The 1990 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fourtheenth season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing second in the American League East with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses. It was their first full season in the SkyDome, where an MLB attendance record of 3,885,284 was set that year. The Blue Jays led the division by 1½ games over the Boston Red Sox with one week left in the season. However, they then proceeded to drop six of their last eight games, giving the division title to the Red Sox by a two-game margin.
December 4, 1989: 1989 rule 5 draftSil Campusano was drafted from the Blue Jays by the Philadelphia Phillies.Steve Wapnick was drafted from the Blue Jays by the Detroit Tigers.December 5, 1989: Mike Maksudian was drafted by the Blue Jays from the Miami Miracle in the 1989 minor league draft.December 7, 1989: José Núñez was traded by the Blue Jays to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Kilgus.December 17, 1989: Ernie Whitt and Kevin Batiste were traded by the Blue Jays to the Atlanta Braves for Ricky Trlicek.January 10, 1990: Tilson Brito was signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays.January 29, 1990: Jim Eppard was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.The 1990 season belonged to third baseman Kelly Gruber. He had career highs in home runs and RBIs, with 31 and 118, respectively. Along with outfielder George Bell and pitcher Dave Stieb, Gruber was named an American League All-Star, stealing two bases in the All-Star Game on July 10 at Chicago's Wrigley Field. A finalist for the American League MVP Award, at season's end he was named the AL's Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award winner at third base.
The Blue Jays were involved in two no-hitters during the 1990 season. On June 29, Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics no-hit them by a score of 5–0. On September 2, Jays ace Dave Stieb finally got the no-hitter that had eluded him, blanking the Cleveland Indians 3–0.
George Bell, OFJunior Felix, OFTony Fernández, SSKelly Gruber, 3BNelson Liriano, 2BFred McGriff, 1BGreg Myers, CJohn Olerud, DHDave Stieb, PMookie Wilson, OFMay 1, 1990: Steve Wapnick was returned to the Blue Jays by the Detroit Tigers.May 8, 1990: Mike Flanagan was released by the Blue Jays.June 4, 1990: 1990 Major League Baseball draftSteve Karsay was drafted by the Jays in the 1st round (22nd pick).Future Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke was drafted by the Blue Jays. Player signed August 20, 1990.Felipe Crespo was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round. Player signed September 22, 1990.Howard Battle was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 4th round. Player signed June 6, 1990.Ricardo Jordan was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 37th round.June 18, 1990: Kenny Williams was selected off waivers by the Blue Jays from the Detroit Tigers.July 27, 1990: Nelson Liriano and Pedro Muñoz were traded by the Blue Jays to the Minnesota Twins for John Candelaria.September 16, 1990: Mauro Gozzo and players to be named later were traded by the Blue Jays to the Cleveland Indians for Bud Black. The Blue Jays completed the trade by sending Steve Cummings to the Indians on September 21 and Alex Sanchez to the Indians on September 24.September 24, 1990: Rich Butler was signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays.September 24, 1990: Rob Butler was signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays.The hype around Eric Lindros during his early career led to an exclusive deal with sports card manufacturer SCORE. Attempting to leverage this arrangement as much as possible, he was even featured on a baseball card showing him as a third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, although he never actually played baseball. He was only there taking batting practice one day.
Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Kelly Gruber, Player of the Month Award, SeptemberKelly Gruber, Silver Slugger AwardKelly Gruber, Gold Glove AwardAll-Star Game
George Bell, OFKelly Gruber, 3BDave Stieb, P 