Jays increasingly optimistic about a return to Toronto
TORONTO — The idea of a cold beer, a warm summer night and an open roof at the Rogers Centre has felt so foreign for so long that it hardly seems like a real possibility.
But with declining COVID19 numbers and more Canadians becoming vaccinated for the virus, the Blue Jays are increasingly optimistic of a return to Toronto well before the end of summer.
“The momentum is really very positive,” Anuk Karunaratne, the Jays executive vice-president of business operations told Postmedia News in an interview. “The border opening (with limitations, starting on July 5) is positive. The way all the provinces are thinking about playing professional sport and allowing fans is positive.
“Hopefully we get over the hump.”
While the Jays can’t plan for specifics until all of the logistics are worked out and government clearances granted, two key dates are in focus for a long-awaited return to downtown Toronto — on July 30 and Aug. 20, logical spots on the schedule that begin extended homestands.
The fact that there were 3,500 fans at the Bell Centre for the Montreal Canadiens’ big win on Thursday night is a factor that builds the Jays’ case and CFL teams across the country are planning to play in front of fans, as well.
And the hope internally is that when the Jays return to the Rogers Centre, Vlad Guerrero Jr., George Springer and the rest of the team will play in front of some 10,000 fans a game, or 25 per cent of the stadium’s capacity.
“We haven’t heard anything official, but what I’m hearing is probably something in that range,” Karunaratne said. “(The government) may look at outdoor and indoor venues differently and the question going to be: What is the Rogers Centre? But those details will get worked through.
“I think once we are in Step 3 in Ontario, there’s going to be a meaningful number of fans there, which would be great.
“It would be the best environment we’ve had for sure.”
Ontario moves into Step 2 of its re-opening plan this week. There is no date set for Step 3, but that phase will allow for large indoor and outdoor gatherings, including what the government calls “organized public events.”
Under the leadership of team president Mark Shapiro, the Jays have been cautious in their optimism and will remain so. But developments in the province in recent weeks have heightened enthusiasm within the club, which has now won seven of its past eight games and would like nothing more than to be playing meaningful September baseball in front of its true home crowd.
Given that it will take at least a couple of weeks to mobilize from Buffalo to Toronto, contingency planning is necessary and well under way.
Shapiro has repeatedly said the sooner the better, in part because there is some concern that if the Jays weren’t cleared to play in Canada by Aug. 20 there might not be a point in moving from Buffalo.
“If you go beyond that, it starts to get a little less certain as to whether you’re going to be able to convince everyone to move, players in particular,” Karunaratne said. “And if we’re in a competitive position at that point and we’re playing well in Buffalo, do we want to be disruptive and move the team?
“There’s going to be a lot of factors that come into it if we go beyond late August and into September. It’s not going to be a unilateral decision. If it was a unilateral decision, we’d come back as soon as we were able to.”
For now, the Jays are selling tickets through the July 21 date against the Boston Red Sox to end a five-game homestand in Buffalo. With a gap of eight days until a July 30 home date against the Kansas City Royals, it would give Jays staff enough time to transition to downtown Toronto.
Under the leadership of another executive VP, Marnie Starkman, the Jays have made the best of an extremely challenging situation over the past 12 months.