July 30, 1982: Blue Jays fans finally taste ballpark beer as Toronto tops Detroit

When the 1982 season began, beer was sold at 25 of the 26 big-league ballparks.1 The exception was Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, which had been nicknamed Prohibition Stadium by parched local fans.2 But the ban on beer wasn’t limited to just major-league baseball games in Canada’s largest city – the Ontario government had banned the sale of liquor at all professional sporting events in the province since Prohibition came into effect in September 1916.3

Provincial lawmakers finally relented in early July 1982 when they announced a two-year trial of beer sales in three open-air sporting venues, including Exhibition Stadium.4 (Hockey fans and alcohol were still considered a volatile mix − the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs weren’t allowed to sell beer at Maple Leaf Gardens concession stands for another 10½ years.5)

On July 30, 1982, the Blue Jays were the first of the Ontario-based teams to get the beer flowing, one day before the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League tapped their first keg.6 In addition to being able to enjoy a frosty brew on that warm July evening, Blue Jays fans were treated to an exciting come-from-behind win over the Detroit Tigers. After Toronto fell behind 5-0, the Blue Jays bullpen held the line and the home team rallied to send the game into extra innings. Roughly one hour after beer sales had been cut off,7 Rance Mulliniks gave the fans another buzz with his 12th-inning walk-off single in a 6-5 Blue Jays victory.

The game featured two young teams on the rise. Toronto, which had joined the American League in 1977, had been wisely building its team via the draft. The organization got off to a great start by netting pitcher Jim Clancy, catcher Ernie Whitt, and infielder Garth Iorg in the 1976 expansion draft. Outfielders Jesse Barfield and Lloyd Moseby, along with future pitching ace Dave Stieb, were selected in the team’s first two June amateur drafts.8 Toronto even found success in the Rule 5 draft, pilfering hard-hitting first baseman Willie Upshaw from the New York Yankees in 1977 and mercurial outfielder George Bell from the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980.9

After finishing dead last in the AL East Division in the franchise’s first five seasons – with a combined record that was a woeful 212 games below .500 − the Blue Jays were showing signs of improvement in 1982. Although they were still in last place coming into their July 30 game, their respectable 46-52 record was cause for optimism. First-year Toronto manager Bobby Cox tapped Clancy, a 26-year-old righty with an 8-9 record and a 3.75 ERA, to start the series opener against Detroit. Two weeks earlier, Clancy had been the Blue Jays’ representative at the 1982 All-Star Game, tossing a perfect inning of relief.

The Tigers had reemerged as pennant contenders in the strike-shortened 1981 season after seven consecutive finishes in the second division. They held a slim half-game lead in the AL East Division second-half standings with six games to play, but Detroit dropped four of its next five games and was eliminated on the second last day of the season.

The Tigers were in first place in 1982 as late as June 12, only to have hurler Jack Morris fall into a funk and outfielder Kirk Gibson suffer a season-ending wrist injury.10 Heading into their series in Toronto, the Tigers had tumbled to fifth place with a 50-47 record, seven games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox.

Dan Petry, a 23-year-old right-hander with an 11-6 record and a 3.08 ERA, got the start for the Tigers. Petry was Detroit’s top starter in 1982 and he had won five of his last six starts, limiting the opposition to just 10 runs.11 He continued his hot streak by retiring the first nine Blue Jays he faced.

Clancy limited the Tigers to an infield single and two walks in the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. With runners on first and second and two out, Chet Lemon drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single. Rookie Glenn Wilson’s infield single loaded the bases and the next batter, shortstop Alan Trammell, jumped on Clancy’s first pitch for the second grand slam of his major-league career.12 Suddenly, the Tigers led 5-0.

Dámaso García was the first Blue Jay to reach base when he led off the bottom of the fourth with an infield single. Two outs later, Upshaw and right fielder Hosken Powell singled to load the bases. Thirty-four-year-old designated hitter Glenn Adams − called up from Triple A earlier in the day – singled to drive in García and Upshaw.13 Left fielder Al Woods registered Toronto’s fourth consecutive single, scoring Powell and cutting Detroit’s lead to 5-3.

Clancy walked the leadoff batter in the fifth on four pitches and Cox gave him the hook, bringing in righty Roy Lee Jackson. The move worked like a charm, as Jackson pitched four shutout innings.

Singles by Upshaw and Adams put runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth. Woods came through in the clutch again, blooping an opposite-field double that scored Upshaw and cut the deficit to one run.

