Countdown to Spring Training - 39 Days

One aspect of the home field advantage the Blue Jays have at the Rogers Centre is the fact that they play on artificial turf. While turf technology has come a long way in the past two decades, and the Blue Jays no longer play on old-fashioned astroturf, they do not get as many opportunities to play on natural grass as most teams do. The 1993 Blue Jays made the most of those opportunities, however, winning 39 games on natural grass to set a team record that still stands to this day.

The '93 club finished the regular season with a road record of 47-34, with 39 of those road victories coming on natural grass. That record may be in jeopardy however, as Major League Baseball has gone further and further away from artificial turf in recent years. In fact, the only two stadiums still using artificial turf in Major League Baseball are the Rogers Centre, and the Rays' Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

That means that of the 81 road games the Blue Jays play each year, 72 are now played on natural grass, with the other nine taking place at Tropicana Field. The 2011 Blue Jays finished with a road record of 39-42, and a record of 3-6 in their nine games at Tropicana Field. As a result, the Club won 36 games on natural turf to come close to the record, though they didn't quite match it. Interestingly, the 2011 team finished an even .500 on both artificial turf (45-45), and natural grass (36-36).

Other 39s
The Blue Jays recorded their 39th win of the 2011 season on June, 26 in St. Louis when they finished off a three game sweep of the eventual World Series Champion Cardinals. That 39th win brought the club to 39-39 on the season through their first 78 games.

The Blue Jays sold out 39 consecutive home games from July, 4 1991 through April 11, 1992 - the fourth longest sellout streak in team history. The longest sellout streak in team history is 60 games which took place from May 18, 1990 through April 8, 1991.

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