|four million fans]], with an attendance of 4,001,526, followed by 4,028,318 in 1992.<ref name="history">[http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/history/timeline3.jsp Blue Jays Timeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030443/http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/history/timeline3.jsp |date=November 29, 2014 }} BlueJays.com. Accessed on December 7, 2011.</ref> Each of those records were broken in 1993 by the expansion [[1993 Colorado Rockies season|Colorado Rockies]], although the Blue Jays' 1993 attendance of 4,057,947 stood as an AL record for 12 years until it was broken by the [[2005 New York Yankees season|2005 New York Yankees]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060702&content_id=1535941&vkey=pr_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy|title=Yankees reach four million in tickets sales for second consecutive season|publisher=MLB|date=July 2, 2006|access-date=December 13, 2011}}{{dead link|date=October 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Several Blue Jays became very popular in Toronto and throughout the major leagues, starting with [[Dave Stieb]], whose seven All-Star selections is a franchise record. He is closely followed by [[Roy Halladay]] and [[José Bautista]], who were selected six times each, and by [[Roberto Alomar]] and [[Joe Carter]], who were selected five times each. Bautista set a major league record in 2011 (which only stood for a year), with 7,454,753 All-Star votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/1018759--grand-slam-jose-bautista-s-off-to-the-all-star-game |title=Grand slam: Jose Bautista nabs a record number of All-Star votes |work=Toronto Star |date=July 3, 2011 |access-date=December 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826140036/http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/1018759--grand-slam-jose-bautista-s-off-to-the-all-star-game |archive-date=August 26, 2011 }}</ref> In his first season with the Blue Jays in 2015, [[Josh Donaldson]] set a new major league record by receiving 14,090,188 All-Star votes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/josh-donaldson-gets-most-all-star-votes-ever/c-134823354 |title=Donaldson receives most ASG votes in history |publisher=MLB |date=July 8, 2015 |access-date=February 28, 2016 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092349/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/134823354/josh-donaldson-gets-most-all-star-votes-ever |url-status=live }}</ref>

The team is popular throughout Canada, as the only MLB team based in the country following the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington.  The team has played a number of exhibition games at [[BC Place]] in Vancouver including three-game series against the [[Milwaukee Brewers]] prior to both the 1984 and 1985 seasons<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MVs_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2314,131463|title=Jays draw 106,328 to B.C. Place|date=1984-04-02|access-date=2013-10-14|work=[[The Windsor Star]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7ZBAAAAIBAJ&pg=5037,5942137|title=Toronto Blue Jays Post Best Spring Record Yet|date=1985-04-08|access-date=2013-10-14|work=[[The Harlan Daily Enterprise]]}}</ref> (the [[Vancouver Canadians]] were the AAA farm team of the Brewers at the time<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2qFlAAAAIBAJ&pg=4614,1891593|title=Brewers give former Canadians their big chance|date=1985-04-04|access-date=2013-10-14|work=[[The Vancouver Sun]]}}</ref>), as well as single games against the [[Detroit Tigers]] and Brewers in 1993<ref>{{cite news|title=Cito unfaxed by the loss of ace Stewart|work=[[Toronto Star]]|date=1993-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/05/sports/baseball-jays-lose-stewart-to-injury.html|title=BASEBALL; Jays Lose Stewart to Injury|date=1993-04-05|access-date=2013-10-14|work=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> and against the [[Montreal Expos]] and [[Seattle Mariners]] in 1994 in a series billed as the "Baseball Classic".<ref>{{cite news|title=Jays Report – The Night in Vancouver|date=1994-04-02|work=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Vancouver tries for small piece of baseball pie Major-league franchise out of reach despite attendance at weekend event|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=1994-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Gaston uneasy over injuries as Jays eye three-peat|work=[[Vancouver Sun]]|last=Little|first=Lyndon|date=1994-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qzcdAAAAIBAJ&pg=6788,386475|title=Braves rally late to win in 10 innings|date=1994-04-03|work=[[Tuscaloosa News]]}}</ref>  The Jays also played the [[Cleveland Indians]] in an exhibition game at [[War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo)|War Memorial Stadium]] in nearby [[Buffalo, New