Baseball in Canada

[James Bond Agent 007]

Maybe the Jays should play 1 or 2 homestands a year in Vancouver. If there's a good park for it.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Blitz

It's not that much of a fantasy. The Detroit Tigers do all kinds of things for their "foreign" fans...they hold special nights at the ballpark, give away t-shirts with "Canadian Tigers Fan" written on them, help fund local baseball groups, players visit kids in Windsor hospitals, etc.

Detroit is a border town though and actually draws Canadians across the border as Tigers supporters. Seattle is a border town the same way Toronto is a border town. I don't actually recall if the Tigers did anything in Windsor as part of their World Series championship in 1984, although I also don't think MLB does any kind of Stanley Cup type of thing where the players take the trophy for a day.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Maybe the Jays should play 1 or 2 homestands a year in Vancouver. If there's a good park for it.

BC Place hosted exhibition games back in the early 90's but I have read it isn't able to be converted to baseball since the renovations. And that even when it could be, it was a rather lacklustre conversion. There is no way, even if they could still put a baseball field in there, that the Jays would ever consider regular season games there.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

BC Place hosted exhibition games back in the early 90's but I have read it isn't able to be converted to baseball since the renovations. And that even when it could be, it was a rather lacklustre conversion. There is no way, even if they could still put a baseball field in there, that the Jays would ever consider regular season games there.

Maybe, as a very Vancouver-eque thing, they could do this: In one of the ski mountains north of the city, carve out an area at the base of a mountain slope that satisfies the dimensions of an MLB field. Then create a field on it. Then fans would sit down on the slopes surrounding field, like in an amphitheater.

IOW, something like this. Carve out a baseball diamond in that area beyond the Olympic rings, and then fans would line the hills of the ski slopes beyond it.

I bet it would be really popular!

[harls]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

BC Place hosted exhibition games back in the early 90's but I have read it isn't able to be converted to baseball since the renovations. And that even when it could be, it was a rather lacklustre conversion. There is no way, even if they could still put a baseball field in there, that the Jays would ever consider regular season games there.

I remember seeing an exhibition game at Winnipeg Stadium around that time. Think they also played at Taylor Field in Regina too. It was weird to see a ball game at a CFL stadium.

[Djeffery]

There certainly is precedence in MLB for out of the ordinary settings for a game. Thinking of this season's games at Bristol Motor Speedway or prior years at the Field Of Dreams. This is the Blue Jays though. MLB isn't going to make a made for TV event for the Jays.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Who says it would have to be a made-for-TV event? It would just be a fun, quirky setting for a few MLB games.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Who says it would have to be a made-for-TV event? It would just be a fun, quirky setting for a few MLB games.

Because of money.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Well if you want to take that POV I'd say it would be a spectacularly successful TV event because it would be really cool watching an MLB game being played in a mountain setting.

Frankly I think it would be such a cool idea they'd get way more people going to those games than they do in a sold-out Rogers Centre game.

[Djeffery]

You'd be spending millions to make a baseball field out of that area you describe and you seriously overestimate the number of fans you can have just sitting on the hill around it or how much they would pay to attend something like this. The TV networks in the US will have zero interest because it's Canada (you only have to look at how many NHL Winter Classics have been in Canada, zero, to see what interest they have in sports in Canada), and the Blue Jays already get high ratings on Sportsnet, Rogers isn't paying more for something like this.

[Coldrsx]

Great win and demonstrative game by some of the big guys and bottom of the order.

Here's hoping that home field advantage now returns.

GO JAYS GO!

[ericmacm]

Watching these past two games in Seattle, it has been crazy to see so many Jays fans show up. I know that the Jays fans almost always come out when the team plays in Seattle, but it’s been wild to witness it in the Postseason too.

I think there needs to be serious discussion about putting a team in Vancouver in the future. There is little question anymore about whether or not the fan support in BC exists. The key issue is obviously cost of a team (MLB teams are expensive), cost of a stadium (a purpose-built stadium in a land-constrained city like Vancouver might be more challenging there compared to elsewhere), prospective ownership, and stripping Rogers of the “Canada’s Team” accolade.

Additionally, as an aside, I was reading that ALCS Game 1 had 4.71M Canadian viewers (over 10% of the country) which is absolutely crazy.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

You'd be spending millions to make a baseball field out of that area you describe and you seriously overestimate the number of fans you can have just sitting on the hill around it or how much they would pay to attend something like this. The TV networks in the US will have zero interest because it's Canada (you only have to look at how many NHL Winter Classics have been in Canada, zero, to see what interest they have in sports in Canada), and the Blue Jays already get high ratings on Sportsnet, Rogers isn't paying more for something like this.

On the contrary, I think people would be happy to pay a lot for an experience like that. It would be totally cool to watch a baseball game in a mountain setting like that.

Why do you think it would have to be viewed in the US? It would be regular Blue Jays games, viewed on the usual Canadian outlets.

