OT: Toronto Blue Jays to Play Home Games in Buffalo

[Taro Tsujimoto]

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[PegulasSportsEmpire]

The Buffalo Blue Jays.

 

[Buffaloed]

I thought I'd give this its own thread since there's so little happening.
Are the Toronto Blue Jays coming to western New York? Team needs a home
ALBANY - The Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday became a major league team without a home. But it may look just across the border for a place to pay.
Sahlen Field in Buffalo is one of the options being considered by the Blue Jays to play its 30 home games after Canada’s government Saturday nixed them playing in Toronto, fearing it would not be safe for players to travel back and forth from the U.S. due to coronavirus.
The Buffalo stadium, home to the Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate, the Bisons, would need some upgrades in short order, but local leaders were beaming with the prospect of a major league club in town for the first time since in more than a century.
"The 'Buffalo Blue Jays' sound good to me. Let's find a way to make this happen," Erie County Executive Marc Poloncarz wrote on Twitter.

The Jays spring training facility in Dunedin Fla is their favored option. But with the pandemic spiking there it may not be practical.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I’ve always wondered how people in Buffalo feel about the Blue Jays. Obviously they’d be a fan of the Buffalo AAA team, but do they care about the parent team? Or is it more they like the Yankees and the Blue Jays are a second team to cheer for?

 

[MayDay]

I’ve always wondered how people in Buffalo feel about the Blue Jays. Obviously they’d be a fan of the Buffalo AAA team, but do they care about the parent team? Or is it more they like the Yankees and the Blue Jays are a second team to cheer for?

I think the people in Buffalo that follow MLB have a variety of loyalties.

I think the Yankees have a plurality, but probably not a majority. There are also apparently a lot of Braves fans because of TBS in the 90s. And a lot of old-timers are Pirates fans, because of proximity and the long-running affiliation between the Bisons and Pittsburgh. Cleveland has a contingent too.

Not sure if the Blue Jays would be in the top 3 teams in Buffalo.

Personally, I’m a Mets fan. Probably one of the few who were disappointed that that Bisons affiliation didn’t work out better.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I think the people in Buffalo that follow MLB have a variety of loyalties.

I think the Yankees have a plurality, but probably not a majority. There are also apparently a lot of Braves fans because of TBS in the 90s. And a lot of old-timers are Pirates fans, because of proximity and the long-running affiliation between the Bisons and Pittsburgh. Cleveland has a contingent too.

Not sure if the Blue Jays would be in the top 3 teams in Buffalo.

Personally, I’m a Mets fan. Probably one of the few who were disappointed that that Bisons affiliation didn’t work out better.

Amusingly enough I’m a fan of the Pirates, Blue Jays and Indians and it has nothing to do with Buffalo.

I figure most people prefer one of the NY teams from MLB, and then like players that went through Buffalo. As far as liking the Braves, that makes sense. I’d see those games all the time on cable. Them, the Jays (CBC then CTV at the time) and the Tigers because of Fox.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Can someone be in charge of keeping Pegulas away from them while they are in Buffalo. I don't need Guerrero traded for spare parts.

 

[member 311261]

Sportsnet should work out a deal to get the Jays on WNY TV. It would probably help with attendance with the big team in Toronto and with the AAA club.

I think people in Buffalo don't like the Jays for nationalistic reasons. They don't identify with Canadians. The reverse is true for Leafs fans in Niagara too. It doesn't make sense to me. Cheer for the team that's close and where you can actually go to games.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Sportsnet should work out a deal to get the Jays on WNY TV. It would probably help with attendance with the big team in Toronto and with the AAA club.

I think people in Buffalo don't like the Jays for nationalistic reasons. They don't identify with Canadians. The reverse is true for Leafs fans in Niagara too. It doesn't make sense to me. Cheer for the team that's close and where you can actually go to games.

I’m surprised that there isn’t already. Up here where I live, we get feeds from Detroit (CBS, ABC, NBC) and Rochester (Fox, except for baseball then it’s from Detroit). And Sportsnet hockey games have the home teams feed, assuming it doesn’t feature a Canadian team or be on (regular) NBC.

 

[VaporTrail]

The Buffalo Blue Jays.

Blue Jays to relocate to Buffalo E4

 

[MayDay]

I think people in Buffalo don't like the Jays for nationalistic reasons. They don't identify with Canadians.

I don’t think that’s it.