York]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.buffalonews.com/insidepitch/2012/09/its-blue-jays-day-in-buffalo-thoughts-on-two-big-questions.html|title=It's Blue Jays day in Buffalo: Thoughts on two big questions about the new parent club|date=2012-09-21|access-date=2013-11-06|work=[[The Buffalo News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330004658/http://blogs.buffalonews.com/insidepitch/2012/09/its-blue-jays-day-in-buffalo-thoughts-on-two-big-questions.html|archive-date=2014-03-30|url-status=dead}}</ref>  More recently, the club has hosted a pair of exhibition games at [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Olympic Stadium]] in [[Montreal]] prior to the start of the season against the [[New York Mets]] (2014),<ref>{{cite news|title=Melky Cabrera homer lifts Toronto Blue Jays over New York Mets 2–0|url=http://metronews.ca/sports/987371/melky-cabrera-homer-lifts-toronto-blue-jays-over-new-york-mets-2-0/|date=2014-03-29|access-date=2014-03-29|last=Beacon|first=Bill|newspaper=[[Metro International]]|archive-date=November 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105092148/http://metronews.ca/sports/987371/melky-cabrera-homer-lifts-toronto-blue-jays-over-new-york-mets-2-0/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Cincinnati Reds]] (2015),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tsn.ca/donaldson-homers-blue-jays-crush-reds-1.248018|title=Donaldson homers, Blue Jays crush Reds|date=2015-04-04|access-date=2015-04-04|publisher=[[The Sports Network]]}}</ref> [[Boston Red Sox]] (2016),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/jays-red-sox-montreal-saturday-1.3518122|title=Blue Jays swept in Montreal series by Red Sox|date=2016-04-02|access-date=2016-04-02|work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] (2017),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-pirates-montreal-game-recap-1.4051286|title=Blue Jays end pre-season with win in Montreal|date=2017-04-01|access-date=2017-04-01|publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> [[St. Louis Cardinals]] (2018),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-montreal-russell-martin-1.4594185|title=Blue Jays' Russell Martin still has hope for baseball in hometown of Montreal|first=Bill|last=Beacon|date=2018-03-27|access-date=2018-04-08|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-st-louis-cardinals-montreal-exhibition-1.4596024|title=Jays' Guerrero Jr. makes Montreal magic with walk-off HR in final spring tuneup|first=Bill|last=Beacon|date=2018-03-28|access-date=2018-04-08|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]}}</ref> Milwaukee Brewers (2019).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://torontosun.com/sports/baseball/toronto-blue-jays/cheapseats-montoyo-remembers-five-seconds-of-fame|title=Blue Jays' Montoyo remembers five seconds of fame in Montreal|date=2019-03-26|access-date=2019-04-13|publisher=[[Toronto Sun]]|first=Don|last=Brennan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://torontosun.com/sports/baseball/toronto-blue-jays/sam-gaviglio-trent-thornton-make-blue-jays-opening-day-roster|title=Sam Gaviglio, Trent Thornton make Blue Jays' opening-day roster|date=2019-03-26|access-date=2019-04-13|publisher=[[Toronto Sun]]|first=Don|last=Brennan}}</ref> A series against the [[New York Yankees]] was scheduled for 2020,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-returning-montreal-2020-exhibition-games-vs-yankees/|title=Blue Jays returning to Montreal in 2020 for exhibition games vs. Yankees|date=2019-10-16|access-date=2019-10-19|publisher=[[Sportsnet]]}}</ref> but was cancelled due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/1661801/baseball-majeur-coronavirus-saison-retard-deux-semaines|title=Coronavirus : le baseball majeur retarde l'ouverture de sa saison|date=2020-03-12|access-date=2020-03-14|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|Radio-Canada]]}}</ref>  The club also has discussed playing more games at BC Place with the president of the Vancouver Canadians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/jays-to-play-pre-season-games-in-montreal-vs-mets-1.1700571|title=Jays to play pre-season games in Montreal vs. Mets|date=2013-09-10|access-date=2013-10-14|work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/jays-mariners-exhibition/|title=Jays, M's exhibition series at B.C. Place?|date=2011-08-19|access-date=2013-10-14|work=[[Sportsnet]]|first=Shi|last=Davidi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vancourier.com/baseball-in-b-c-place-a-thing-of-the-past-1.375100|title=Baseball in B.C. Place a thing of the past?|date=2011-08-12|access-date=2013-10-14|last=Mackin|first=Bob|work=[[Vancouver Courier]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/mark-shapiro-talks-toronto-future-blue-jays-off-season-letters/|title=Mark Shapiro talks Toronto future, Blue Jays off-season on At The Letters|date=2019-10-18|access-date=2019-10-19|publisher=[[Sportsnet]]}}</ref>