Exhibition Stadium | History

Originally built in 1959 for football and then modified in 1975-76 for baseball. It was first called the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium. 

The Blue Jays played 968 games from April 7, 1977-May 28,1989 at Exhibition Stadium posting a record of 492-476 with 23,213,567 fans passing through the turnstiles.

The Blue Jays slugged their way to a 9-5 triumph over the Chicago White Sox in their April 7, 1977, debut.

Despite snow flurries before the game and near-freezing temperatures, 44,649 fans witnessed the exciting contest, which featured 16 hits by the Blue Jays and 15 by Chicago.

GAME: Thurs. April 7, 1977 (Blue Jays 9, Chicago White Sox 5)
ATTENDANCE: 44,649
TIME/TEMP.: 3:22/0°C. (32°F)
PITCHER: Bill Singer, Toronto
BATTER: Ralph Garr, Chicago (walked)
PLATE UMPIRE: Nestor Chylak
PITCH: Called strike
HIT: Home run by Richie Zisk, first inning, none on
RUN: Ralph Garr (scored on sacrifice fly by Jorge Orta)
SINGLE: Jim Spencer, Chicago, April 7, 1977, first inning
DOUBLE: Richie Zisk, Chicago, April 7, 1977, second inning
TRIPLE: Ron LeFlore, Detroit, April 12, 1977, fifth inning
HOME RUN: Richie Zisk, April 7, 1977, first inning
FIRST RBI: Jorge Orta, Chicago, April 7, 1977, 1st inning
INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUN: Cecil Cooper, Milwaukee, May 5, 1977 (fifth inning)
GRAND SLAM HOME RUN: Hector Torres vs. New York, June 27, 1977 (fifth inning, off Ron Guidry)
TWO HOME-RUN GAME: Doug Ault, Toronto, April 7, 1977
THREE HOME-RUN GAME: John Mayberry, K.C., June 1, 1977
PINCH-HIT HOME RUN: Al Woods, Toronto, April 7, 1977 (fifth inning)
WINNING PITCHER: Jerry Johnson, Toronto (in relief), April 7, 1977
LOSING PITCHER: Ken Brett, Chicago (starter), April 7, 1977
SAVE: Pete Vuckovich, Toronto, April 7, 1977
PUTOUT: Steve Bowling, Toronto (fly ball to right field) April 7, 1977
ASSIST: Hector Torres, Toronto (ground ball to shortstop) April 7, 1977
ERROR: Rick Cerone, Toronto, April 7, 1977
SHUTOUT: Ferguson Jenkins, Boston, Sun. April 24, 1977 (9-0)
COMPLETE GAME: Dave Lemanczyk, Toronto vs. Chicago, April 9, 1977
WALK: Ralph Garr by Bill Singer, April 7, 1977 (first inning)
STRIKEOUT: John Scott by Ken Brett, April 7, 1977 (first inning)
FORFEIT: Baltimore, Thurs. September 15, 1977 (Blue Jays 9, Baltimore 0)
NIGHT GAME: Mon., May 2, 1977 vs. Milwaukee (Brewers 3, Blue Jays 1)
STOLEN BASE: Ralph Garr, Chicago, April 7, 1977 (first inning)
TRIPLE PLAY: Clancy to Mayberry to Gomez, April 22, 1978 (sixth inning)
BALK: Balor Moore, Toronto vs. Seattle, May 13, 1978
ONE-HITTER: Chris Knapp, California, September 3, 1978 (Angels 3, Blue Jays 1)
NO-HITTER: Never happened

GAME: May 28, 1989 (Blue Jays 7, Chicago White Sox 5), 10 innings
ATTENDANCE: 46,120
TIME/TEMP.: 3:19/20°C. (68°F)
PITCHER: Bobby Thigpen, Chicago
BATTER: George Bell, Toronto, home run
PLATE UMPIRE: Dan Morrison
HIT: Home Run by George Bell, 10th inning
RUN: George Bell on home run
DOUBLE: Kelly Gruber, Toronto 10th inning
HOME RUN: George Bell, 10th inning
RBI: George Bell, 10th inning
WINNING PITCHER: Tom Henke
LOSING PITCHER: Bobby Thigpen
PUTOUT: Fred McGriff, Toronto, 10th inning
ASSIST: Nelson Liriano, Toronto, 10th inning

CAPACITY:

• 43,737 for baseball
• 53,816 for football

DISTANCES FROM HOMEPLATE:

• Left field: 330 feet (100 meters)
• Left-center field: 375 feet (114 meters)
• Centre field: 400 feet (122 meters)
• Right-center field: 375 feet (114 meters)
• Right field: 330 feet (100 meters)
• Back stop: 60 feet (18 meters)

DUGOUTS:

• Blue Jays: Third base line
• Visitors: First base line

FENCE HEIGHT

• 12 feet, lower eight feet were padded

GROUND RULES:

• Foul poles are outside of playing filed. Any batted ball hitting foul pole above fence is a home run.
• Ball sticking in fence or padding, or going through wire screen in front of general admission stands - 2 bases.
• Ball remaining under or behind tarpaulin - out of play.
• Ball going into bullpen bench and rebounding onto playing field - In Play.
• Ball hitting any portion of fence or screen in back of home plate - In Play.
• Ball hitting padding and bouncing over fence - 2 bases.
• A fairly batted or thrown ball that crosses the yellow line in front of the dugouts is considered in the dugout.

LOCATION:

• North: Gardiner Expressway and Ontario Drive
• West: Prince's Boulevard
• South: Lakeshore Boulevard and Exhibition Place
• East: New Brunswick Way and CNE Amusement Park

SCOREBOARD:

• Built by Stewart-Warner, installed in 1978, was 41 feet high and 131 feet long.

SURFACE:

• Monsanto Astroturf of 160,000 square feet was the largest artificial playing surface in North America. New turf was installed in 1985.

FORFEIT:

• The Blue Jays have played one forfeit game, a 9-0 decision vs Baltimore on September 15, 1977. In that game Jim Clancy had held the Orioles to two-hits over five innings before Earl Weaver pulled his club off the field. His reason was that the tarps on the Blue Jays bullpen created a hazard for his players.

SUSPENDED GAME:

• One game was suspended at Exhibition Stadium: August 28, 1980 in a 7-5, 15-inning loss to Minnesota. The game was suspended after 14 innings due to a 5 p.m. Canadian National Exhibition curfew.