1983 Toronto Blue Jays season

1983 Toronto Blue Jays
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Exhibition Stadium
City	Toronto
Record	89–73 (.549)
Owners	Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Managers	Bobby Cox
Television	CFTO-TV (Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Fergie Olver)
Radio	CJCL (AM) (Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek)
Seasons

The 1983 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's seventh season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. It was the franchise's first winning season, starting a streak of 11 consecutive winning seasons. It was the team's first season to use the song "OK Blue Jays" in the seventh-inning stretch.

Offseason

• December 9, 1982: Dale Murray and Tom Dodd were traded by the Blue Jays to the New York Yankees for Fred McGriff, Dave Collins, Mike Morgan, and cash.
• February 23, 1983: Mickey Klutts was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Regular season

• Willie Upshaw became the first Blue Jay to get over 100 RBIs with 104
• On August 4, 1983, New York Yankee Dave Winfield, while warming up before the 5th inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, accidentally killed a seagull with a thrown ball. He doffed his cap in mock sorrow. Fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and was forced to post a $500 bond before being released. Quipped Yankees manager Billy Martin, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." The charges were dropped the following day. For years afterward Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted with loud choruses of boos, but he later became a fan favorite when he joined the team in 1992.

Opening Day starters

• Dave Collins
• Dámaso García
• Jim Gott
• Alfredo Griffin
• Cliff Johnson
• Lloyd Moseby
• Rance Mulliniks
• Hosken Powell
• Willie Upshaw
• Ernie Whitt

Season standings

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	98	64	.605	—	50‍–‍31	48‍–‍33
Detroit Tigers	92	70	.568	6	48‍–‍33	44‍–‍37
New York Yankees	91	71	.562	7	51‍–‍30	40‍–‍41
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	.549	9	48‍–‍33	41‍–‍40
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	.537	11	52‍–‍29	35‍–‍46
Boston Red Sox	78	84	.481	20	38‍–‍43	40‍–‍41
Cleveland Indians	70	92	.432	28	36‍–‍45	34‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1983 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	5–8	8–4	11–2	8–4	6–7	8–4	8–4	9–3	7–6
Boston	5–8	—	6–6	6–6	7–6	4–9	5–7	4–9	5–7	7–6	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	3–10	8–4	4–8	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	5–8	6–7	6–7	4–8
Chicago	5–7	6–6	10–3	—	8–4	8–4	9–4	4–8	8–5	8–4	8–5	12–1	8–5	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	4–8	4–8	—	5–8	7–5	3–10	6–6	6–7	7–5	8–4	3–9	4–9
Detroit	8–5	9–4	8–4	4–8	8–5	—	7–5	6–7	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	8–4	6–7
Kansas City	4–8	7–5	7–6	4–9	5–7	5–7	—	6–6	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	8–5–1	6–6
Milwaukee	2–11	9–4	6–6	8–4	10–3	7–6	6–6	—	8–4	4–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–5
Minnesota	4–8	7–5	7–6	5–8	6–6	3–9	7–6	4–8	—	4–8	4–9	9–4	5–8	5–7
New York	7–6	6–7	7–5	4–8	7–6	8–5	6–6	9–4	8–4	—	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–6
Oakland	4–8	4–8	8–5	5–8	5–7	6–6	6–7	6–6	9–4	4–8	—	9–4	2–11	6–6
Seattle	4–8	5–7	7–6	1–12	4–8	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	5–7	4–9	—	6–7	4–8
Texas	3–9	5–7	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8–1	4–8	8–5	5–7	11–2	7–6	—	4–8
Toronto	6–7	6–7	8–4	7–5	9–4	7–6	6–6	5–8	7–5	6–7	6–6	8–4	8–4	—

Notable transactions

• February 5, 1983: Leon Roberts was traded by the Blue Jays to the Kansas City Royals for Cecil Fielder.
• June 6, 1983: Webster Garrison was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 2nd round of the 1983 amateur draft. Player signed August 21, 1983.
• June 21, 1983: Doyle Alexander was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.

