{"id":189220,"date":"2025-10-04T09:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T09:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/189220\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T09:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T09:30:08","slug":"how-ok-blue-jays-became-the-team-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/189220\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘OK Blue Jays’ became the team anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Blue Jays get set to take on the Yankees in the ALDS, John Vennavally-Rao catches up with the writers of the Blue Jays iconic song, \u2018OK Blue Jays.\u2019 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a staple of the seventh-inning stretch at Rogers Centre. Before the crowd sings \u201cTake Me Out to the Ballgame,\u201d they stand and belt out \u201cOK Blue Jays,\u201d which has been the team\u2019s unofficial anthem for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n

But when co-writer Jack Lenz penned the tune in 1982, he never imagined it would endure.<\/p>\n

It was just another gig, this time writing a commercial for a five-year-old baseball team that wasn\u2019t particularly good.<\/p>\n

Lenz and his partner, singer-songwriter Tony Kosinec, were approached by an advertising agency working with the Blue Jays to create a tune for a short video promo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018We\u2019d like it to be singable,\u2019\u201d Lenz recalled.<\/p>\n

The surprising twist? Neither he nor Kosinec were baseball fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never been to a major league baseball game,\u201d said Lenz, adding his partner also had no experience with baseball. \u201cNeither of us were qualified to write that song,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jack Lenz OK Blue Jays Co-writer Jack Lenz still has the original handwritten song sheet for ‘OK Blue Jays’ from 1982. (CTV News) They\u2019re just \u2018OK\u2019<\/p>\n

Lenz says Blue Jays executive Paul Beeston met with the duo and told them to keep expectations modest. The expansion team lost more games than they won.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t want us to promise too much. So, we could say they were \u2018OK.\u2019 Those were the exact words,\u201d said Lenz. \u201cBut fortunately, OK rhymed with Blue Jays.\u201d<\/p>\n

They crafted the initial 30-second jingle in an afternoon. The response was so positive they were asked to expand it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got this idea that we would tell the story of what it was like to go to a game,\u201d said Lenz.<\/p>\n

The lyrics catalogued the baseball experience and started with the lyrics: <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a diamond, you\u2019ve got nine men.\u201d The chorus was simply: \u201cOK Blue Jays, let\u2019s play ball!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike anybody, probably down to three years old, could sing it, right?\u201d said Lenz.<\/p>\n

When told the song would be used at the seventh-inning stretch, Lenz thought \u201cit might last a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gold record status<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s now been 43 years since it was first written. The song was also released as a record that sold more than 50,000 copies, reaching gold status. It was recorded at Eastern Sound, a now-demolished Yorkville studio, by musicians dubbed The Bat Boys.<\/p>\n

\"\"Keith Hampshire OK Blue Jays \u2018OK Blue Jays\u2019 lead vocalist Keith Hampshire poses with his gold record. (CTV News) <\/p>\n

Keith Hampshire sang lead vocals. The established musician had scored a No. 1 Canadian hit in 1973 with his version of \u201cThe First Cut Is the Deepest,\u201d and did extensive commercial work.<\/p>\n

When he first heard the song, he says it reminded him of Randy Newman\u2019s style, so he gave his vocals that flavour.<\/p>\n

Hampshire says almost no one knows it\u2019s his voice on the recording.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go to the ballgames now with my grandson, and when he was little he would say, \u2018Is that you, Poppa?\u2019 And I would say, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s me, son,\u2019\u201d Hampshire shared. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great song and I\u2019m glad it\u2019s living on.\u201d<\/p>\n

A longtime Jays fan, Hampshire is looking forward to the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if everyone performs to their capabilities, and luck is with us, we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lenz says he also became a fan, with supporters now hoping the team is more than just OK in the games ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Blue Jays get set to take on the Yankees in the ALDS, John Vennavally-Rao catches up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[712,49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-189220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}