This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TORONTO -- Shannon Stewart is one of the most underrated players in this organization’s history, which is all about the era he played in.
A first-round pick of the Blue Jays out of high school in 1992, Stewart played for the big club from 1995 until his trade to the Twins in ‘03. It’s the same era that captured the peak of Carlos Delgado and the early days of Roy Halladay’s greatness, but without a playoff run, so many of those performances have been overshadowed.
Stewart was a phenomenal outfielder for the Blue Jays, though, From 1998-2002 as a full-time starter, Stewart hit .305 with an .822 OPS. His 166 stolen bases rank fifth in franchise history, and his 51 steals in ‘98 made him one of just five Blue Jays to ever top 50 swiped bags. In fact, no Blue Jays player has cleared that mark in the 28 years since.
Stewart finally got some league-wide recognition in 2003, which is the year he was traded to the Twins in July for Bobby Kielty. Stewart finished fourth in AL MVP voting that season after having a great stretch run in Minnesota, finishing behind only Alex Rodriguez, Delgado and Jorge Posada. Looking back, it’s so surprising that Stewart was never named to an All-Star team over his 14 seasons, but his talent was fully deserving of it.
Back in town this weekend with a group of alumni which included Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Jose Cruz Jr., Stewart reflected on his career in Toronto and the changes he’s seen since. Questions have been edited for length:
Q: This ballpark must look a little different now?
Shannon Stewart: “It’s like Disney World here, man. It was really nice when I played, too, but now it’s to a whole other level.”
Q: When people ask you about your playing career in Toronto, where does your mind go first?
“I remember coming here and there was no ESPN [on TV], but there was TSN. The money was different and I had to get used to the language, everybody would say “Eh?” a lot. The people were just so different from the United States. I grew up in Miami, and the people here were just so nice and warm. I always felt comfortable here. I always tell everybody that Toronto is like my second home. I just really enjoy being here. Everything is great about this city.”
Q: What are you proudest of from your playing career with the Blue Jays?
“When I look at it, I think, ‘I did pretty good here!’ When you’re playing in this division with the Yankees and the Red Sox, we had some great years, but those teams were just so superior to us. It seemed like if we were in any other division, we could have won the division.”
Q: What was the top of the lineup like back in your day with the Blue Jays, batting leadoff?
“I was just the guy to get on base. My thing was to score 100 runs because I had Carlos Delgado behind me, Shawn Green, Raul Mondesi came on, Tony Batista. I had a season where, before the All-Star Break, all the guys behind me had 20 home runs. It was an explosive lineup. We were right there with those other teams. I enjoyed playing here. I was scoring 100 runs every year.”
Q: What are your memories of Carlos Delgado, who was putting together some career years in the late ‘90s and early 2000s?
“Delgado was unbelievable. I remember Carlos had just tremendous power. I’ve seen Carlos hit balls 400 feet with one arm. He was the first guy that, when I watched him take BP, I was that impressed. It was electric. You look at some guys like Barry Bonds and A-Rod, we’d come out here and watch them take BP. He was like that.”
Q: What do you remember about the years you spent with Roy Halladay in Toronto?
“Roy was very quiet and a hard worker. Roy was a great guy, a great teammate. I’m not saying he was misunderstood, he was just to himself a lot. I used to talk to him all the time, especially when you’re in the outfield and pitchers are always in the outfield shagging balls. You talk to the pitchers all the time. I’d always go over and mess with Roy like, ‘Man, what’s up?’ I’d get him to talk. He was great. Just a great, great teammate. I miss him.”