1987 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1987 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 11th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing second in the American League East with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses. They had been in first place by 3½ games over the Detroit Tigers with a week left to play, but they dropped their next seven games in a row, capped off by a sweep at the hands of Detroit at Tiger Stadium on the last weekend of the season, and lost the division by two games.

Transactions

Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 1987 season.

Regular season

Blue Jays left fielder George Bell drove in 134 runs to lead the American League, along with 47 home runs, and was selected the league's Most Valuable Player in a close vote over the Tigers' Alan Trammell.
Tom Henke established himself as an elite closer, as he led the American League in saves with 34.
Starting pitcher Jimmy Key led the American League with a 2.76 ERA.
July 21, 1987: Jimmy Key threw exactly three pitches and recorded three outs. This was accomplished in the second inning.
September 14, 1987: The Blue Jays set a Major League record by hitting 10 home runs in a game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Transactions

Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1987 regular season.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		135	446	120	.269	19	75
1B		150	512	125	.244	15	58
2B		122	310	65	.210	4	30
3B		138	341	80	.235	12	36
SS		146	578	186	.322	5	67
LF		156	610	188	.308	47	134
CF		155	592	167	.282	26	96
RF		159	590	155	.263	28	84
DH		107	295	73	.247	20	43

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	124	332	103	.310	11	44
	98	195	55	.282	3	25
	82	175	47	.269	14	32
	37	158	38	.241	2	10
	56	121	31	.256	1	11
	51	107	23	.215	1	27
	32	96	20	.208	0	9
	39	81	23	.284	5	21
	34	48	9	.188	1	6
	13	25	3	.120	1	2
	5	12	1	.083	0	0
	7	9	1	.111	0	0
	12	2	1	.500	0	0
	1	0	0	----	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	36	261.0	17	8	2.76	161
	37	241.1	15	11	3.54	180
	33	185.0	13	9	4.09	115
	14	66.2	3	5	5.13	27
	7	49.1	3	2	2.37	43
	3	12.0	0	2	8.25	7

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	44	151.1	11	4	4.40	92
José Núñez	37	97.0	5	2	5.01	99

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	72	0	6	34	2.49	128
	89	10	6	4	3.17	96
	68	12	5	3	4.15	54
	23	2	3	1	5.53	17
	18	4	3	1	3.99	32
	12	1	0	0	6.94	10
	5	0	0	0	4.09	3

Award winners

Jesse Barfield, Gold Glove Award
George Bell, American League RBI Champion, 134George Bell, American League MVPGeorge Bell, Silver Slugger AwardGeorge Bell, The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
Jim Clancy, Pitcher of the Month Award, May
Tony Fernández, Gold Glove Award
Tom Henke, American League Leader, Saves, 34
Jimmy Key, American League ERA Champion, 2.76 ERA

All-Star Game

George Bell, OF, starter
Tony Fernández, shortstop, reserve
Tom Henke, pitcher, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Myrtle Beach