Bill James Previews the 1979 Toronto Blue Jays

A quick look at one of the worst teams of all time

Bill James Previews the 1979 Toronto Blue Jays

I came across this lovely excerpt from the April 24, 1979 issue of Esquire Fortnightly:

James was absolutely right about the 1979 Toronto Blue Jays, who managed a 53-109 record in one of the worst seasons in baseball history up to that point.

He was also right about just how old the team was:

I doubt anybody looks back fondly on the days when John Mayberry played first base at Exhibition Stadium, or when Bob Baylor played in the outfield, or when Rick Bosetti and his mighty total of 8 home runs provided the power.

However, there are a few interesting things about this team that James missed:

• Dave Stieb, who would become one of the biggest star pitchers in the game, was a 21 year old rookie that season.

• Danny Ainge, who was a great basketball player, managed to get a mid-season call up as a rookie. He didn’t produce much, but at least it was an interesting story.

Of course, the rest of the team wasn’t all that great. You had guys like 20 year old Pete Hernandez who wound up pinch running once or twice after doing nothing in the minors. Hernandez had hit .228 at Kinston in A league ball, and yet that was somehow good enough to get the kid up to the big leagues for a brief cup of coffee.

But you never know what you might get with a bad team. You just might get a star pitcher. Or a famous NBA player.