In an extensive series, we are taking a look at the top 10 home run hitters of every Major League Baseball franchise. Here we profile the Toronto Blue Jays, the 29th feature.
10) Ernie Whitt
The catcher from Detroit, Michigan had 131 home runs with the Toronto Blue Jays from 1980 to 1989. He had a career-high 19 home runs with the Blue Jays in 1985 and matched that total again in 1987. In 1985, Whitt was an American League All-Star. Whitt’s most memorable game for the Blue Jays came on September 14, 1987. He hit three home runs in an 18-3 Blue Jays win over the Baltimore Orioles. This game was memorable because the Blue Jays set a Major League record for most home runs in a single game by a team with 10.
9) Adam Lind
The first baseman from Muncie, Indiana had 146 home runs with the Blue Jays from 2006 to 2014. He hit a career high 35 home runs in 2009. It was a career year, as he won the Silver Slugger Award at designated hitter in the American League. Lind set career-highs in runs scored (93), hits (179), doubles (46), runs batted in (114) and total bases (330). Like Whitt, Lind had three home runs in a game. It came on September 29, 2009 in an 8-7 Blue Jays win over the Boston Red Sox.
8) Lloyd Moseby
The outfielder from Portland, Arkansas had 149 home runs with the Blue Jays from 1980 to 1989. He hit 18 home runs in 1983 as the American League Silver Slugger Award winner in the outfield, 21 home runs as an American League All-Star in 1986, and a career-high 26 home runs in 1987.
7) Jesse Barfield
The right fielder from Joliet, Illinois had 179 home runs with the Blue Jays from 1981 to 1989. Barfield’s finest season came in 1986, when he hit a career-high 40 home runs, which led Major League Baseball. That year he was an American League All-Star and won a Silver Slugger Award.
6) George Bell
The leftfielder from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic had 202 home runs with the Blue Jays from 1981 to 1990. He hit a career-high 47 home runs in 1987, and was named the American League Most Valuable Player that season. Three times Bell won the American League Silver Slugger Award from 1985 to 1987 (had 28 home runs in 1985 and 31 home runs in 1986), and had 21 home runs as an American League All-Star in 1990. On April 4, 1988, he became the first player in Major League history to hit three home runs on Opening Day. He accomplished the feat in a 5-3 Blue Jays win over the Kansas City Royals.
5) Joe Carter
The outfielder from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma had 203 home runs with the Blue Jays from 1991 to 1997. The five-time All-Star hit the biggest home run in Blue Jays’s history on October 23, 1993. It was a walk-off three-run home run that won the World Series for the Blue Jays in an 8-6 Toronto win over the Philadelphia Phillies. It was one of three postseason home runs that Carter hit in Blue Jays playoff wins the years they won the World Series. Carter also hit home runs in a 9-2 Blue Jays win over the Oakland Athletics in game six of the 1992 American League Championship Series, and in a 3-2 Blue Jays win over the Atlanta Braves in game three of the 1992 World Series. In 1993, Carter became the first Blue Jays hitter to hit two home runs in the same inning. He accomplished the feat in the second inning in an 11-6 Blue Jays win over the Baltimore Orioles on October 3, 1993.
4) Vernon Wells
The centerfielder from Shreveport, Louisiana had 270 home runs with the Blue Jays from 1999 to 2010. In 2003, Wells was an American League All-Star, silver slugger winner, and had a career-high 33 home runs. He had 32 home runs as an All-Star in 2006, and 31 home runs as an All-Star in 2010. One of Wells’s most notable games for the Blue Jays came on May 30, 2006 when he hit three home runs in an 8-5 Toronto win over the Boston Red Sox.
3) Edwin Encarnacion
The corner infielder from La Romana, Dominican Republic had 239 home runs with the Blue Jays from 2009 to 2016. He had a career high 42 home runs in 2012 and as an American League All-Star 2016. Encarnacion also had 36 home runs an All-Star in 2013 and 34 home runs as an All-Star in 2014. One of Encarnacion’s most memorable games for the Blue Jays came on July 26, 2013 in a 12-6 Blue Jays win over the Houston Astros. He became the second Blue Jays hitter to hit two home runs in a single inning (seventh inning). In May of 2014, Encarnacion set the Blue Jays franchise record for most home runs in a month (16). On August 29, 2015, he had a three home run game in a 15-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Encarnacion also hit two meaningful home runs for Toronto against Baltimore. On April 26, 2016, he became the Blue Jays all-time leader in walkoff home runs with four in a 4-3 Blue Jays win over the Orioles, and then hit a walk-off three-run home run in the 11th inning in a 5-2 Blue Jays win over the Orioles in the 2016 American League Wildcard Game.
2) Jose Bautista
The right fielder from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic had 288 home runs with the Blue Jays from 2008 to 2017. He set a Blue Jays franchise record for most home runs in a season (54) in 2010. That year Bautista led the Major Leagues. He then led the Majors again in 2011 with 43 home runs. The six-time American League All-Star (2010 to 2015) won three Silver Slugger Awards with the Blue Jays (2010, 2011 and 2014). Bautista’s 223 home runs from 2010 to 2015, were the most of any player in that six-year stretch. Bautista’s most memorable home run came on October 8, 2015. In a 6-3 Blue Jays win over the Texas Rangers, Bautista flipped his bat after a home run to break a 3-3 tie in the fifth and deciding game of the American League Divisional Series.
1) Carlos Delgado
The first baseman from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico had 336 home runs with the Blue Jays from 1994 to 2003. He had a career-high 44 home runs in 1999, and then had 41 home runs as an American League All-Star in 2000, and 42 home runs as an American League All-Star in 2003. In the three aforementioned seasons, Delgado also won the Silver Slugger Award. On September 25, 2003, Delgado set the Blue Jays record and tied the Major League Baseball record for most home runs in a game with four in a 10-8 Blue Jays win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Delgado’s four home runs were significant because he accomplished the feat in only four at bats, the only player ever to accomplish the feat.
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