Plucked from the Cleveland Indians in the 1983 Rule 5 Draft, Third Baseman Kelly Gruber would work his way up the ranks to become a starter in 1987.

Beloved by the women of Toronto, Gruber had his breakout in 1988, with his first 150-Hit year, with 16 Home Runs and a .278 Batting Average.  He slightly improved his stats in 1989 (18 HR,.290) and was named to the AL All-Star Team.  This bled into Gruber's best year, where he had career-highs in Home Runs (31), RBIs (118), and OPS (.842), and was named a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner, as well as adding a second All-Star.  Gruber was fourth in MVP voting, and it appeared that he would get even better, but that was not the case.

Gruber began to deal with injuries afterward and was unable to build on his best year.  He was still the starting Third Baseman on Toronto's 1992 World Series Championship Team, but that would be his swansong as a Blue Jay, with the club trading him to the Angels after the season.

Gruber had an even 800 Hits with the Jays, 114 as Home Runs.