Toronto Blue Jays: Best all-time players by continent
NORTH AMERICA
Sportsnet did a list of the Blue Jays top-40 all-time players this past season. The list included 28 Americans, seven Dominicans, three Puerto Ricans, one Canadian and one Jamaican – meaning North Americans have dominated Blue Jays history.
The winner was Puerto Rican Roberto Alomar who played five seasons in Toronto and made the All-Star team and won a Gold Glove every year, and helped lead the Jays to their two World Series wins.
A .307 hitter, with a .382 OBP, he remains the only player to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame as as a Blue Jay.
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The other contenders are Americans. Dave Stieb, who leads the team in wins (175), games started (408), strikeouts (1658), ERA(3.42), and led some dominant teams in the 1980s.
The late great Roy Halladay, had 148 wins, a 3.43 ERA, was a six-time All-Star, and was one of three Blue Jays to win a Cy Young. If he had remained in Toronto for a couple more years, he likely would have passed Stieb in most of the important statistics.
Puerto Rican Carlos Delgado leads the team in RBI (1058), home runs (336), runs (889), walks (827) and doubles (343), and is second in OBP (.392) and games played (1423) over 12 seasons in Toronto.
Rounding out the top-five is Dominican Jose Bautista, who is second in walks (803) and home runs (288) and holds the Toronto Blue Jays single season record for home runs (54), and of course the bat flip.
When or if Ngoepe makes his debut with the Jays in 2018, he will become the first-African in the organization’s history. As the game continues to diversify, this list could change regularly, but for now Ngoepe, Cox, Hendriks, Kawasaki, Castillo and Alomar hold the titles of their respective continents.
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What’s your take on the players selected? Do you agree with them, or are there any you would remove for someone else? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.