Christopher James: As I younger man, I can clearly remember the nausea that would set in every time I watched ex-Blue Jay and current fry cook Eddie Zosky turn around to watch another misplayed ground ball bound into left field. I would watch his head bow, his slight shoulders slump, and there, in the middle of his back, Tony Fernandez's number 1. Even then, before his last three Blue Jay stints, it struck me as grossly unjust that another player should ever sully Tony's jersey.

It is now more than a full season after Tony retired, and the question of retiring his number has yet to be properly broached. Why should it be, you may ask? Why Tony? Why not George Bell, or Dave Stieb, or Roberto Alomar? Let it be debated by the other TBG writers, but what I am suggesting is that Tony Fernandez should be recognized as Mr. Blue Jay -the one- and that if Toronto was ever to actually 'retire' numbers, rather than simply hanging them in poster form on the upper deck, he should be the first man singled out.

One can look at the statistics and find many reasons for this honor; be it his four tours in the blue and white, the four Gold Gloves, or the fact that he is the all time Toronto Blue Jay leader in games played, at bats, hits, triples, times on base, as well as being in the team's top three in career batting average, runs and total bases.

Add to these statistics Tony's .318 batting average in the 1993 ALCS, and his .333, 9 RBI performance in the 1993 World Series vs Philadelphia. Think about the numbers, think about the mind numbing defence of his younger days, think about his return to form with the Toronto franchise in twilight of his career, in 1998, 1999, and 2001, where he hit .321, .328, and .305. Take all of these factors into account, and tell me why Mr. Blue Jay is anybody but Tony Fernandez.

Jim Turner: Fernandez is a fine choice, he just doesn't happen to be the right choice. I'd be perfectly happy to have the number 1 retired, but I think we can boil this down to two choices. The first is Dave Stieb, his 15 seasons and 175 wins. There's the no-hitter, the club's first ERA crown, 7 all-star appearances. Stieb was the ace on a team that went from laughing-stock, to contender to pennant winner. It's almost criminal that Jack Morris waltzed in here and rode a mediocre performance to a 21 wins after Stieb could never rack up more than 18.

The other serious contender is Roberto Alomar. Yes, he was only a Blue Jay for 5 seasons, and yes, he pulled himself out of the lineup on the last day of the '95 season, and yes, there was "Loogey heard 'round the world." Unfortunately, those were the last images of Alomar in Toronto and, more unfortunately, they seem to have lingered with many fans longer than his more worthy accomplishments.

There was nothing Alomar couldn't do on a baseball field. An All-star and Gold Glove winner in each of his 5 seasons here, I think the lasting image of Alomar should be his arm-raising homerun off Eckersley from Game 4 of the 1992 ALCS. It was a turning point for the close-but-no-cigar playoff Jays, and Alomar would go on to be the MVP of that series, the team's first playoff victory. Robbie was the best position player in team history, and he'll probably be the first Hall of Famer to don a Blue Jays cap. If I had to pick right now, Stieb's my guy, but when Robbie's induction weekend rolls around, I might have a change of heart.

Sean Doyle: Good choices both, but I think that the face that will be forever associated with World Series glory will be Joe Carter - his arrival in Toronto put the team over the top and his knack for making series-deciding plays and jumping about with glee make Joe my choice. Before his arrival, Toronto was widely considered to be a team that would choke when the heat was on. While Joe's on-field performances were, by and large, very good as opposed to great, his arrival had an immediate and profound impact. A team which had never won a playoff series before would win four of five with Carter (and Alomar, and a bunch of other guys I know), and while Joe cannot take all the credit for this, his two World Series-ending plays are a lasting image in the minds of Blue Jays fans who remember those years.

Unlike Alomar, Joe's image was and still is squeaky clean in Toronto, and most fans still think of him with a great deal of affection. His combiantion of performance, timing, and charisma earn Joe Carter my vote.

Joel Williams: It's all very well and nice to want to include such virtues as "charisma" and "nice teeth" and "makes you want to hug him", but as for picking an all-time Blue Jay, warm-and-fuzzies don't cut it.