Buffalo people generally take pride in their status as a border city and connections to Canada, embrace and adopt Canadian brands as local favorites (Labatt Blue, Tim Hortons, etc), love a lot of Canadian pop culture (big fanbase for the Tragically Hip), play the Canadian national Anthem before every Sabres home game, etc. you see the Canadian flag hanging right next to the American flag in front of stores all over WNY.

I think it has more to do with:
• Baseball fans tend to be an older demographic, and lots of those folks are either Yankee fans (because of their history) or Pirates fans (because of their very long affiliation with the Bisons).
• The Jays are a relatively young franchise that hasn’t been that good for most of their history. Except for a couple years in the early 90s, at which time all of WNY was pretty much fully focused on the Bills and their Super Bowl appearances.
• The Jays haven’t been on TV in WNY and so haven’t really had any media exposure there. Compare to a team like the Braves, which were on TV constantly (TBS) and thus developed a devoted following among a number of WNY baseball fans looking for a team to follow, despite being located far away.
• The Jays haven’t had any connection to the city of Buffalo until recently, and I don’t think they really did much marketing or advertising there ever. I think they were more focused on marketing themselves across Canada as “Canada’s Team” and weren’t really interested in developing a cross-border fanbase. Now that they do have a connection to the city (through the Bisons affiliation), maybe that will change over time.

 

[MayDay]

To add on to what I just said, I have long felt that Buffalo would/should be a natural market for the Jays, much the same as southern Ontario is a natural market for the Bills, but the Jays have just never made an effort there. And lack of televised games is a big obstacle.

 

[Montag DP]

When I followed baseball, I loosely considered myself an Indians fan due to them being the Bisons' parent team for most of my childhood.

 

[Montag DP]

(Or whatever you call the opposite of a farm team.) By the way, I'm making a new post because it is damn near impossible to edit a post on a phone on this forum. It just won't let me delete what I want and inserts text instead of appending it. Anyone else have that problem? It is bizarre.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

I liked the Jays as a kid because I grew up beyond the reach of cable so was reduced to rabbit ears. I could watch them and on a good day get the Pirates with acceptable amounts of snow much like Habs games in winter

 

[Kublakhan]

I’ve always wondered how people in Buffalo feel about the Blue Jays. Obviously they’d be a fan of the Buffalo AAA team, but do they care about the parent team? Or is it more they like the Yankees and the Blue Jays are a second team to cheer for?

Not a fan of any baseball team..

 

[Bferra13]

I guess now they are saying they are too good for Buffalo and want to share a park with another major league team. Good luck with that!

 

[Dex]

My National League team is the Pirates. My American League Team is the Indians. Why? Because they were the MLB affiliates of the Bisons under whom the Bisons have had some success. It helps that they have great ball parks as well.

Being so close to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, I made trips in the past to watch ex Bisons play and even though it's been a long time since their affiliations ended - I still follow the teams and enjoy going to a game now and then - usually one game a year in one or the other city. I have not really made the connection with the Blue Jays yet as the Bisons have pretty much sucked as their affiliate and the Rogers Center is a horrible venue..

I'm not sure why I think the idea of the Blue Jays playing in Buffalo is cool , but I do. I mean, no one can see the games so what does it really matter. But hey - there might be MLB in Buffalo after all these years.

I really wish that the Blue Jays would play a couple of games a year in Buffalo, but I realize that's not ever going to happen. It just seems that with 81 games at home an MLB team could spare a couple of games.

Edit - Just saw from reading posts up-thread that I'm an "old timer" because I remember the Pittsburgh affiliation. First time I've ever been called that. I remember going to a game in Pittsburgh in Three Rivers Stadium at which every player who started the game except the pitcher had played in Buffalo within the prior three years. Was very cool to have seen them in Buffalo and then in the majors.

I also agree with several points made up thread:

1. I think that the border town factor makes us very open to Canada and Canadian culture. Tons of people travel to Toronto for entertainment. I spent much of my youth canoeing in Algonquin Park, Temagami, Lady Evelyn Lake, and Killarney Provincial Park. I've stayed at Wasaga Beach and rode the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee. These days it's wineries around Niagara on the Lake or the Beamsville bench, Art exhibits at the AGO or Opera as well.

2. I think the Jays have done next to nothing to promote themselves in Buffalo - starting with the crap teams they have fielded here.

3. I think that being on local TV would help

4. Give us a decent team in Buffalo that might give us some September baseball

 

[brian_griffin]

I liked the Jays as a kid because I grew up beyond the reach of cable so was reduced to rabbit ears. I could watch them and on a good day get the Pirates with acceptable amounts of snow much like Habs games in winter

I’m old enough to have seen the Jays at CNE, also grew up without cable and watched NHL and blue jays games on snowy channels, one of CFTO CBLT CHCH . Was common to get Jays games on radio too.

