a blue jays memorial patch for three franchise favorites

in 2005, the blue jays wore a memorial patch to honor former scout and manager bobby mattick, former pitcher and broadcaster john cerutti, and former player doug ault.  the patch is seen on the right sleeve of alex rios' jersey on his 2006 upper deck card

the patch featured their initials and the text 'teammates forever'.  here is a better look at the patch

mattick had been with the blue jays since the beginning, helping to scout and draft players for the team's inaugural season (he had been a big league scout since 1946) as the scouting supervisor and later the director of player development.  he took over as manager in 1980 and served in that role for two seasons before returning to the front office where he continued to help with scouting and played a big role in assembling the team that won world series titles in 1992 and 1993.  he passed away in december of 2004 at the age of 89.

doug ault was the blue jays first first baseman.  on opening day 1977, he was 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and 4 rbi as the blue jays won their inaugural game.  he finished the season with only 11 home runs and was relegated to back up status in 1978, but that opening day performance sealed his status as a team icon.  plus, his 1978 topps card is one of the best in the set.  after his playing career ended in 1980, ault managed in the blue jays' minor league system for a while and was named the 1985 international league manager of the year.  ault died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in december of 2004 at the age of 54.

john cerutti pitched for the blue jays from 1985 through 1990.  he was the team's first round draft pick in 1981, and became the first pitcher to win a game in the skydome on june 7, 1989.  overall, he posted a record of 46-37 for the blue jays over his six seasons with the club.  following a one year dalliance with the tigers in 1991, cerutti retired and went into broadcasting.  he worked as a blue jays broadcaster from 1997 until his death in 2004.  cerutti passed away from natural causes on the last day of the 2004 season.  he was just 44 years old.