32 years is a long time to go between winning a World Series and getting to your next Fall Classic. That’s what makes this 2025 run for the Toronto Blue Jays so special. The entire city of Toronto has had only one of it’s major sports franchises win a championship since the Blue Jays in 1993 – the Toronto Raptors were NBA champions in 2019.
Sure, the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL have won several Grey Cups and Toronto FC which has an enormous following and are absolutely a part of Toronto’s sports fabric and they took home the MLS Cup in 2017. But the CFL and MLS do not equate to the heights of popularity of Major League Baseball. So for all intents and purposes, Toronto’s sports fans have had very little to celebrate in three decades.
And for the Blue Jays, a franchise that has been around for almost 50 years – this is a scenario they have only been in three times. That is so many summers that have come and gone where so many great players have worn a Blue Jays uniform that never got to within one win of a World Series title.
32 all-time great Blue Jays who never got this close to winning it all in Toronto
1980’s
The Toronto Blue Jays first full decade of existence were defined as a team that was always on the cusp but never able to get over the hump. They were a young team, built from a philisophical foundation laid out by Pat Gillick to scour the ends of the earth for raw talent and develop that talent in house. Gillick also exploited other GMs through the Rule 5 draft for years and made many trades for younger guys with untapped potential only to see them blossom with the Blue Jays.
From roughly 1983 to 1989 this list reads as a who’s who of Blue Jay greats. From the Blue Jays first true ace Dave Stieb, to their first MVP in George Bell and his formidable outfield teammates in Jesse Barfield and Llyod Moseby this was a group of players that go agonizingly close several times. (fWAR in parenthesis) Barfield (27.7) Moseby (24.2) and Bell (19.2) were no doubt the anchors in that lineup and carried that offense throughout most of the decade as indicated by their accumulated fWARs from ’83-89.
You can also throw Fred McGriff on this list who accumulated a 19.4 bWAR in his time as a Blue Jays. But trading McGriff led to the Blue Jays winning the World Series and the Hall of Famer also captured a title later in his career.
Catcher Ernie Whitt (20.1) was also a part of this group and was a member of the original 1977 Blue Jays, playing in 23 games in their inaugural year and just missed out on the World Series years with his Blue Jays tenure ending after the ’89 season.
He caught Stieb (24.3) for many of those seasons, where Stieb was the focus, but long time fan will also remember Jim Clancy (16.1) and Doyle Alexander (11.2) as players who would have looked great making World Series starts for the Blue Jays.
Rance Mulliniks (15.8), Willie Upshaw (12.7) and Damaso Garcia (8.7) were also staples on those Blue Jays teams and for many fans were the first real superstars to play baseball in Toronto. But the closest any of these guys came was getting to Game 7 of the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals which ended with the Royals winning the pennant.
