OK, flat Jays, let’s play ball!
Blue Jays find all the cardboard trappings of home at Sahlen Field
Jays greats Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Moseby and George Bell have the best seats in the house as part of a cardboard crowd at Toronto’s first “home game” this year — in Buffalo. Toronto beat Miami 5-4 in the 10th.
She is among the Blue Jays’ most recognizable fans, a picture of stoicism behind home plate at the Rogers Centre, so unflappable she is viral-video worthy.
Try as they might, the Jays won’t make Home Plate Lady flinch again this season.
An image of the longtime season-ticket holder — as familiar at home games as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette — was one of 1,600 cardboard cutouts perched in nine sections at Buffalo’s Sahlen Field on Tuesday when the Jays hosted the Miami Marlins, their first game in their temporary home, winning 5-4 in 10 innings. The Jays were denied permission to host games at the Rogers Centre two weeks ago by Canadian public health officials concerned about cross-border coronavirus spread.
Home Plate Lady was in good company in Buffalo. Rush frontman Geddy Lee, who has been known to bring a scorecard to his regular perch behind the plate, was also present in cardboard form. So were a trio of former Jays outfielders: George Bell, Jesse Barfield and Lloyd Moseby, seated together in baby blue uniforms.
Other faces in the crowd: Jays mascot Ace, triple-A mascot Buster T. Bison, Buffalo Bisons owners Robert and Mindy Rich and about a dozen Sportsnet broadcasters. More familiar images are expected for the following homestand in the last week of August.
Some of the cut-outs will only be familiar to Jays players and staff. Guerrero, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Matt Shoemaker, Teoscar Hernandez, Anthony Bass, Ken Giles, manager Charlie Montoyo and others will have family members represented in the stands.
When the team checked out the ballpark Monday night, Guerrero was reunited with his two daughters and Hernandez, his infant son, while Montoyo was able to see his boys, Alex and Tyson, all in cardboard cutout form. While they can’t replicate all the elements of a live crowd, former Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero says the twodimensional versions will bring players some joy in a difficult season.
“I know, for me, if I was playing and I saw both my boys there, knowing that I can’t be with them personally because of everything that’s going on, it would literally brighten my day and bring a smile to my face,” Romero said.
That’s what he and wife Kara Lang Romero, a former star midfielder for the Canadian women’s soccer team, tried to do for their sons — four-yearold Sebastian and one-year-old Diego — by getting them their own cardboard cut-outs in Buffalo.
The family lives in California, but Sebastian, whose mom grew up in Oakville, comes by his Toronto fandom honestly and is missing his home away from home.
“My son keeps asking when we’re going to Toronto and when can we go to the stadium,” said Romero, who spent five seasons pitching for the Blue Jays and was an all-star in 2011. “He loves it up there. He gets spoiled rotten every time we go up there, by everyone up there. He loves the Blue Jays. So I figured it’d be a great idea to make a cardboard thing out of them, just to put a smile on their faces. “When I showed him, he couldn’t believe it. He was like, ‘Wait, I get to go to every Blue Jays game?’ ”
The younger Romero wasn’t the only Jays fan who was on the lookout for his face Tuesday night. Lorne and Daniel Rosen started watching for their cutouts Monday when pictures of the revamped Sahlen Field began showing up on social media.
“We haven’t found ourselves yet, but I think we’ll find ourselves eventually,” said Daniel, 13. The cardboard cut-outs, priced at $60 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Jays Care Foundation, will be delivered to fans after the season.
The father-son duo heard they might be adorned with a player’s autograph when that time comes. But, while Lorne, 65, needed to be adept at dodging wayward balls during his time as a beer vendor at Exhibition Stadium in 1985, the pair would also be more than happy to see their cut-outs get damaged by a home run or a foul ball if it led to being sent a memento such as a ball or a bat — an approach the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates, among other teams, have taken with dingedup fans. “Oh, totally,” Daniel said. April Whitzman is also willing to see her cardboard cut-out lose its head in exchange for a ball, but her cat, Jose Meowtista, might feel differently. The tabby will represent the Whitzman household in Buffalo, wearing a Jays hat in his cutout.
“It’s a funny way to be silly and forget about the craziness the world is bringing,” said the 32year-old Whitzman, a lifelong fan who will be happy to have another reason to keep watching if the Jays are struggling.
Whitzman says a lot of Toronto fans she knows are passionate about showing their support for the team from afar. “For years everyone’s been saying that Jays fans travel so well and they’re very, very passionate so it’s not a surprise to see so many … fans making cut-outs in Buffalo.”
Jason Swaby was surprised by how enthusiastic Toronto fans were about the cut-outs. He had to call the account manager for his season tickets to secure his own likeness after the Jays website slowed because of fans’ rapid response. “Everybody’s like, ‘If you do it, let us know. We’ll look for you on TV,’ ” said Swaby, a 38-year-old software developer who typically donates tickets and money to Jays Care Foundation each season and sees his cut-out as another way of giving back.
Swaby, who has been cheering for the Jays for nearly three decades and has been a seasonticket holder since 2015, was looking for himself on television Tuesday night. But he was also looking for someone else. So were the Rosens. And Whitzman, too.
After all, Marnie Starkman, the Jays’ senior vice-president of marketing and business administration, said Monday the club tried to do everything it could to make Sahlen Field feel like home. And it just wouldn’t be a Jays home game without a special someone.
“Home Plate Lady, obviously,” Swaby said. “Everybody’s going to be looking for her to see if she’s there.”
“Home Plate Lady, obviously. Everybody’s going to be looking for her to see if she’s there.”
JASON SWABY BLUE JAYS FAN