May 4, 1989: Freshman Junior Félix’s first swing is fantastic, but Angels rally for extra-inning win over Blue Jays

From April 7, 1977 through May 28, 1989, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first 968 home games at Exhibition Stadium.1 In the first 953 contests, only once had the ballpark hosted a player hitting a home run in his first big-league at-bat – Al Woods, on Opening Day 1977. On May 4, 1989, a second hitter achieved the feat by – like Woods – hitting the first pitch he faced in the major leagues.

None of the Blue Jays’ 1989 home dates at Exhibition Stadium had lower attendance than the 21,188 for the series opener against the California Angels.2 Prior to that Thursday night’s 7:35 P.M. first pitch, the daytime high temperature of 66 degrees had been warmer than usual.3 But the home team’s 10-17 record was as bad as or worse than all but one major-league club. The starting pitcher, southpaw Jimmy Key, was 2-2 (3.24 ERA) after Jays relievers blew saves in his last two starts – including five nights earlier in Anaheim. In Toronto, Key retired three straight Angels in a perfect top of the first.

California’s Kirk McCaskill had major-league baseball’s best April ERA (0.74). In the right-hander’s previous outing, against Toronto in Anaheim, his no-hit bid was spoiled by Nelson Liriano’s ninth-inning double.4 There was no suspense on this evening, as the first two Blue Jays, Lloyd Moseby and Kelly Gruber, singled to put runners at the corners. After spraining his ankle, Gruber was playing for the first time in 10 days.5 Tony Fernández gave the Jays a one-run lead with a fielder’s choice that allowed Moseby to score while Gruber was forced at second. Former AL MVP George Bell and future Hall of Famer Fred McGriff batted next, and both sluggers flied out. The Toronto Star noted that the Blue Jays “might have been blanked [that inning] had McCaskill gone to the plate [instead of second base] when Fernández ripped a comebacker.”6

Devon White tripled to start the visitors’ second, his fourth three-bagger of the young season. He did not score, however, as Key handled a grounder and fanned Chili Davis and Dante Bichette.

McCaskill faced just three batters in the bottom of the second. Although Liriano lined a one-out single, he was caught stealing by Lance Parrish, California’s three-time Gold Glove catcher.

Key held California scoreless in the third, surviving a hit batsman (Brian Downing) and a single by rookie Kent Anderson with two outs. When Toronto’s Junior Félix led off the bottom of the inning, it was his first major-league at-bat. Batting left-handed, the switch-hitting DH drove the first pitch he saw just over the wall in right-center field, near the 375-foot marker.7 In an interesting coincidence, a month before, Félix had homered on the first pitch he faced in Triple A.8

Hitting a homer in one’s first big-league at-bat was rare enough, and Félix was just the 13th major leaguer to do it on the first pitch thrown his way.9 His round-tripper also snapped McCaskill’s Angels’ record string of 88 innings pitched without allowing a home run.10

After Moseby grounded out, Gruber and Fernández hit consecutive singles. They wound up on third and second base respectively. Gruber had taken second on a wild pitch before the second hit, and Fernández advanced on the throw to prevent his teammate from scoring. McCaskill handled Bell’s tapper and caught McGriff looking at strike three to keep California within 2-0.

Key issued the fewest bases on balls of any AL qualifier in ‘89, but Parrish coaxed a one-out walk in the fourth. Key balked to send Parrish to second base, then recorded the second and third outs. In the bottom of the frame, McCaskill retired three straight Toronto hitters.

Key did likewise in the top of the fifth. After Félix walked to start the bottom of the frame, he was free to run, but he couldn’t get a jump.11 Moseby’s foul popup became the first out. Then Gruber grounded to Anderson, and the California shortstop started an inning-ending double play.

Despite White’s two-out double, Key completed his sixth scoreless inning. Fernández led off Toronto’s half with a single, and Ernie Whitt – the last remaining 1977 Blue Jay – walked with two out, but Liriano popped up.

The Angels finally scored in the seventh. After Davis’s leadoff double, Bichette’s single put runners at first and third. Key fanned Bill Schroeder and retired Jack Howell on a short fly, but an RBI single by the 38-year-old Downing halved Toronto’s lead, to 2-1. Next, Anderson singled up the middle, but the ball struck Downing and – by rule – he was declared out.

When Blue Jays’ right fielder Rob Ducey, an Ontario native, led off the bottom of the seventh, he nearly became the second Canadian to hit safely against a Canadian pitcher at Exhibition Stadium.12 But McCaskill – also born in Ontario – fielded Ducey’s bunt and threw him out.13 Félix and Moseby made outs in another three-up, three-down inning.

After Key handled the first out in the top of the eighth, Toronto was five outs from victory. But White singled to center, Parrish hit safely to right, and Davis pulled a single to left, loading the bases. With Bichette up next, Blue Jays skipper Jimy Williams summoned right-handed reliever Duane Ward. Bichette ripped the first pitch toward Gruber, and it appeared the Toronto third baseman could start an inning-ending twin killing. But Bichette sprinted to beat Liriano’s relay to first base, lunging at the last instant.14 The rookie’s hustle helped the Angels even the contest, 2-2, but the score remained tied after Wally Joyner, pinch-hitting for Schroeder, grounded out.