You'd be spending millions to make a baseball field

Which is a helluva lot cheaper than building a whole new stadium.

Again, this would be a regular thing for the Jays. They would play 1 or 2 homestands there. That's maybe 8-20 games. If they can get at least 30K at each game that would generate plenty of revenue.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Max Scherzer has a blue eye, and a brown eye.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Judging by the reactions when the Blue Jays score in today's game, it seems like almost 1/4 or so of the fans in T-Mobile Park are Blue Jays fans.

I think when I had seen the Mariners play the Blue Jays in the past I always noticed lots of Blue Jays fans at the games.

I think aside from Detroit, Jays fans might best like having the chance to play the Mariners in the ALCS since Vancouver is so close to Seattle.

I think there might actually be more Jays fans at going down to Seattle from Vancouver, than Jays fans going down to Detroit, since Seattle is significantly closer to Vancouver than Detroit is to Toronto.

Most of the fans from Windsor going up to Detroit are Tigers fans not Jays fans. Plus, MLB baseball is a lot more special to people in Vancouver without a team, than to people in the GTA, many of whom make it to multiple games a year at SkyDome and probably never even think about going down to Detroit to see the Jays.

Still, it's too bad we didn't see Detroit vs Toronto happen, as it would have been very interesting to see the national media cover the two fanbases of Canadians cheering for different teams.


edit: I think it's a great idea for the Jays to play some actual regular season home games at other ballparks, stadiums, or unique locations across Canada, or and agree it would be a good thing for TV ratings. I think it's an especially good idea for next season if there's a reason for celebration

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Now it's a series.

I think the Mariners might have depleted batteries winning the first two games, and maybe the Jays were a bit rusty from rest going up against a team that just had just won an epic 15 inning victory.



I'm very superstitious when it comes to sports, especially baseball. I think it's a good omen that both the Dodgers (1987) and Jays (1993, 1993) won World Series titles under the the classic late 80's-90's World Series logo, which is the inspiration for the 2025 iteration.



The 90's World Series logo was essentially perfect, and the MLB should have never moved on from that design. Good to see it (sort of) back this year!


Go Jays Go!

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

I think there might actually be more Jays fans at going down to Seattle from Vancouver, than Jays fans going down to Detroit, since Seattle is significantly closer to Vancouver than Detroit is to Toronto.

I think you significantly underestimate the Vancouver level of population in Ontario to the west of Toronto that would, and does, easily travel to Detroit. During the season, sure you get a lot more Jays fans traveling to Seattle than to a series in Detroit, but it's an event for western fans, it's day to day back here. But the playoffs are a different story. And sure, Van-Sea might be half the distance of Tor-Det, but let's be honest, that still isn't an onerous distance.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

BC Place hosted exhibition games back in the early 90's but I have read it isn't able to be converted to baseball since the renovations. And that even when it could be, it was a rather lacklustre conversion. There is no way, even if they could still put a baseball field in there, that the Jays would ever consider regular season games there.

I attended the exhibition series at BC Place in 1994. It was the Jays, Mariners, Expos and Rockies (IIRC). The Jays and Expos played on April 1st and there was over 40K in attendance. Both teams were popular as the Jays were defending WS champs and the Expos had local product Larry Walker.

BC Place back then as a baseball venue was horrible. Dreary dome atmosphere, seats did not properly align for a baseball diamond and the turf was awful. M's manager Lou Piniella hated his team playing games at BC Place with its substandard turf; which resulted in an injury to Edgar Martinez - torn hamstring.

There was talk at the time about the M's playing some home games in Vancouver. The unsuitability of BC Place likely killed that chatter.

Could today's Vancouver support a MLB team today? Perhaps. The market has matured and grown since 1994. The big questions are stadium location and ownership. Having the NBA return would likely be a more realistic option.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

On the contrary, I think people would be happy to pay a lot for an experience like that. It would be totally cool to watch a baseball game in a mountain setting like that.

Why do you think it would have to be viewed in the US? It would be regular Blue Jays games, viewed on the usual Canadian outlets.


Which is a helluva lot cheaper than building a whole new stadium.

Again, this would be a regular thing for the Jays. They would play 1 or 2 homestands there. That's maybe 8-20 games. If they can get at least 30K at each game that would generate plenty of revenue.

I'm not sure why a suburb of Vancouver would want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to blast a hole in the side of a mountain for a stadium that's difficult to get to and would give them no benefits.

Vancouver's large stadiums are right downtown and next to rapid transit for a reason. Building a large stadium in a suburb that's already got terrible traffic problems is a terrible idea.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

I'm not sure why a suburb of Vancouver would want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to blast a hole in the side of a mountain for a stadium that's difficult to get to and would give them no benefits.

Vancouver's large stadiums are right downtown and next to rapid transit for a reason. Building a large stadium in a suburb that's already got terrible traffic problems is a terrible idea.

I think his idea is to build a baseball diamond, not an entire stadium. There would be no seats - people would sit on the slopes. The idea is still silly, but weirder things have happened.