The Toronto Blue Jays were kicked out of Canada, prevented from going to Pittsburgh, warned that Baltimore may not be inviting, but finally found refuge in Buffalo, N. …
The Toronto Blue Jays were kicked out of Canada, prevented from going to Pittsburgh, warned that Baltimore may not be inviting, but finally found refuge in Buffalo, N. Y. This is the place where the Blue Jays players voiced they didn’t want to go last week, preferring to play in a major-league ballpark. But still homeless just hours before their season-opener, the team will give up its dream of staying at a Ritz Carlton when a Motel 6 will keep the lights on for them. The Blue Jays are shuffling along to Buffalo, which has not had a major-league game played in the city since 1915, back when the Federal League was around. Yet, it’s a place the Blue Jays have called home for their Class AAA club since 2013, and 16 of their players on Friday’s opening-day roster played in Buffalo just last season. Sahlen Field may have its warts and blemishes, with lighting that needs to be improved, and reconfigurations to allow for social distancing in the dugouts, clubhouses, training rooms and workout areas, but it’ll be the Blue Jays’ home for the 2020 season. “There were a number of facilities that were alternatives,’’ Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said, “but in the end we kept coming back to the one that was most familiar, the most known, a fit geographically, a good weather fit, a virus fit for us, and a place that we felt was safe for our players.
