Blue Jays doing their best to make Buffalo ballpark feel ‘like a home’
It’s show time at Sahlen Field on Tuesday as Toronto hosts Miami in ‘home’ opener
Charlie Montoyo has fond memories of Sahlen Field, the terrific, old-school ballpark in this city’s downtown that’s about to be the Toronto Blue Jays’ home away from home.
In 1991, while playing for the Denver Zephyrs, he hit his first triple A home run in an American Association playoff game against the Bisons. Later as a manager with the Durham Bulls, he made several stops in the city on his way to becoming among the most successful skippers in minor league history.
It will be difficult to top the moment when the Jays manager walked into the renovated clubhouse here for the first time and was blown away by what he saw in his temporary office.
On his desk were pictures of his sons and not far were the travelling conga drums he likes to have with him to unwind with his salsa music. The attention to detail by the Jays team in charge of renovating the park was touching.
And then when Montoyo wandered out on the field where several sections are jammed with cardboard cut-outs of fans, he saw in the front row his boys, Alex and Tyson.
“We’ve been on the road so much and I was just hoping this place looks nice,” Montoyo said Monday while relaxing as much as possible on a rare off-day for his struggling team. “The Blue Jays did an outstanding job — from (team president) Mark Shapiro (to GM) Ross Atkins and (VP of marketing and business operations) Marnie Starkman. They made this place like a home. I’m proud to be working for people like that.”
It has been a rough ride for the Jays, who took advantage of the brief break to exhale, unpack and check out their new digs. They’ll get back to work when the Miami Marlins are in town for games Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a weekend three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
With a 5-8 record, the Jays have had solid pitching but icecold bats that Montoyo hopes will heat up to a park familiar to many in his lineup who played triple A ball here. By any measure, it has been an ordeal playing their first 13 games on the road, plus having an idle weekend in Philadelphia in the middle of it.
The preference all along from Jays management and players was to find a way to share an
MLB stadium with another team, but after plans in Baltimore and Pittsburgh — both of which were moving into the design phase — fell through, it was on to Buffalo.
And they’re here now. On Monday, players spent time wandering over to the stadium in the afternoon and those we spoke to without attribution were impressed with the upgrades. Several planned to visit Monday evening to get a feel for the new lighting, one of the major upgrades required to get the stadium up to MLB standards.
For the most part, though, the improvements were barely recognizable to some as the Jays, in consultation with the Bisons and Major League Baseball, spent two hectic weeks getting Sahlen Field as close to big league standards as possible.
Four full transport trucks made the way from Toronto bringing clubhouse furniture, weight room gear and more. The lighting was upgraded to major league standards, the infield grass was replaced, a massive tent was constructed as the visitors clubhouse while the home clubhouse was expanded and enhanced.
“We brought a lot from home and that was on purpose,” said Starkman, one of the leaders of the transformation team. “One of the objectives we got from Ross and Charlie was to make this feel as home as close as you can.
“We packed up our entire weight room. All of the clubhouse chairs from home. From a branding standpoint, anything we owned, that was packed up.”
The overhaul has not gone unnoticed and will surely be appreciated by a group that largely has become accustomed to and comfortable with the accoutrements of The Show.
Because of the shortened season, players will be residing in a nearby hotel rather than renting more permanent accommodation, but at least they will feel at home.
“It’s really, really comfortable, far more than any of us remember it being when we were down here in the minors,” one Jays player said via text. “There isn’t a perfect situation in any stadium this year with all the protocols we are dealing with and rightfully so. But this is going to work and the more we get used to it, the more we are going to like it.”
And reliever Jordan Romano, who was with the Bisons for much of last season, said the new-look stadium was “unrecognizable” compared to a year ago.
So how will the stadium play over the 29 games scheduled here? The layout itself is similar to the Rogers Centre with a carry of 325 feet to the foul poles and 404 feet to centre field. Weather conditions can be the great variable, but the early sense is that it might favour pitchers over hitters.
“When I was there, it always depended on the wind,” Montoyo said. “It always seemed like it played big. That’s what I remember.”
And before long, he hopes it will have most of the comforts of a regular baseball residence.
“I think after a couple of games it’s going to feel like home,” Montoyo said before leaving his hotel to get the lay of the land for his daily run. “Right now it is still like a visiting ballpark, but after all these guys have been through, that’s going to change.”