 

[JThorne]

I'm often perplexed at WNY being "Yankees territory." That team is 6++ hours away and there are literally 4 teams closer. Montreal and Philadelphia are a virtual tie distance wise also. So we're the same state. Big deal. Are people in Chico, California supposed to be fans of the Lakers?

Yes, I'm a Yankee hater. Fans and team. Fans have the Maple Laff syndrome, though they did have success. Success by paying through the nose because they could, but that's a different ball of wax.

If the Jays play games here, and it is safe to do so, I'll attend games.

Btw, Toronto, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit are the teams closer. Many forget about the Tigers.

 

[member 311261]

My National League team is the Pirates. My American League Team is the Indians. Why? Because they were the MLB affiliates of the Bisons under whom the Bisons have had some success. It helps that they have great ball parks as well.

Being so close to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, I made trips in the past to watch ex Bisons play and even though it's been a long time since their affiliations ended - I still follow the teams and enjoy going to a game now and then - usually one game a year in one or the other city. I have not really made the connection with the Blue Jays yet as the Bisons have pretty much sucked as their affiliate and the Rogers Center is a horrible venue..

I'm not sure why I think the idea of the Blue Jays playing in Buffalo is cool , but I do. I mean, no one can see the games so what does it really matter. But hey - there might be MLB in Buffalo after all these years.

I really wish that the Blue Jays would play a couple of games a year in Buffalo, but I realize that's not ever going to happen. It just seems that with 81 games at home an MLB team could spare a couple of games.

Edit - Just saw from reading posts up-thread that I'm an "old timer" because I remember the Pittsburgh affiliation. First time I've ever been called that. I remember going to a game in Pittsburgh in Three Rivers Stadium at which every player who started the game except the pitcher had played in Buffalo within the prior three years. Was very cool to have seen them in Buffalo and then in the majors.

I also agree with several points made up thread:

1. I think that the border town factor makes us very open to Canada and Canadian culture. Tons of people travel to Toronto for entertainment. I spent much of my youth canoeing in Algonquin Park, Temagami, Lady Evelyn Lake, and Killarney Provincial Park. I've stayed at Wasaga Beach and rode the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee. These days it's wineries around Niagara on the Lake or the Beamsville bench, Art exhibits at the AGO or Opera as well.

2. I think the Jays have done next to nothing to promote themselves in Buffalo - starting with the crap teams they have fielded here.

3. I think that being on local TV would help

4. Give us a decent team in Buffalo that might give us some September baseball

Wow, sounds like you're more Canadian than most Canadians!

 

[Dex]

Wow, sounds like you're more Canadian than most Canadians!

That's funny - that's what my family says too. And I didn't even mention my annual ski trips to Mont Tremblant, stops for hockey games in Montreal or Ottawa, last year's Formula 1 race, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Ottawa Blues Fest, skating the Rideau Canal..........

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[member 311261]

That's funny - that's what my family says too. And I didn't even mention my annual ski trips to Mont Tremblant, stops for hockey games in Montreal or Ottawa, last year's Formula 1 race, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Ottawa Blues Fest, skating the Rideau Canal..........

I get the same joke from my brother, only in reverse. He says I'm an honourary Upstate New Yorker. For Christmas, I sometimes make him up a Western New York gift pack as he's moved 2 hours west and doesn't get across much (he's actually closer to Michigan now).

I'm from Niagara Canada but I spend a lot of time across the border, either in Western New York or beyond. Probably my favourite place in the world is the Adirondacks... I usually make about 3 trips per year there. This will be my first year not going due to the coronavirus breakout. My kids were disappointed. We rent the same cottage every year for a week. Despite have our cottage country "up north" here in Canada, we like the ADKs so much more.

 

[hizzoner]

I guess now they are saying they are too good for Buffalo and want to share a park with another major league team. Good luck with that!

Not sure how you reached that conclusion. The big problem for Blue Jays is that most of their games are at night and the Sahlen Park lighting has not yet been updated to meet tv standards for those games. The park is a great place to watch a game for sure but with no fans TV is essential and MLB wants a top notch product. Dunedin would have worked since the Jays have brought that up to standard as of this year but the team is concerned about being based in Florida right now. All the more reason for Jays to take steps with whoever they have to deal with to update the stadium in Buffalo.