Blue Jays founder on current season, 50 years of baseball in Toronto

It was nearly 50 years ago, in 1976, that the then-chairman of Labbatt Brewing Company helped usher in a major league baseball team in Canada's largest city. He called them the Blue Jays.

Now, he is being asked for his thoughts on the current team, and season.

While the current has squad has World Series ambitions, McDougall says that today's team reminds him much more of 1985 than of 1992 & 1993. He attributes this to the fact the 1980's was the start of a period of sustained success for his old club, something that it feels like the 2025 Blue Jays could also achieve.

He also notes that Toronto's current ALCS opponent the Seattle Mariners came into the league at the time and that, upon comparison, the Blue Jays have easily been the more successful club.

He attributes that success to the positive culture that was established early on by the likes of Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick, both front office legends and members of Toronto's Level of Excellence as well as the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (and the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well in Gillick's case).

While McDougall doesn't get out to Rogers Centre much these days, by his own admission packed crowds are a little much for him these days, he will be tuning in from the comfort of his living room, cheering on the team he helped bring to fruition nearly half a century ago.

While he's always been more business than baseball, baseball has become his business.