With one out in the seventh, García singled off Petry and stole second. One out later, Petry fell behind Moseby 3-and-0 and was pulled by manager Sparky Anderson in favor of lefty Pat Underwood. After Underwood tossed ball four to Moseby, Upshaw singled for his third consecutive hit and García trotted home with the tying run. Righty Dave Tobik came in to get the final out of the seventh before hurling three consecutive one-two-three innings.

The Blue Jays bullpen continued to roll, as righty Joey McLaughlin came on in the ninth and pitched three hitless innings, allowing only two walks. Veteran Dale Murray pitched a scoreless 12th for Toronto.

Detroit rookie reliever Bob James got the final two outs of the 11th and returned to the mound for the bottom of the 12th. Alfredo Griffin opened the inning with a single, but he was forced at second on García’s failed sacrifice attempt. García stole his second base of the game and his 33rd of the season, putting the potential winning run into scoring position.14 The next batter, Mulliniks, who was 0-for-5 up to that point in the game, singled on a 2-and-2 pitch,15 sending García home with the winning run.

The Blue Jays had much to celebrate that Friday night. On top of their on-field success, the introduction of beer sales went off without a hitch. There were no reports of rowdyism, which wasn’t surprising since a modest 15,000 beers were sold to the 18,262 fans in attendance.16

Three types of draft beer were available, ensuring that the palate of just about every Ontario beer drinker of that era would be satisfied.17 Fans could choose from Labatt’s Blue, Molson Export, or Carling O’Keefe’s Carlsberg Beer, all served in a 12-ounce cup for $1.75 Canadian.18 To reduce the chance of over-indulgence, roving beer vendors were not permitted and fans could buy a maximum of two beers at a time from concession stands.19 As an extra precaution that first night, the Blue Jays cut off beer sales at the start of the ninth inning.20

Despite Canadian beer’s 5 percent alcohol content,21 the suds did nothing to make Blue Jays fans, who had acquired a reputation as the quietest in the major leagues, any more exuberant.22 The fans “were as complacent as ever,” said the team’s public relations manager Howard Starkman, a Blue Jays employee from 1976 to 2014.23 “It was no different than any other night.”24 (Jays fans had been sneaking alcohol into the ballpark since Toronto’s snowy inaugural game five seasons earlier.25)

The Blue Jays played competitive baseball for the remainder of the season, although their 78-84 record – 11 wins above their previous high-water mark − left them in last place for the sixth consecutive season.26 But Toronto won 17 of its last 26 games, hinting that its days as cellar dwellers might be coming to an end.

The Blue Jays broke through for their first winning season in 1983, and in 1985 they won 99 games to claim the division title in their ninth year of existence. In the 11-year span from 1983 to 1993, the Blue Jays won at least 86 games each season, earning five division titles and back-to-back World Series championships in 1992-93. Through it all, Toronto baseball fans continued to enjoy ballpark beers.27

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Mike Huber and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, Stathead.com, The Sporting News contract cards, the SABR biography of Jack Morris, and SABR’s Toronto Blue Jays Team Ownership History, by Allen Tait. Unless otherwise noted, all play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Suds Celebration as Jays Rebound to Win in 12th” on page D1 of the July 31, 1982, edition of the Toronto Star.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR198207300.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1982/B07300TOR1982.htm

Photo credit

Photo of Willie Upshaw downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 United Press International, “Exhibition Stadium,” UPI Archives, July 30, 1982, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/30/Exhibition-Stadium-home-to-the-Toronto-Blue-Jays-has/9855396849600/, accessed May 24, 2024. 

2 Brian Bragg, “Gibson’s Back with Team,” Detroit Free Press, July 31, 1982: 4D.

3 United Press International, “First Beer Sold at Blue Jays Game,” UPI Archives, July 30, 1982, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/30/First-beer-sold-at-Blue-Jays-game/6892396849600/, accessed May 24, 2024; Tony Aspler, “A Birthday to Celebrate with a Drink,” Toronto Star, September 14, 1991: K3.

4 The other two sporting venues that were allowed to sell beer were Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton and Lansdowne Park in Ottawa. Both venues were home to Canadian Football League teams. The CFL’s Toronto Argonauts shared Exhibition Stadium with the Blue Jays, so they were also permitted to sell beer. United Press International, “First Beer Sold at Blue Jays Game.”

5 Toronto Maple Leafs season-ticket holders could purchase alcohol at the exclusive Hot Stove Lounge, but other fans could not. Beer was sold at Maple Leaf Gardens concession stands for the first time on January 30, 1993. Rosie DiManno, “Booze on Ice Comes to Toronto Hockey,” Toronto Star, January 31, 1993: 1.

