SO HERE’S THE PITCH . . .
From Jays legends to local celebrities, there’s no shortage of candidates
We want to know who you would like to see throw out the first pitch of the Blue Jays’ post-season
There are so many people the Blue Jays could honour with the ceremonial first pitch before the first baseball post-season game in Toronto since 1993. The Toronto Star sports department compiled a list of a few possibilities. Some were so popular they were nominated twice.
PAUL BEESTON
The Blue Jays’ first employee is in his last season as president, before stepping aside for Mark Shapiro. When he returned for his second stint the franchise was in trouble on the field and with the fans. He brought back retro designs and a new blue, he hired Alex Anthopoulos as his general manager, and he went about rebuilding the pride and values that the organization once espoused. He was the face of the franchise when it was at its lowest and was at the helm with GM Pat Gillick in the glory years from 1985 to 1993. Others like Roberto Alomar are good choices for the World Series, but if Beeston does not do Game 1, he may not have a chance if they are knocked out. —
Richard Griffin, sports columnist
The first employee of the Blue Jays in 1976 made his imprint on the franchise, winning back-to-back World Series. Handing the ball to him would be a significant and fitting gesture for a man who has been the crucial link between the Blue Jays of the ’90s and the current team, especially since the Beest will be retiring at the end of the month. — Curtis Rush, sports reporter
ROY HALLADAY
To honour those who never got the chance to experience true success in a Blue Jays uniform, there’s only one logical choice to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the playoff opener. For a dozen years Halladay acquitted himself with dignity and class, the best pitcher on teams that never won anything, amassing a 148-76 record in Toronto that included two 20-win seasons and an AL Cy Young. He still has ties and a great affinity for the franchise — he signed a ceremonial one-day contract in 2013 so he could retire as a Blue Jay — and a first-pitch honour makes complete sense. —
Doug Smith, sports reporter
He is, in my mind, the greatest Jay there was, and the one whose greatness was most comprehensively wasted. Halladay ascended from the early wreck of his career and delivered his maximum, year in, year out, until it was time to try somewhere else. That didn’t work out, either, and eventually he used up that marvellous arm. Halladay never got to be the ace for a great team, through no fault of his own; he should get to be the team’s ceremonial ace now. —
Bruce Arthur, sports columnist
DUANE WARD
The Blue Jays’ former closer and long-time reliever threw the franchise’s last post-season pitch on Oct. 23, 1993, when he induced a fly ball from Jim Eisenreich of the Philadelphia Phillies to cap a perfect ninth inning and keep the Jays within one of the Phillies’ 6-5 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, of course, Rickey Henderson drew a leadoff walk, Paul Molitor singled and Joe Carter hooked his famous walk-off home run to win the Jays’ second World Series in as many years. He’s the perfect guy to close the door on the last chapter in the team’s post-season history before opening a new one. Plus, you can save Carter for a bigger game down the road. — Bren
dan Kennedy, sports reporter
ONE OF THE DIE-HARDS
I don’t know the name of the person who should throw out this ceremonial pitch, but the Blue Jays do. He or she has probably been a seasonticket holder from that snowy day in 1977. He or she was there for the club’s heady initial rise, for 1985’s AL East clinching and ALCS collapsing, for Joe Carter’s blast, and, more to the point, for the 22 years of the mostly sad times since. Nothing wrong with bandwagon hopping, but at a moment when an entire country has returned its gaze to the dome by the lake, it’s one of the spackling of somebodies who’ve been down there all along whose patient love ought to be recognized. — Dave Feschuk, sports
columnist
CARLOS DELGADO
The best Blue Jay for a decade — the best slugger in the team’s history. Sadly, he never made the playoffs in a Blue Jays uniform, coming of age following the team’s World Series glory. He was shamefully mistreated by management at the end of his time in Toronto. He set team records in just about every offensive category including home runs (336), RBI (1,058), runs (889), doubles (343), walks (827), intentional walks (128), total bases (2,786), slugging percentage (.556) and OPS (.949). —
Kevin McGran, sports reporter
PHIL NIEKRO
He needs no introduction as a ballplayer. The Hall of Famer instrumental in R.A. Dickey’s transition into a successful practitioner of the knuckleball. Dickey phoned Niekro around 2008 at his Atlanta home. A week later he showed up at Niekro’s home, with a catcher, and began his journey. It would be thrilling for Dickey to see Niekro toss out the first pitch of the ALDS. Niekro also made three starts for the Jays in 1987, the final season of his 24-year career. —
Mark Zwolinski, sports reporter
NORM KELLY
In April, when Drake was pictured slapping hands with Washington Wizard Paul Pierce during a playoff game against the Raptors, city councillor Norm Kelly fired off a tweet. “Yo, @Drake. What the hell are you doing?” Three months later, when Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill tried to goad Drake into a Twitter fight, Kelly tweeted again, this time to defend the Toronto-born hip-hop icon. “You are no longer welcome in Toronto @MeekMill.” The deputy mayor wasn’t flip-flopping. He was standing up for the city he serves. Like the city’s baseball teams, Kelly has shown a knack for bridging generation gaps. While baseball laments its aging fan base, the Jays have engaged the under-40 crowd in large numbers. And while Kelly was born in 1941, his quick Twitter wit and pop culture knowledge keep him relevant with younger Torontonians. At 74, Kelly might have lost a little off his fastball, but his Twitter feed shows his aim is still razor-sharp. So send him to the mound. — Morgan Campbell, sports reporter
SHIRLEY CHEEK
Toronto has never appeared in a playoff game without Tom Cheek, who spent three decades behind a microphone as the voice of the Blue Jays, as the voice of baseball to generations of fans. Cheek died of brain cancer 10 years ago this month, at 66. Shirley, his wife of 46 years, has been speaking on his behalf ever since. When the Baseball Hall of Fame (finally) gave him the Ford C. Frick Award two years ago, Shirley was on hand to accept. “Many fans contacted me when Tom passed away, with emails and cards,” she said during her speech in Cooperstown, N.Y. “They began by saying, ‘Tom was the voice of summer.’ ” — Sean Fitz-Ger
ald, sports reporter
DRAKE
Yes, we all know about his ties with the Toronto Raptors. But like any good hometown boy, Champagne Papi is also backing the Jays. A little glitz and glamour would pump up the young’uns who have helped fill the Rogers Centre as of late and set this post-season off in style. Worst-case scenario? It’s not the so-called “Drake curse” — if the Jays can’t win with him in the stands they shouldn’t be in contention at all — but an embarrassing moment for the rapper, a la 50 Cent, which we could add to the hilariously ever-growing highlight reel of terrible ceremonial pitches. Save Halladay, Carter and the like for when it really matters and give the kids (and Marcus Stroman!) what they really want up here in The Six. —
Laura Armstrong, sports reporter
JOE CARTER
The obvious choice, but who could resist a classic pass-the-baton moment? The last MLB post-season batter at Rogers Centre handing off to the next generation. Play that 1993 World Series walkoff moment one more time on the Jumbotron, with Tom Cheek’s classic call (“Touch ’em all, Joe, you’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life”), finally move on from the past and let this team create a new set of memories for fans.