Snow was the first highlight for the Toronto Blue Jays as they came to life on April 7, 1977.
The second wasn’t very good either from a baseball perspective for the Blue Jays as they faced the Chicago White Sox in the first game for the franchise.
Chicago’s Jorge Orta had a sacrifice fly off Toronto starter Bill Singer and Richie Zisk homered to give the White Sox a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning.
It would eventually get better as the Blue Jays would go on to win 9-5 at Exhibition Stadium in front of 44,649.
In the bottom of the first, Doug Ault blasted the initial homer of his career off White Sox starter Ken Brett. Ault would tie the game with his second long ball of the game off Brett in the third to make it 4-4.
With Brett still on the mound in the fifth, Dave McKay gave the Blue Jay the lead for good with a RBI single.
On his very first swing as a big leaguer, Al Woods hit a pinch-hit homer in the fifth off Francisco Barrios to drive in a pair of runs.
Ault ended his day at the plate with a RBI single in the eighth inning. He a Pedro Garcia led the Blue Jays with three hits each.
Jerry Johnson, who came on in the fifth in relief of Singer, picked up the win for Toronto. Future 1982 Cy Young Award winner with Milwaukee Pete Vuckovich earn the first save of his career.
All-Star Rookies
Toronto led the American League with three players on the 1977 Topps All-Star Rookie Team with Ault being the only one that played on opening day.
Joining Ault on the team was shortstop Bob Bailor and pitcher Jerry Garvin.
Finishing the season with 11 homers, Ault tied Ron Fairly for the team lead with 64 RBI.
After playing nine games with Texas in 1976, Ault was the regular first baseman during the 1977 season. After becoming a backup to John Mayberry in 1978, he spent the next year in the minors before returning for his final major league season in 1980.
Bailor led Toronto with 15 stolen bases and played in 122 games with a .310 batting average. Bailor was Toronto’s first pick in the expansion draft following the 1976 season.
He had made brief appearances with Baltimore in 1975 and 1976 before joining the Blue Jays where he played until 1980. He finished his career with the New York Mets (1981-1983) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1984-1985).
Garvin was second on the team in wins with a 10-18 record as he trailed Dave Lemanczyk (13-16).
Overall, he pitched six years for the Blue Jays posting a 20-41 mark by the time his career ended in 1982.
The Blue Jays finished the year 54-107, which put them in seventh place in the AL East.