Former Toronto Blue Jays infielder Lyle Overbay had some interesting things to say about his time with the team, and what could’ve been in some of their best seasons.

Joining Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy and Julia Kreuz on Wednesday’s episode of Jays Talk+,  Overbay spoke about his highs and lows with the franchise across five seasons in the mid-2000s.

Overbay had a batting average of .268 with 672 hits, 83 homers, 336 RBIs, and 337 runs scored in 723 games for the Blue Jays in his career, playing for the team from 2006 to 2010.

“I always know when there’s a lot of Canadians in the stands because they’re involved… You don’t get that very often everywhere else.” 🇨🇦

Former #BlueJays infielder Lyle Overbay chats with @BlakeMurphyODC & @juliackreuz about Toronto’s unique crowd atmosphere.#LightsUpLetsGo pic.twitter.com/wDBKErXD9P


— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) September 10, 2025

Though he spent 14 years in the majors for six teams, he played more games as a Blue Jay than for any other franchise, and he ranks 28th on the team in all-time games played.

While Overbay was with the Jays, the team was above .500 in four of his five seasons, good enough for 7th in the American League with 416 wins, and 11th in all of baseball across that timespan. They picked up between 83 and 87 wins on four different occasions, having a down year of just 75 wins in 2009.

One thing he never saw was a playoff berth, with the Jays missing the postseason from 1994-2014 before finally making it back in 2015.

“I always say if we, if we get in the playoffs, we would’ve, we would’ve walked right through the World Series ’cause we had the two best pitchers,” Overbay said, referencing former All-Stars Roy Halladay and AJ Burnett. “You look at the 2001 Diamondbacks that just needed two pitchers and a couple, you know, middle relievers, and they won the World Series. So I think we would’ve walked right through it. It’s just a matter of getting there.”

Ten different teams in the American League made the playoffs in that time span, including all six who finished above the Blue Jays. From 2007 to 2009, each of the Jays’ divisional opponents in the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Yankees, all made the World Series, with the Red Sox and Yankees both winning titles in their appearances.

“If we play in the AL Central, we walk right through that. We killed the AL Central,” Overbay said.

Four of the five teams from that division had losing records against Toronto in Overbay’s five seasons: the Detroit Tigers (.459), Kansas City Royals (.441), Chicago White Sox (.333), and Minnesota Twins (.300). It should be noted that AL Central staple Cleveland at .649 actually had the best record of any team against Toronto over that timeframe, though they themselves only made the playoffs once over those five years.

“The sucky part is we had to obviously compete with the Yankees and the Red Sox, but then the Tampa Bay Rays, and I feel like that’s where we struggled,” Overbay said. “It didn’t matter what team, I mean, they could have 50 wins and we still would struggle against those guys.”

The Jays, on the other hand, had losing records against the Rays (.444), Yankees (.456), and Red Sox (.473) over those five years as well.

While Overbay’s Jays never got the chance to see postseason success, maybe this year’s Jays might have a shot to bring some glory back to Toronto.

Lead photo by

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images