The Top 10 Blue Jays Homeruns of All-time

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Here are the top 10 Blue Jay homeruns of all time. There are 9 homeruns that clearly stand out for their historical significance. There always will be subjective favourites, so I will leave the reader to choose your personal favourite as number 10. On with the top 9:

9) Doug Ault's first homer for the Blue Jays franchise.

This was bound to happen by someone, and it wasn't hit by the most memorable of Blue Jays. But Ault hit 2 homers in the first Jays game ever, a 9-5 home win over the White Sox on April 7, 1977.

8) Kelly Gruber's homerun as part of the first cycle in Jays history.

The Jays crushed the Royals in this 1989 game 15-8. Gruber was a part of the great late-80's and 1992 World Championship teams. The only other Jay to hit for the cycle was Jeff Frye (2001), a no-name player who had 175 at-bats, and managed 16 career homeruns over 8 seasons. So honourable mention to him!

7) Ed Sprague's pinch-hit homerun in game 2 of the 1992 World Series.

The Jays were trailing 1-0 in the 1992 World Series to Atlanta. It was 4-3 in the top of the 9th. Wanting badly to not come home with a 2 game deficit, Sprague cranked a 2-run shot, which eventually won the game 5-4. He had only 1 more at-bat the rest of the series.

6) Fred McGriff hits record 10th team homerun of the game.

On September 14, 1987, the Jays set the record for most homeruns in a game, crushing the Orioles 18-3. The homeruns hit were by Ernie Whitt (3), George Bell (2), Rance Mulliniks (2), Rob Ducey, Lloyd Moseby, and McGriff. The record stands by a single homerun over the 1999 Cincinnati Reds, but I have a feeling this record will not stand the test of time. In recent years teams often reach the 7 and 8 homerun plateau. All it will take is a team to have one extra good night to break it.

5) George Bell's last homerun in Exhibition stadium.

Bell hit a dramatic walk-off 2-run shot in the bottom of the 10th on May 28, 1989, to end an era at exhibition stadium, where the team saw a rise to prominence. The homerun is complete with a classic Tom Cheek quote (one of the greatest announcers of all time): "What an ending to a story!" Honourable mention to Fred McGriff, who hit the first homerun in the SkyDome 8 days later.

4) Carlos Delgado's 4-homerun game.

This is the only place Delgado, the greatest Blue Jay of all-time, makes the list. Delgado was never in the playoffs with the team, unfortunately being here mostly during the post-strike dark ages. But the 4 homer gem on September 25, 2003, well captures his great power. The homers were hit consecutively, and the 4th one tied the game up, which the Jays eventually won over the Devil Rays 10-8. Only 15 players have done this in baseball history. This record has a chance of standing more so then the team record does, unless someone hits a 5th dinger in a long extra innings game.

3) George Bell's 47th homer during his MVP campaign.

The only Blue Jay to win an MVP award (1987), versus the 4 Cy Young Awards. The 47 homers stand as the most in team history, 1 ahead of Jose Canseco (1998). Unfortunately, the homerun was hit on September 23, one day before the team's epic collapse began. With 8 days left in the season, the Jays relinquished a 3.5 game lead over the Tigers. They were swept by the Tigers in the final series, losing the division by 2 games, and going home with a wasted 96 win season in their pockets.

2) Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series winning homerun.

Easily one of the biggest homeruns in MLB history, Joe Carter hit a come from behind, World Series winning homerun in game 6. Different lists out there put Joe a little bit further down the list than he deserves (other than this one: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/greatesthomerunslist.html). The only other World Series walk-off homer was Bill Mazeroski in game 7 of the 1960 World Series. No offense to Kirk Gibson, but as kids we don’t really dream of having a sore leg, swinging badly on a few pitches, then hitting a walk-off homerun in game 1 of the World Series, only to have that be our last at bat. We dream of a situation a lot closer to this: bottom of the 9th, 2 on, 1out, team down by 1 run, game 6 of the World Series...the ball is hit…it’s going, going…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AG6GcSwQCE

1) Roberto Alomar’s go-ahead homerun in the 1992 ALCS.

I actually remember this homerun, when I was 8 years old, and jumping for joy in my parents bedroom, in disbelief we were back in the game. The Jays were leading the series 2-1, playing against the formidable Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum. Dennis Eckersley was the dominant closer of the time, and part of a great A’s team that featured Rickey Henderson and Mark McGwire in their prime. They had toyed with the Jays in the 1989 ALCS, winning the series 4-1, and the Jays were back in the playoffs after years and years of near-greatness, always coming up short. Down 6-1 in the top of the 8th, Carter, Olerud, and Maldonado all had run scoring singles, to bring the game to 6-4. Eckersley made a cocky gesture by glaring and pointing earlier on. In the top of the 9th, after a Devon White single, Alomar cranks a homerun, immediately raising his arms (a triumphant gesture over Eckersley’s), tying up the game. Pat Borders went on to hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th, and the Jays took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. From that point on, all the momentum in club history had changed. The Jays believed they could win.

Bonus: Some favourites from the BJW message boards for memorable homeruns

Joe Carter, Josh Phelps, Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado all crushing homers into the 5th deck at SkyDome.
Ken Huckaby's inside the park homer.
Tony Batista's broken bat home run.Rance Mulliniks and Greg Myers hit inside the park homeruns.
Jesse Barfield becomes the first Jay to swat 40 in 1986.
Junior Felix inside-the-park grand slam against Boston in 1989.Kelly Gruber's inside the fog HR at the CNE.
Vernon Wells off Mariano Rivera game winner in 2006.
Mark Hendrickson's "shot heard round Quebec."
Eric Hinske's go ahead homerun in the Halladay vs. Johnson pitching duel in 2005.George Bell hits one on the roof at Tiger Stadium.
Candy Maldonado cranks one to CF at Yankee Stadium in 1992.Reed Johnson leading off and walking off in the same game.
“3 HR games by Darnell Coles in '94 (hit 4 total that year), Woodward in '02 (33 career HRs).”
“McGriff's homer in '87 in Yankee Stadium. Way up in the upper deck. After that, everyone knew who Fred McGriff was.”

Written with help from the BJW community.