1981 Toronto Blue Jays season
The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season competing in Major League Baseball. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Blue Jays finished both halves of the season in seventh place in the seven-team American League East. Managed by Bobby Mattick, the Blue Jays played their home games at Exhibition Stadium and had an overall record of 37 wins and 69 losses.
Offseason
Transactions
Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1981 season.
Regular season
The Blue Jays were one of the worst teams in the majors in the first half of the split season, as the Blue Jays had a record of 16 wins and 42 losses, a percentage of.276. Although the Blue Jays had future stars Jesse Barfield, George Bell, and Lloyd Moseby in the lineup, the team continued to struggle.
On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game against the Blue Jays. It was the tenth perfect game ever pitched, is one of only seventeen in the history of the major leagues, and remains the last no-hitter thrown by an Indian.
The result of the season was one of the more controversial times in franchise history. The President of the Blue Jays, Peter Bavasi, went to see the team in Anaheim against the California Angels. Bavasi's father, Buzzie Bavasi was the president of the Angels, and his team had gotten off to a lackluster start. Buzzie wanted to fire Angels manager Jim Fregosi, and Peter Bavasi had the idea to fire his manager, Bobby Mattick. Both thought it would be big news if father and son fired their manager on the same night. One of the Blue Jays executives advised the Jays Vice-Chairman of the Board, Peter Hardy. After a brief conversation, Hardy made it clear to Peter Bavasi that Mattick would not be fired in this way.
After the strike was resolved, the Blue Jays started the second half of the season with a close to.500 winning percentage. Peter Bavasi was heard to muse aloud the requirement to print World Series tickets. The Jays would finish the second half with 21 wins and 27 losses, seven and a half games out of first place. Despite the attempted Bavasi firing, Mattick would resign as manager at the end of the season. On November 22, 1981, Hardy forced Bavasi to resign from the Blue Jays.
Transactions
Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1981 regular season.
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 | | 74 | 195 | 16 | 46 | 9 | 0 | .236 | 1 | 16 | 5 |
| 1B | | 94 | 290 | 34 | 72 | 6 | 1 | .248 | 17 | 43 | 1 |
| 2B | | 64 | 250 | 24 | 63 | 8 | 1 | .252 | 1 | 13 | 13 |
| 3B | | 86 | 246 | 20 | 46 | 6 | 2 | .187 | 0 | 14 | 8 |
| SS | | 101 | 388 | 30 | 81 | 19 | 6 | .209 | 0 | 21 | 8 |
| LF | | 85 | 288 | 20 | 71 | 15 | 0 | .247 | 1 | 21 | 3 |
| CF | | 100 | 378 | 36 | 88 | 16 | 2 | .233 | 9 | 43 | 11 |
| RF | | 66 | 227 | 21 | 50 | 7 | 4 | .220 | 4 | 28 | 4 |
| DH | | 80 | 240 | 32 | 51 | 9 | 2 | .213 | 11 | 28 | 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 |
| 70 | 215 | 17 | 52 | 11 | 0 | .242 | 0 | 10 | 2 |
| 60 | 163 | 19 | 38 | 2 | 1 | .233 | 5 | 12 | 3 |
| 45 | 128 | 13 | 29 | 8 | 1 | .227 | 4 | 21 | 1 |
| 61 | 111 | 15 | 19 | 3 | 1 | .171 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
| 25 | 95 | 7 | 22 | 3 | 2 | .232 | 2 | 9 | 4 |
| 37 | 85 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 32 | 73 | 7 | 18 | 5 | 0 | .247 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 16 | 50 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 0 | .300 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | 47 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | .234 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .143 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .111 | 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 |
| 25 | 25 | 183.2 | 11 | 10 | 3.19 | 70 | 65 | 61 | 89 |
| 22 | 22 | 125.0 | 6 | 12 | 4.90 | 77 | 68 | 64 | 56 |
| 12 | 11 | 71.0 | 2 | 9 | 4.31 | 41 | 34 | 35 | 29 |
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 |
| 29 | 19 | 129.2 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 3.68 | 63 | 53 | 44 | 71 |
| 21 | 13 | 97.2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 3.96 | 51 | 43 | 31 | 41 |
| 20 | 11 | 90.1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3.89 | 42 | 39 | 35 | 33 |
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 |
| 40 | 60.0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 2.85 | 24 | 19 | 21 | 38 |
| 39 | 62.0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2.61 | 23 | 18 | 25 | 27 |
| 35 | 53.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.40 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 25 |
| 20 | 35.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5.91 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 16 |
| 12 | 15.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.20 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| 11 | 15.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.17 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 |
| 8 | 14.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 9 |
| 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Award winners
All-Star GameDave Stieb, Pitcher