McCaskill departed in the bottom of the eighth after his 93rd pitch resulted in a one-out walk to Fernández. Angels manager Doug Rader called on his relief ace, Bryan Harvey, who hadn’t pitched in a week because of back stiffness.15 Fernández tried to steal second, but Parrish cut down another would-be thief. After Bell and McGriff drew back-to-back walks, Whitt whiffed for the third out.

Neither team scored in the ninth. Ward surrendered a leadoff double to Howell and intentionally walked Johnny Ray with two away, but White’s weak grounder ended the threat. Harvey was perfect in the bottom of the frame, notching swinging strikeouts against Félix and Ducey.

To open the 10th, Parrish sliced a double into the right-field corner. “If Ducey had not slipped on the warning track while cutting off Parrish’s drive down the line, his throw to second probably would have gotten Parrish,” reported the Los Angeles Times.16 Since Parrish’s backup (Schroeder) had already exited for a pinch-hitter, the Angels could not replace the slow-footed catcher on the basepaths. Nevertheless, Parrish reached third base with a headfirst slide on Davis’s sacrifice bunt.17 Parrish then scored the go-ahead run when Bichette – with a one-handed swing – drove a curveball to the left-field warning track for a sacrifice fly.18 After Joyner walked, Ward yielded to southpaw David Wells, who fanned the lefty-hitting Howell for the third out.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Blue Jays’ last chance came against Greg Minton, a veteran right-hander in his 15th season – longer than the Toronto franchise had been in existence. Minton induced three groundouts to seal the victory, the Angels’ third extra-inning triumph against Toronto in six days.

Ten days later, the 12-24 Blue Jays fired Williams. Cito Gaston took over as manager and engineered an amazing Toronto turnaround, winning the AL East championship on the season’s final weekend. As for the Angels, the win over the Blue Jays improved their record to six games over .500 for the first time since they won the 1986 division championship. This time California held the AL West lead as late as August 9 before succumbing to the Oakland Athletics, the team that went on to vanquish Toronto in the ALCS before sweeping the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com, www.retrosheet.org, and https://sabr.org/bioproject.

Photo credit: Junior Félix, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 “Exhibition Stadium / History,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/ballpark/exhibition-stadium (accessed May 27, 2024).

2 The Blue Jays played their first 26 home games at Exhibition Stadium in 1989 before moving into the brand-new SkyDome in June.

3 “Toronto Almanac,” Toronto Star, May 5, 1989: A2.

4 Five days earlier, Liriano’s one-out triple in the ninth had broken up a potential Nolan Ryan no-hitter.

5 Allan Ryan, “Another Tough Loss for Jays,” Toronto Star, May 5, 1989: B1.

6 “Another Tough Loss for Jays.”

7 “Another Tough Loss for Jays.”

8 Dave Perkins, “First-Toss Homer Old Hat for Felix,” Toronto Star, May 5, 1989: B5.

9 David Adler, “Players Who Homered on First Career Pitch,” MLB.com, April 4, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rare-feats-home-run-on-1st-career-pitch-c265964496 (accessed May 27, 2024).

10 John Weyler, “Angels Keep Everything Together and Win in 10th,” Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1989: C1.

11 Perkins, “First-Toss Homer Old Hat for Felix.”

12 The Blue Jays never deployed a Canadian-born pitcher while the team was based at Exhibition Stadium (1977-1989). Of Toronto’s pair of Canadian-born position players before Ducey, Paul Hodgson never faced a Canadian pitcher at Exhibition Stadium. In 1977 and 1978 the Blue Jays’ Dave McKay went 0-for-3 against Ferguson Jenkins, 0-for-3 against Barry Cort; 0-for-1 against Dave Pagan and Reggie Cleveland, and 1-for-3 against John Hiller – the lone hit an RBI single on June 14, 1978.

13 Ducey and McCaskill were the American League’s only active Canadians on May 4, 1989, with Steve Wilson and Terry Puhl on the roster of National League clubs. Before season’s end, future Hall of Famer Larry Walker debuted with the Expos. On July 6, 1986, McCaskill became just the fourth Canadian starting pitcher to win a game at Exhibition Stadium. Jenkins, Cort, and Cleveland each earned victories there in 1977. Jenkins notched another in 1981. One reliever, Hiller, was credited with a pair of relief wins there, one each in 1977 and 1978.

14 Weyler, “Angels Keep Everything Together and Win in 10th.”

15 “Angels Keep Everything Together and Win in 10th.”

16 “Angels Keep Everything Together and Win in 10th.”

17 “Angels Keep Everything Together and Win in 10th.”

18 Ryan, “Another Tough Loss for Jays.”