Give me hard-nosed, attitudenally-challenged, loogie-spitting, uniform burning, "kiss my purple butt"-saying stars. Jays like George Bell. Dave Stieb. And, yes, Tony Fernandez.

I like the idea of Stieb's number raised to the roof (or sky) at the dome. It's just that it should be second. His numbers show him to be a good pitcher, and he was THE guy for years in Toronto. And he was something special. But not quite special enough. No, the first number that should be retired should be, of course, the first number.

Tony Fernandez. So smooth. His side-armed throw from shortstop imitated by thousands of kids. ("Look, I'm Fernandez," "No, Fernandez doesn't throw like that, lemme show ya," "No, I can do it better," "No.") He is a Blue Jay. He is THE Blue Jay. I won't continue to argue why here - Chris can do that - but if a man can be a 4-time Jay, he's got my vote. He certainly wants it.

JT: Ok, I agree that Tony's number should be retired but, with apologies, here are a few reasons why he's not Mr. Blue Jay. He never scored more than 91 runs, despite batting at the top of a potent batting order for a contending team for years. He hit for high averages, but those averages account for almost all of his offensive output, since his walk rates were mediocre most years, and while he had decent power for a shortstop, he didn't have a lot of power. Plus, if you're going to be considered a franchise player, you'd better be the best player on that team for at least one season. Here are the top Blue Jays for each full season Fernandez spent with the team:

85: Jesse Barfield
86: Barfield
87: George Bell
88: Fred McGriff
89: McGriff
90: McGriff/Kelly Gruber
98: Carlos Delgado
99: Shawn Green

Carlos Delgado also warrants mention in this discussion, since he's pretty clearly the best hitter in team history, but since he's still writing his legend, we'll save that for his retirement. It's admirable that Tony was able to contribute as long as he did, playing alongside Barfield, Carter AND Green, but his amassing all those franchise records is more a product of longevity than excellence. Pete Rose holds a truckload of records, but I don't think anyone would make the argument that he's history's greatest player.

If you subject Dave Stieb to a similar test, he led Blue Jays starter in ERA 7 times, and led the staff (if not the league) in innings pitched 6 in six of those years. Not only was he the Jays best starter, in many seasons he was arguably the top starter in the American League. Two of those All-Star appearances were starts. He was the only bona fide star on a team seeking an identity, and he remained the team's best player after the Jays became winners. Quite simply, he's Mr. Blue Jay.

CJ:Ah, Jim, you and your infernal statistics. Some things cannot be measured by stats alone. I go back to Joel's second comment about kids emulating Tony's fielding technique--dipping deep into the hole and making an off balance throw bang on to first. Who didn't do that? Who doesn't remember Tony eternally in that position. He was the first player to ever make me excited to watch the Jays on defence. And yeah - to come back three times, and contribute something special and different each time. Stats can't do Tony justice. Bell was a jack-ass, Steib was a jack-ass, and for that matter, his first time around, Tony wasn't exactly a pleasure to interview. But he came back, again and again, and again, and each time back he grew more amiable, more supportive of his fellow Blue Jays, he seemed to enjoy the game more--smiled--did his part, be it big or small. He came home and made good. Mr. Blue Jay. A legend in these parts, to be sure.

SD:The title "Mr. Blue Jay" has an innately warm and fuzzy quality about it. Our candidate should be the guy who has had the greatest influence on the history of the team, who has done more to earn and keep fans than anyone else, and who is still highly regarded by the team and the city. Stieb was the first great pitcher the team ever had, but he spent most of his career in relative obscurity and was not a contributor to the Jay's championships. Fernandez the prodigal son also won a ring with Toronto, but he also spent most of his career off the radar screen. While these two guys are still popular with fans like us, the public as a whole does not remember them nearly as well.

Alomar is undoubtedly the best Jays' position player but history has not been kind to Robbie... Joe Carter has the best combination of talent, timing, and fan appeal to qualify. Maybe not to the stat concious die-hards but to an awful lot of the 4 million plus fans who went to SkyDome in the glory years.

Who's your Mr. Blue Jay? Let us know.