TORONTO — In the relative scope of baseball franchises, the Toronto Blue Jays are quite young. At 50 years old, they don’t have centuries of success or double-digit rings to tout. But the Jays still have a history.Celebrating history is something older organizations like the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs do best. With cathedral ballparks and longstanding monuments, those storied teams are synonymous with the sport. Every fan that attends a game at Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field is reminded they’re in the building of a blueblood. They are, at least for a few hours, where history happens.“You go to Monument Park at Yankee Stadium,” Jays manager John Schneider said of the way MLB legacy franchises commemorate their pasts. “It’s here, it’s displayed for people to see, for people to learn more.”In the last decade, the Jays have attempted to compete with those top-tier clubs. They’re spending like one, they’re pumping money into renovations and technology like one, and in 2025, they played like one. Now, with the opening of a Hall of Excellence and the induction of franchise figure Buck Martinez on Saturday, the Jays are honouring history like one, too.“It’s a really good way to remind people of the history of the organization,” Schneider said. “It’s cool to see names or numbers up in the stadium, but you can’t really feel them or touch them.”While the Yankees and Cubs have a decades-long head start, Toronto still has moments and icons: José Bautista’s homer, Dave Stieb’s quiet dominance, Martinez’s voice and more. For a while, they were immortalised only in memory and, for 30 years, with a few white letters on the 300 level of Toronto’s home park.