As the World Series begins with the Toronto Blue Jays taking on the L.A. Dodgers and the sport of baseball growing from coast-to-coast-to-coast, a Toronto-area entrepreneur is sharing his love for baseball with Canadians through his new clothing line at J. Birdy.
And with the Jays’ success, Darryl Silverstein, born and raised in Thornhill, has been seeing incredible sales growth for the online retailer with more to come.
“I think that the more that the Blue Jays consistently play at this high level will be good. The months of May and June were really good. July was tremendously good. August was even better. September was even better, and October has just blown it away to the point where we had to reorder our hats, we had to reorder our sweatshirts, we had to reorder our T shirts,” he said.
“We’re putting out a brand new World Series shirt, on sale . . . We have sweatshirts, crewnecks, t-shirts, hats, snapbacks, pullbacks, and socks. In early 2026, we’ll launch a zip-up hoodie—that’s been a popular request. We’ll also have a new collection coming out in 2026 with a fresh look.”
Baseball has been his life since as his childhood love for baseball started with a family trip to Cooperstown, New York (Baseball Hall of Fame). He played baseball throughout his life and in 2024, he was awarded Ontario Baseball Coach of the Year Award and Baseball Canada Coach of the Year Award. A brain cancer survivor, Darryl’s story is about grit, doing hard things the right way, and building something that lasts.
He founded J. Birdy (clothing line) during the pandemic to create what Canada had been missing, a premium, proudly Canadian baseball lifestyle brand made for everyday wear. When thinking about what to name this brand, J. Birdy just stood out. “Birdy just sounded like the scrappy teammate everyone knows.” He then sharpened it with a modern edge and every piece prioritizes top quality fabric and everything is literally Made in Canada.
J. Birdy trademarked “Canada’s Baseball Brand” to tell Canada’s untold baseball stories like Babe Ruth’s first professional home run in Toronto to Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente starting their careers in Montreal.
Now when you get a bag in the mail the jersey number is #38, a reminder to Canadians that baseball didn’t start in Cooperstown in 1839 like he was told as a kid. It is to pay homage to Beachville, Ontario where the first recorded game happened in 1838.
“I’ve been in baseball my entire life, but what I noticed as a fan was that we never had a baseball brand of our own. When we’d buy merchandise, it just felt like it came in a box or a bag—no love toward it. I felt there was a gap in the Canadian market for something cool that could start small but grow,” he explained.
“We wanted to tell stories—because there are a lot of stories about baseball in Canada—and do that through our merchandise. We’ve been able to do that successfully, especially on Instagram. With the Blue Jays doing so well, that’s helped tremendously. We were popular last year, but it’s really taken off over the last couple of months.
“We were looking for cool names—that was our hook. In baseball, if you’ve ever had dirt on your cleats, there’s always someone on your team like a Jaybird or a Birdy—someone who wants to be the bullpen catcher, the utility player, the outfielder—just that Charlie Hustle-type guy. We stumbled on it because I played with a bunch of guys we called Jaybirds. We were thinking about what animal to use for a baseball logo. During COVID, we were brainstorming: “What does it look like?”
“In baseball, most team mascots are birds—Cardinals, Orioles, Blue Jays—so that made sense. “Bird” made sense. Then “J. Birdy” just sounded clever. One thing I always talked about with my dad, who got me into baseball, was “the journey.” It’s a big word for us. Even if you’re a professional, or white-collar, or blue-collar, everyone has a journey—everyone has a story. I like to say the “J” stands for “journey”—not just for J. Birdy, but also for athletes who are starting T-ball today and might someday earn a scholarship, coach their own kids, or go further. That’s where the name came from.”
Alberta and B.C. actually split about 50/50 with Ontario in terms of sales with some business in the East, and it’s even shipped to the U.S., Ireland, England, and Japan.
As the Blue Jays’ incredible season continues, new data from technology company Square reveals the “Blue Jays Effect” is delivering a game-changing boost to Toronto retailers in 2025:
- Blue Jays merchandise sales soared 15% in August and 16% in September 2025, year-over-year.
- Fans are buying nearly two Blue Jays items per order at stores selling Blue Jays merchandise, highlighting surging demand this historic season.
“This has been a winning season not only for the team, but for Toronto businesses too,” said Karisa Marra, Head of Sales at Square Canada.
“Our data shows the team isn’t just wowing their fans, but they’re also inspiring them to shop at local businesses. By embracing things like game-day promotions and Blue Jays-themed offerings, and by leveraging real-time data tools to optimize staffing and inventory on peak days, Toronto sellers can harness fan excitement and maximize revenue.”
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