Two weeks ago I read an article in this very paper entitled “Screw the Blue Jays.” I just moved to Burnaby six weeks ago from Whitby, Ontario, and am extremely disappointed that I am missing what is most assuredly an incredible atmosphere back home.
My love affair with the Blue Jays goes back to the late 1980s, when my dad would take me to Exhibition Stadium. We used to get $2 seats in the right field bench area and then sneak down behind home plate, or sit in the outfield for $4. I remember the agony of the 1987 season when the Jays lost seven straight games, including a painful 1–0 defeat on the final game of the season to blow a 3.5 game lead in the division and miss the playoffs.
My fondest Jays memory as a kid was attending the final game at Exhibition Stadium. This was a thriller that saw former MVP George Bell hit a walk off home run in the 11th inning to close the stadium.
The Skydome was an incredible novelty during its first years in operation. It was such a surreal experience when the roof would open or close during a live game. The World Series years were incredible. I watched every game during both playoff runs and ran around the room when Otis Nixon grounded out in 1992, and Carter “touched ‘em all” in 1993. In 1993, I also attended the victory parade. As I matured, I went to fewer games, but still had a soft spot for my boyhood team.
After I moved back to the Greater Toronto Area nine years ago, I started going to games again despite the team’s relative lack of success. It was so much fun to ride the train downtown, go to the game and then party on Front Street. My last game before moving out west was ironically against Kansas City just after the Price and Tulowitzki trades.
Once again, the Dome was electric, just as it had been in my youth. My buddy Travis and I painted our chests and made several signs to welcome Kansas City Royals First Base Coach Rusty Kuntz. We are not Kansas City fans by any means, but we were paying homage to the man with the most awesome name in sports.
Around campus I had seen some Jays gear, but not too many people were talking about the team. Last week, though, I went to the Highland Pub to catch the deciding game between Texas and Toronto. The entire bar was packed with Jays fans yelling and screaming with every twist and turn of the game. The Bautista bat flip home run brought the house down!
If the Jays do go on to win the World Series, this may become one of the great moments in Canadian sports history. I felt the warmth of home that day at the pub. To see so many passionate Jays fans this far from home was a great demonstration of Canadian unity and pride. It showed that the Blue Jays truly are Canada’s team.
