The Toronto Blue Jays are members of the American League (AL) East Division in Major League Baseball (MLB). There have been 14 different managers of the Blue Jays, the only Canadian baseball franchise in Major League Baseball. In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager (or more formally, the field manager). They are the only team outside the United States to win a World Series, and the first team to win a World Series in Canada.[1] John Schneider was the interim manager, until the club named him their full time manager in the off season and giving him a three year contract after, replacing Charlie Montoyo; Montoyo was fired on July 13, 2022.
Cito Gaston has both managed and won the most games of any Blue Jays manager, with 1,731 games and 894 wins. He is followed by John Gibbons in both categories, with 1,258 games and 644 wins, who surpassed Bobby Cox's marks during his second stint as manager. Gaston is the only Blue Jays manager to win a World Series in 1992 and 1993, the fourth African-American manager in MLB history, and was the first African-American manager to win a World Series.[2][3] Cox is the only Blue Jays manager to be awarded the AL Manager of the Year Award in 1985. Mel Queen has the best winning percentage by winning 80 percent of his 5 games coached.
Overview
The first manager of the Blue Jays was Roy Hartsfield. While his tenure was marked by conflict between players and last place finishes, Hartsfield was supported by general manager Pat Gillick as they worked on the same long term management strategy: developing young players around which to build a team.[4] Following the 1979 season, the Blue Jays opted not to renew his contract but offered him a position within the organization, which he declined.[5] Bobby Mattick served as manager on subsequent one-year contracts until Bobby Cox became available.[6] As Mattick accepted an executive position in the Blue Jays organization, Cox signed a one-year contract,[7] which was extended until the 1985 season as he led the team out of last place for the first time, and into the playoffs in 1985. Shortly after Cox unexpectedly left the Blue Jays organization for the general manager position with the Atlanta Braves, third base coach Jimy Williams took over as manager.[8][9] Following late-season collapses in 1987 and 1988, and a poor start to the 1989 season, Williams was fired and hitting coach Cito Gaston took over.[10] Gaston managed the team for nine seasons, including two World Series wins, though batting coach Gene Tenace did substitute for him for several weeks in 1991 when Gaston was hospitalized with back pains.[11]
In 1997, with the team in last place, Gaston was fired by general manager Gord Ash with 5 games remaining; pitching coach Mel Queen finished the season as manager.[12] Ash, seeking a more aggressive management style, hired Tim Johnson for his breadth of experience and communication skills.[13] Following an admission to lying about aspects of his military experience, a tactic he used to motivate players,[14] he was fired during spring training in 1999 and Jim Fregosi was signed to a two-year contract. When Rogers Communications acquired the Blue Jays organization, among other management changes, Fregosi was replaced with Buck Martinez.[15] In June 2002, as the team was struggling, new general manager J. P. Ricciardi fired Martinez and replaced him with third base coach Carlos Tosca.[16] Tosca, and his successor John Gibbons, each managed the team for several seasons but both were fired mid-season as the team struggled: Tosca in August 2004 replaced by first base coach Gibbons, and Gibbons in June 2008 replaced by former manager Gaston. Following Gaston's retirement at the end of the 2010 season, former Boston Red Sox pitching coach, John Farrell was introduced as the new manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.[17]
Key
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| GM | Regular-season games managed |
| W | Regular-season wins |
| L | Regular-season losses |
| Win% | Regular season winning percentage |
| PGM | Playoff games managed |
| PW | Playoff wins |
| PL | Playoff losses |
Managers
Note: Statistics are correct as of October 2nd, 2023
| #[a] | Name | Term | GM | W | L | Win% | PGM[18] | PW[18] | PL[18] | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Hartsfield* | 1977–1979 | 484 | 116 | 318 | .240 | — | — | — | |
| 2 | Bobby Mattick | 1980–1981 | 268 | 104 | 164 | .388 | — | — | — | |
| 3 | Bobby Cox | 1982–1985 | 647 | 355 | 292 | .549 | 7 | 3 | 4 | AL East Division Championship (1985) 1985 AL Manager of the Year[19] |
| 4 | Jimy Williams | 1986–1989 | 522 | 281 | 241 | .538 | — | — | — | |
| 5 | Cito Gaston | 1989–1991 | 417 | 235 | 182 | .564 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 2 AL East Division Championships (1989, 1991) |
| 6 | Gene Tenace[b] | 1991 | 33 | 19 | 14 | .576 | — | — | — | |
| — | Cito Gaston | 1992–1997 | 902 | 448 | 454 | .497 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 2 World Series Championships (1992, 1993) |
| 7 | Mel Queen | 1997 | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Tim Johnson | 1998 | 162 | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | — | — | |
| 9 | Jim Fregosi | 1999–2000 | 324 | 167 | 157 | .515 | — | — | — | |
| 10 | Buck Martinez | 2001–2002 | 215 | 100 | 115 | .465 | — | — | — | |
| 11 | Carlos Tosca | 2002–2004 | 382 | 191 | 191 | .500 | — | — | — | |
| 12 | John Gibbons | 2004–2008 | 610 | 305 | 305 | .500 | — | — | — | |
| — | Cito Gaston | 2008–2010 | 412 | 211 | 201 | .512 | — | — | — | |
| 13 | John Farrell | 2011–2012 | 324 | 154 | 170 | .475 | — | — | — | |
| — | John Gibbons | 2013–2018 | 972 | 488 | 484 | .502 | 20 | 10 | 10 | AL East Division Champions (2015) AL Wild Card Winner (2016) |
| 14 | Charlie Montoyo | 2019–2022 | 472 | 236 | 236 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | John Schneider | 2022–present | 236 | 135 | 101 | .572 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Notes
- a A running total of the number of managers of the Blue Jays. Thus, any manager who has two or more separate terms as manager is only counted once.
- b Gene Tenace managed until the end of the 1991 Toronto Blue Jays season as Gaston was sidelined with a herniated disc; Gaston returned in time for the playoffs.
References
- General
- "Blue Jays All-time Managers". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- "Blue Jays Year-by-year Results". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- Specific