Roster

1983 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers 31 Jim Acker 47 Doyle Alexander 18 Jim Clancy 34 Stan Clarke 36 Don Cooper 35 Dave Geisel 38 Jim Gott 25 Roy Lee Jackson 48 Luis Leal 50 Joey McLaughlin 17 Randy Moffitt 30 Mike Morgan 37 Dave Stieb 45 Matt Williams		Catchers 13 Buck Martinez 14 Geno Petralli 12 Ernie Whitt Infielders  1 Tony Fernández  7 Dámaso García  4 Alfredo Griffin 16 Garth Iorg 27 Mickey Klutts  5 Rance Mulliniks 26 Willie Upshaw		Outfielders 29 Jesse Barfield 11 George Bell  9 Barry Bonnell 10 Dave Collins 15 Lloyd Moseby 22 Hosken Powell 23 Mitch Webster Other batters 44 Cliff Johnson 33 Jorge Orta		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 43 Cito Gaston  8 John Sullivan 41 Al Widmar 24 Jimy Williams

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	Ernie Whitt	123	344	53	88	15	2	.256	17	56	1
1B	Willie Upshaw	160	579	99	177	26	7	.306	27	104	10
2B	Dámaso García	131	525	84	161	23	6	.307	3	38	31
3B	Rance Mulliniks	129	364	54	100	34	3	.275	10	49	0
SS	Alfredo Griffin	162	528	62	132	22	9	.250	4	47	8
LF	Dave Collins	118	402	55	109	12	4	.271	1	34	31
CF	Lloyd Moseby	151	539	104	170	31	7	.315	18	81	27
RF	Jesse Barfield	128	388	58	98	13	3	.253	27	68	2
DH	Cliff Johnson	142	407	59	108	23	1	.265	22	76	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
Garth Iorg	122	375	40	103	22	5	.275	2	39	7
Barry Bonnell	121	377	49	120	21	3	.318	10	54	10
Jorge Orta	103	245	30	58	6	3	.237	10	38	1
Buck Martinez	88	221	27	56	14	0	.253	10	33	0
George Bell	39	112	5	30	5	4	.268	2	17	1
Hosken Powell	40	83	6	14	0	0	.169	1	7	2
Mickey Klutts	22	43	3	11	0	0	.256	3	5	0
Tony Fernández	15	34	5	9	1	1	.265	0	2	0
Mitch Webster	11	11	2	2	0	0	.182	0	0	0
Geno Petralli	6	4	0	0	0	0	.000	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
Dave Stieb	36	36	278	17	12	3.04	105	94	93	187
Jim Clancy	34	34	223	15	11	3.91	115	97	61	99
Luis Leal	35	35	217.1	13	12	4.31	113	104	65	116
Jim Gott	34	30	176.2	9	14	4.74	103	93	68	121
Doyle Alexander	17	15	116.2	7	6	3.93	55	51	26	46
Matt Williams	4	3	8	1	1	14.63	13	13	7	5

Other pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; IP = Innings pitched; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Jim Acker	38	5	97.2	5	1	1	4.33	52	47	38	44
Mike Morgan	16	4	45.1	0	3	0	5.16	26	26	21	22

Relief pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	R	ER	BB	K
Joey McLaughlin	50	64.2	7	4	9	4.45	33	32	37	47
Roy Lee Jackson	49	92	8	3	7	4.50	48	46	41	48
Dave Geisel	47	52.1	0	3	5	4.64	28	27	31	50
Randy Moffitt	45	57.1	6	2	10	3.77	27	24	24	38
Stan Clarke	10	11	1	1	0	3.27	4	4	5	7
Don Cooper	4	5.1	0	0	0	6.75	4	4	0	5

Award winners

• Lloyd Moseby, Player of the Month Award, August
• Lloyd Moseby, Silver Slugger Award
• Dave Stieb, Pitcher of the Month Award, May

All-Star Game

• Dave Stieb, Starting Pitcher

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Jim Beauchamp
AA	Knoxville Blue Jays	Southern League	John McLaren
A	Kinston Blue Jays	Carolina League	Ron Clark and Doug Ault
A	Florence Blue Jays	South Atlantic League	Dennis Holmberg
Rookie	GCL Blue Jays	Gulf Coast League	Epy Guerrero
Rookie	Medicine Hat Blue Jays	Pioneer League	Duane Larson

External links

• 1983 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Reference
• 1983 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Almanac