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This is an original watercolor painting of the 2004 Toronto Blue Jays uniform.
Click on image to enlarge$450.00 (includes shipping in North America)
This original, one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of the 2004 Toronto Blue Jays uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Toronto Blue Jays uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Toronto Blue Jays products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Nola McConnan for Maple Leaf Productions Ltd.
Some History
The Blue Jays entered the 2004 season with high hopes, or at least higher hopes than the previous couple seasons. But the club got off to a terrible start winning just 7 games in the month of April, including getting swept at home on opening weekend at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. To make things worse the team was beset by injuries to some of their important veterans. This would prove to be too much for their nucleus of young players and the team never recovered.At 67-94, the 2004 Blue Jays finished 19 games worse than they did in 2003, and injuries played a large part. Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells, Roy Halladay and Frank Catalanotto all missed at least a month, sinking the Jays out of third place for the first time in seven seasons. Pat Hetgen, the 1996 Cy Young winner, returned to the team hoping to revitalize his career. Unfortunately, he would end up retiring halfway through the season with a miserable 2-9 record and a 6.95 ERA. The Jays finished last in the AL East for the first time since Tampa Bay joined the league - you have to go all the way back to 1980 to find a Toronto team that lost more games than the 2004 Jays.
All of this would eventually lead to the firing of Manager Carlos Tosca who was replaced by John Gibbons for the final 6 weeks of the season. Under Gibbons the Jays would not fair much better going 20-30. They ended the season in last place with a terrible record of 67-94.
The good news: Rookies P Dave Bush, RF Alex Rios and P Jason Frasor proved they were legitimate major leaguers. 2B Orlando Hudson emerged as one of the best at his position, CF Vernon Wells won a Gold Glove and LHP Ted Lilly became an All-Star.
As the Jays toiled in 2004 there were few bright spots as even Carlos Delgado had a disappointing season by his standards knocking in just 99 RBI, as the Jays stellar offence of 2003 could not get going in 2004 finishing 12th of 14 teams in the American League in runs scored and team batting. Meanwhile reigning Cy Young winner Roy Halladay only mustered an 8-8 record while missing 2 months with a tired arm. The Jays team ERA ranked 11th in the 14 team AL. Following the season the Jays began to refocus their efforts allowing Delgado to leave through Free Agency as they tried to focus on their young pitching prospects. They became the lone Canadian team as the Montreal Expos were moved to Washington.
In 2004 the Blue Jays adopted a new look. Gone were the colours normally associated with the team (i.e. royal blue, light blue and red). In are more modern colours: graphite, silver and black.
The Team also adopted a new logo, a feisty looking Blue Jay's head coming out of a stylized metallic J. The club's full Blue Jays nickname is no longer in use on the uniform; it's been abbreviated to just Jays.
