High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976 as one of two teams slated to join the American League for the following season (the other being the Seattle Mariners). Toronto had been mentioned as a potential major league city as early as the 1880s, and had been home to the Toronto Maple Leafs (baseball team) of the International League from 1896 to 1967. In January 1976, San Francisco Giants owner Horace Stoneham agreed to sell the team for $13.25 million to a Toronto group consisting of Labatt Breweries of Canada, Ltd., Vulcan Assets Ltd., and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The team would begin play with the 1976 season at Exhibition Stadium and be called the Giants. However the deal was never finalized and local-owner Bob Lurie purchased the Giants and kept them in San Francisco. The city of Toronto had renovated Exhibition Stadium to accommodate Major League Baseball (MLB), in anticipation of the Giants relocating there. The American League took notice of the city`s commitment to baseball and awarded an expansion team.