Recap
After narrowly missing out on the San Francisco Giants relocating from California to Toronto for the 1976 season, the American League announced plans to expand to Toronto along with Seattle in March of 1976. Surviving opposition from U.S. President Gerald Ford and MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the city of Toronto got set to finally welcome Major League Baseball for the 1977 American League season.
The Toronto Blue Jays got their name after holding a name-the-team contest during the Summer of 1976. Out of 4000 suggestions "Blue Jays" was chosen likely due to the connection with owner Labatt's Breweries "Labatt's Blue" brand of beer. Fans despised the new name right out of the gate, local politican Paul Godfrey even claimed the fans would never accept the name and would just refer to the club as the "Toronto Blues".
