Ballpark: Rogers Centre

On Saturday, May 25, I attended the Blue Jays vs. Orioles game at Rogers Centre. As I was driving in to Toronto I heard on the radio that the Rogers Centre dome would be open. There was some debate whether or not that was a good decision - it was a beautiful day but Blue Jays starter and ace R.A. Dickey prefers to pitch with the dome closed. Since I was running late due to Toronto traffic, I bought an upperdeck ticket from a scalper but it actually turned out to be a very good seat since it was first row.

R.A. Dickey struggled in the top of the first inning with the dome open as he spotted the Orioles a 3-0 lead. It was interesting to see an knuckleballer throw because his motion looked much more relaxed than traditional pitchers. Adam Lind answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI on the first of his three hits on the afternoon. After a parade of homeruns by both teams, the Orioles lead 6-3 going into the bottom of the 8th. The Blue Jays pushed a couple of runs across before Jose Bautista grounded out to shortstop to end the inning with the bases loaded prompting some of the 33,000+ fans to head for the exit. They didn't miss much as Jim Johnson sat down the Jays 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Rogers Centre is more of a traditional stadium than a ballpark. The focus of the stadium is more towards being efficient and transformable (Rogers Center serves as a home for a CFL team and occasionally the Buffalo Bills). From the outside the key feature is the white retractable roof. It was quite a hike up to my seat via a series of ramps from the gate entry. The ramps and upper concourses were mostly concrete and not overly attractive but the main concourse looked newly renovated. The food selection was pretty typical and I only got a souvenir soda since I pre-packed a sandwich for my drive in. One cool thing about the souvenir cup was that was good for one free refill. The seats and railings were a little older but I think that gave the stadium a classic baseball feel. From the inside, some features that stand out are the hotel above the center field wall, the astroturf playing surface, and the CN Tower visible overhead. The shade of green of the astroturf was a little lighter than grass and took some time to get used to. The CN Tower overhead was the attribute of the ballpark I liked the most - the tower seemed to be watching the game from above. Had the roof been closed, I would have missed this unique feature.

My take-away from Rogers Centre is that traditional stadiums are a dying breed among MLB ballparks. The view of the CN Tower might be the coolest view I had from a seat yet but the overall aesthetics of the stadium and the field were lacking. The main concourse tried to bring the ballpark into the modern era and a few renovations could make it a good home for Canada's only MLB franchise.

East Coast: Day 1

Just like day 1 of my west coast trip, day 1 of the east coast trip was a long day with plenty of travel and a baseball game. I left Ann Arbor at 7:30 AM, hoping to make it to Toronto by 11:30 AM for the 1:00 game. I was planning on parking downtown Toronto so I could walk around before the game and leave soon after its conclusion. Unfortunately, the traffic around Toronto was pretty bad. I was within view of the CN Tower by noon by the exit for Rogers Centre was backed up for about 2 miles. I finally got off the freeway and parked in an underground garage ($8) by 12:45. I made the brisk walk over to Rogers Centre, bought a ticket from a scalper, and made it to my seat for first pitch. In hindsight I should have gone to the next exit, found a quick parking spot, then walked to the stadium.

I will talk about Rogers Center and the game in an upcoming post. At the game I sat next to a guy from Australia who is traveling around Canada and the US for the year. He had just got off a 35 hour train ride from somewhere in the Canadian plains. On his walk over to his hostel he saw people selling tickets so he decided just to go to the game on a whim. He said he played t-ball for a year when he was a kid and only knew the most basic rules (3 strikes and you're out, ...) so I talked him through some of the more complicated plays and strategy. He also gave me some traveling advice for staying in London when I head to my conference next month.

After the game, I walked around the stadium district to get a feel for the city since I was short on time before the game. The Rogers Centre is literally right next to the CN Tower, the tallest building in Toronto. I didn't venture too far from the stadium because I was slightly turned around and I didn't have a map (and didn't want to use international data on my phone). I feel I was in Toronto just for the game and didn't get a chance to really experience the city, violating one of my lessons learned from the west coast trip. I guess I have plenty of time to take a vacation to Toronto in the years to come.

The traffic leaving Toronto was equally bad as coming in. I ended up taking Lake Shore Boulevard out of the city rather than the highway to avoid traffic and get a good view of Lake Ontario. Toronto kind of reminded me of Chicago in that it runs up against a great lake with parks along the water. I also saw an amphitheater and a water park next to the lake. I entered back into the US without any problems at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge even though there was a huge backup going into Canada. I spent the night at a hotel in Rome, NY (about 4 hours from Boston). The hotel wasn't much but it was a place to sleep. For what it was, the rate was expensive and got me thinking staying with friends and family really saves a lot of money.