There was a lot of optimism going into the Toronto Blue Jays home opener in 2012.

They started the season 2-1 with a series win in Cleveland. Jose Bautista was an established star. Catcher J.P. Arencibia was coming off a tremendous rookie season that gave fans hope he would be their long-term solution behind the plate. And hey, they were rolling out the new uniforms.

Playing in front of the home fans for the first time that year, things looked good heading into the ninth inning with the Jays leading the Boston Red Sox 2-1. Newly acquired closer Sergio Santos was in trying to get his first save with the team. But things didn’t go the way he hoped.

A double from Dustin Pedroia got things started and the Red Sox went on to score three that inning, taking the home opener from the Blue Jays 4-2. It was the start of an ugly streak.

The Jays have dropped seven straight home openers, by far the longest streak in baseball, as the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox are tied for the next longest skid with four.

If they keep up their losing ways in front of the home fans, they'll have some unfortunate company.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Jays are one loss away from joining the 1963-1970 Washington Senators and 1994-2001 Pittsburgh Pirates for the third-most all-time with eight straight losses in their home opener. Only the 2005-2014 Oakland Athletics and the 1903-1913 Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers (yes, the Superbas) have lost more.

Any time you’re in a category of losing compared to teams from more than 100 years ago, it’s probably not a good sign.
 

Worst Home Opener Losing Skids

Team Range Losing streak
Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers* 1903-1913 11
Oakland Athletics 2005-2014 10
Pittsburgh Pirates 1994-2001 8
Washington Senators** 1963-1970 8
Cincinnati Reds 1933-1939 7
Toronto Blue Jays 2012-2018 7

*Now the Los Angeles Dodgers

**Now the Texas Rangers

The losses haven’t exactly been close, either.

During the skid, Toronto has been outscored 33-18. Their most lopsided loss came last year when they fell to the New York Yankees 6-1 behind two home runs from Giancarlo Stanton in his Yankees debut. Just once has the offence managed to score more than three runs (2016, 8-7 loss to Boston).

Against the Detroit Tigers – who they’ll host today – the results have been mixed. They’ve faced their former division foes six times to open the season, going 3-3. They last opened the season against the Tigers in 2009, coming out with a 12-5 win at home. The first time the teams opened the season against one another was all the way back in 1978, with Detroit coming out on top 6-2 at Tiger Stadium.

Thursday marks the 17th time the Jays have opened the season in Toronto. Prior to last year’s loss to the Yankees, the last time the home and season opener intersected was a 4-1 loss to the Indians in 2013.

No, none of this has any impact whatsoever on the 2019 Blue Jays, but a win for the home fans wouldn’t hurt either.

Toronto will send right-hander Marcus Stroman to the hill against veteran Jordan Zimmerman to get the season started.