6 United Press International, “First Beer Sold at Blue Jays Game.”

7 Stewart Brown, “Blue Jays Outlast Tigers, Beer Sales,” Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, July 31, 1982: 16.

8 Barfield was selected in the ninth round of the June 1977 amateur draft. He went on to amass 39.4 Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (bWAR). One year later, Moseby (27.6 career bWAR) was the second overall pick and Dave Stieb (56.4 career bWAR) was selected in the fifth round.

9 As a Rule 5 pick, Bell was required to spend the entire 1981 season with the Blue Jays. He spent all of 1982 and much of 1983 in Triple A before making an impact at the major-league level in 1984. He won the 1987 AL MVP Award by hitting .308 with 47 homers and a league-leading 134 RBIs.

10 Morris had a 7.29 ERA in his 10 starts from June 14 to July 27. He finished the 1982 season with a 17-16 record and a 4.04 ERA. The previous season, Morris finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting. His career rebounded in 1983 when he began throwing a forkball regularly. Gibson played his last game of the 1982 season on July 8. The previous season, he hit .328 and finished 12th in AL MVP voting.

11 Petry finished 1982 with a 15-9 record and a 3.22 ERA. He finished ninth in AL Cy Young Award voting.

12 Trammell hit five grand slams in his 20-year Hall of Fame career.

13 Adams had spent two seasons with the San Francisco Giants and five seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He retired after the 1982 season with a.280 batting average, 34 homers, and 225 RBIs.

14 García finished second in the AL in steals with 54. Rickey Henderson led the league with 130 stolen bases, setting the AL/NL single-season record since 1901.

15 Canadian Press, “Jays Edge Tigers,” Niagara Falls (Ontario) Review, July 31, 1982: 13.

16 Canadian Press, “Baseball and Beer − and the Blue Jays Even Won,” Regina (Saskatchewan) Leader-Post, July 31, 1982: C4.

17 Ontario’s first craft brewer, Brick Brewing Company in Waterloo, did not open until 1984. As of 2024, the brewery was known as Waterloo Brewing Company.

18 The cost of a “two-four” – a case of 24 beers – at a Brewers Retail store in Ontario was $11.20 in 1982, which works out to roughly $0.47 per beer. The $1.75 cost of a beer at a Blue Jays game in 1982 was the equivalent of $5.22 in 2024 dollars. On July 30, 1982, $1.75 Canadian converted to $1.39 US. “Beer Prices Going Up,” Brantford (Ontario) Expositor, January 4, 1982: 9; Leslie Fruman, “Delighted Fans Take Their First Ballpark Beer in Stride,” Toronto Star, July 31, 1982: A8; “Inflation Calculator,” Bank of Canada / Banque Du Canada, https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/, accessed May 24, 2024; “U.S. Dollar / Canadian Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1982,” https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-england-spot/historical-spot-exchange-rates/usd/USD-to-CAD-1982, accessed May 24, 2024.

19 “Why the Blue Jays Didn’t Sell Beer to Fans Until 1982,” CBC News, July 30, 2018, https://www.cbc.ca/archives/why-the-blue-jays-didn-t-sell-beer-to-fans-until-1982-1.4761424, accessed May 24, 2024.

20 Fruman, “Delighted Fans Take Their First Ballpark Beer in Stride.”

21 Philip Macneill and Matthew Bellamy, “Brewing Industry in Canada,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/brewing-industry, accessed May 24, 2024.

22 Canadian Press “Beer Flows in Toronto,” Sault Star (Sault St. Marie, Ontario), July 31, 1982: A8.

23 “Thinking Back with Howard Starkman,” Sports Business Journal, June 30, 2014, https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2014/06/30/People-and-Pop-Culture/TBLA.aspx, accessed May 24, 2024.

24 Canadian Press “Beer Flows in Toronto.”

25 John Brehl, “Pitcher Has a Problem Giving Ball to a Kid,” Toronto Star, April 7, 1977: JAY3.

26 The Tigers finished in fourth place with an 83-79 record, 12 games behind the division-winning Milwaukee Brewers. Detroit won the World Series in 1984.

27 Toronto’s reputation for good behavior at the ballpark took a hit in 2016 when a local man sitting in the third row of Section 139 at Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) nearly hit Baltimore Orioles left fielder Hyun Soo Kim with a can of beer as he was about to catch a fly ball in the seventh inning of the AL Wild Card game. The Blue Jays stopped selling beer in cans for the remainder of the playoffs. Jackie Hong, “Blue Jay Beer Can Thrower Pleads Guilty to Mischief,” Toronto Star, May 31, 2017: GT1.