Blue Jays to Sport 40th Season Patch in 2016

The Toronto Blue Jays will wear a patch on their uniform sleeve throughout the 2016 season to commemorate their 40th season in the American League.

Toronto’s cap/alternate logo is the centrepiece of the patch, which is a roundel with a banner laid across the bottom of it. The team name surrounds the logo with “EST. 1977” on either side. Within the grey banner placed below the logo reads “40TH SEASON” in blue.

The outer border of the roundel features the double blue striping seen elsewhere on the Blue Jays jersey wordmark, player numbers, and sleeve stripes. A senior official of the Blue Jays front office had previously told me that the team would be playing up this “double stripe” imagery much more prominently going forward and make it “their thing”.

Commemorative patches have been worn previously by the Blue Jays for the 10th (1986), 20th (1996), 25th (2001), and 30th (2006) seasons (the team celebrates season milestones rather than the anniversary).

The team has also worn special season-long patches celebrating the City of Toronto’s 150th anniversary in 1984, the hosting of the MLB All-Star Game in 1991, as well as various Postseason/World Series, and memorial patches.