Why Toronto Blue Jays are in MLB and always linked to the Mariners (and Seattle Pilots) originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Toronto Blue Jays will always have some link to baseball in Seattle, both the former Pilots and the current Mariners.

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It’s just one cool subplot of history as the Blue Jays topped the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the ALCS to advance to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Without the Mariners, there might not be the Blue Jays. And now Toronto is in the World Series for the first time since 1993.

MORE: Why Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers and not the Blue Jays

Why are the Blue Jays in MLB?

Despite being in Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays are one of 30 teams in Major League Baseball, with the other 29 in the contiguous United States.

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Ironically, the Blue Jays joined MLB at the same time as the Mariners.

The American League had a two-team expansion in 1977, and the Blue Jays and Mariners were the new teams.

In 1970, the Seattle Pilots had relocated to Milwaukee to become the Brewers after just one season in the Pacific Northwest.

The local government in Seattle, Washington filed a lawsuit against MLB for a breach of contract in the Pilots’ departure.

The AL didn’t want to just expand by one team, because that would’ve created an odd number. So they also invited Toronto in as an expansion city, with the fee costing $7 million.

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At the time, it wasn’t particularly popular in parts of the United States. President Gerald Ford wanted a franchise back in the nation’s capital after the Senators had moved to Texas after 1972.

That didn’t come to fruition, though, and the Blue Jays began play in 1977.

MORE: Blue Jays have 3 players who are sons of former MLB stars

Why is Toronto called the Blue Jays?

The new team in Toronto held a “name the team” contest that got more than 4,000 suggestions.

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The Toronto team wanted blue in its color scheme, like the other pro teams in the city, and it fell in line with other MLB teams like the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals by using a bird mascot.

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